NEW DELHI: Environmental organisations and civil societies on Friday staged protests across the country over the tabling of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment (FCA) Bill 2023. They demanded rollback of the the bill as it will change the governance of the forest and spell disaster for the country’s forest resources and the livelihood of millions.
Activists said the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the bill showed the proposed amendments were rejected and opposed by stakeholders across all parties. Four JPC members shared dissent notes saying the bill would spell doom to forest conservation.
“Not surprising to see even BJP-ruled states were unhappy and opposing some clauses of the FCA bill 2023,” said Debadityo Sinha, a forest law expert. The alarming aspect of is that the JPC report is filled with generic responses from the environment ministry, disregarding the genuine concerns raised by the people of India, he added.
“It is utterly disappointing to see a committee constituting parliamentarians merely accepting the ministry’s generic response without any critical thinking or application of mind, reducing the report to a mere documentation of views,” said Sinha.
The FCA Bill 2023 will amend the existing Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FCA). The Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav introduced the bill during the budget session 2023 of Parliament and sent it to the JPC instead of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
Pradip Chatterjee, convenor to the National Platform for Small Scale Fish Workers, requested the JPC to ask the government to revoke the bill as it was prepared and placed before the Parliament of India through an undemocratic process. “The proposed amendment would grossly shrink the purpose and jurisdiction of the original Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 by removing restrictions on the conversion of any forest land,” says Chatterjee.
Salient Features
Promotes non-forestry activities like construction, industries and tourism in deemed forest areas
A provision proposed will abolish the role of an advisory committee which looks into ecological, social impact of the project on forest land
A blanket exemption for use of forest land held by agencies Rail, NHAI, PWD, Defence, etc.
No clearance required
For the acquisition of forest land within 100km of the international border
For forest land alongside railways, roads and notified forest land of up to 10 hectares for security infrastructure.
A provision proposed to make the Central government the sole authority to open up all forests to mining and similar commercial activities