NEW DELHI: To expedite environment clearance to mining projects, especially in states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the environment ministry has decided to tweak norms for preparation of Wildlife Management Plan (WMP) to study impact and mitigation measures of projects on wildlife and has brought a new policy directive to charge a lump sum amount of the project cost towards implementation of WMP.
The policy measure recommended by the ministry's forest panel says that the state government should submit WMP, along with the detailed cost of its implementation into the account of Compensatory Afforestation (CAMPA) along with the Stage-I compliance.
“However, in cases where it is not possible for the State to submit the compliance due to delay in preparation of such plan, 2 percent of total project cost towards the cost of implementation of the WMP and/or 0.5 per cent of the project cost towards the cost of implementation of Soil and Moisture Conservation Plan, as the case may be, shall be charged from the user agency and deposited into the account of CAMPA,” recommended the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) in its recent meeting.
As per procedures, approval granted under the FC Act, 1980 for mining projects mostly carries conditions pertaining to preparation of Wildlife Management or Soil and Moisture conservation Plan by the State in consultation with the Institute of repute. In a way, the new proposal does away with it.
“Generally, preparation of such plans by the premier/reputed institutes consumes substantial time resulting in considerable delay in the process ultimately delaying the commencement of different developmental projects. Committee was apprised that many proposals in the States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand are pending for submission of these plans and deposition of cost into the account of CAMPA,” the panel observed.
It further said that during the various reviews of root causes analysis of factors responsible for delays in the process of approval, such plans have also been observed to be causing delays in the process of seeking approval of the Central Government.
The FAC deliberated upon the matter and the Committee opined that such a situation needs to be resolved and a balanced view on the conservation and developmental needs of the country is to be taken.
“In order to streamline the process of approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the step taken should not compromise on the issue of conservation and protection of our natural resources on one hand and should not hamper the legitimate development need of the nation on the other hand due to procedural requirements,” it added.