New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) The Environment Ministry’s expert panel has given key approval to a hydroelectric project in Arunachal Pradesh that could cause diversion of more than 2,700 hectares (ha) of forest land and cutting of over 1.35 lakh trees, resulting in a severe impact on the region’s ecosystem.
The project’s site inspection report says the effect can be “minimised” by planting trees in an area double the forest land being diverted for construction purposes. However, afforestation has been proposed on degraded forest land in Madhya Pradesh — around 1,700 kilometres away from the proposed project site.
Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, when forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes, an equivalent patch of non-forest land must be identified in the same region for afforestation. If such land is unavailable, a replacement site can be found elsewhere.
Also, in case non-forest land cannot be identified, afforestation can take place on degraded forest land twice the extent of the area proposed to be diverted.
Due to the unavailability of non-forest land in Arunachal Pradesh, 5,4660 ha of degraded forest land in 18 districts of Madhya Pradesh has been identified for compensatory afforestation, according to the project’s environment impact assessment (EIA) report, prepared in June this year.
The proposed project in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Limited was recommended for the grant of environment clearance (EC) by the ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) during its meeting held on August 31.
The EAC observed that the proposed tree felling may have implications for forest structure, habitat continuity, biodiversity, wildlife movement, and associated ecosystems, according to the minutes of the meeting.
The site inspection report also notes that the proposed project site hosts several schedule-1 species (endangered or high-priority animals) such as Himalayan black bear, Himalayan serow, clouded leopard, and Asiatic wild dog.
The project, which is 10.6 kilometres away from Nidak Danyi Wildlife Sanctuary, could impact the migration of these animals, the report adds.
The EAC has given its recommendation to the project based on several conditions. This includes getting stage-I (in-principle) approval for forest land diversion from the ministry’s forest advisory committee (FAC).
The stage-I clearance stipulates conditions, including compensatory afforestation, which must be fulfilled before stage-II — formal diversion approval. PTI ALC
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