According to a letter sent by forest conservation division of the Union environment ministry earlier this month to states and UTs, the changes have been made in order to curtail unnecessary delays in the online approval process. This is to make sure forest clearances adhere to the timelines stipulated in Van (Sarnakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023.
One of the changes is to auto-forward a proposal to the next processing authority if “essential details sought (EDS)” by the central government or regional officials is not provided within three days by state authorities.
The authorities concerned in the state /UT administrations will be required to forward EDS downward or to the intended authority/agency within a period of three days, failing which the proposals will be auto-forwarded to next processing authority, the letter states.
EDS is often sought by officials appraising a project for forest clearance to understand the actual impact of forest diversion on the region.
The ministry said the change follows a review where it observed laxity on the part of states/UTs in addresing EDS requests.
The ministry has also developed a new module named ‘Accredited Compensatory Afforestation’ (ACA) for online submission of application. Interested agencies can submit their application online for raising ACA plantation, which can be examined and processed by the local forest department for approval, the letter stated, adding that this facility has been available from July 2024.
HT reported on July 2, 2022 that project developers can purchase land with plantations from private individuals to present them as compensatory afforestation against forest diversion for non-forest activities, according to the Forest (Conservation) Rules 2022.
Accredited compensatory afforestation may be earned by a person if he has established afforestation over land on which the Forest Conservation Act is not applicable and is free from all encumbrances, the notified rules said. An afforestation shall be counted towards Accredited Compensatory Afforestation if such land has vegetation composed predominantly of trees, having canopy density of 0.4 or more (tree canopy density of 40% or more) and the trees are at least five years old.
The rules also make provisions for state governments to create land banks which can serve as plots for compensatory afforestation.
“In view of the above, I am directed to request the State/UTs to kindly take note of the above developments and to direct the concerned authorities to adhere to the time lines prescribed in the Van (Sarnakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023,” the letter sent earlier this month states.
The Rules provide timelines to process forest clearances for projects of various sizes. For example, the total time taken for projects with area of up to 5 ha is stipulated to be 85 days.
“They should define the term next processing authority because it can be misinterpreted leading to processing based on incomplete information,” said Debadityo Sinha, lead – climate and ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
