Annexe: ‘Growth’ through Plunder: Recent Measures regarding the Forests Among the steps taken by the Government during the last few months are as follows: (i) On December 13, 2012, the Government set up a Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) headed by the Prime Minister for “fast-tracking” decisions on projects of over Rs 1,000 crore. This “fast-tracking” essentially involves removing the obstacles placed by the existing laws, particularly regarding environment, displacement, and the rights of forest dwellers.[11] Neither the Minister of Environment and Forests nor the Minister for Tribal Affairs is a member of the CCI; while the former is an invitee, the latter is not even an invitee. (ii) In January a panel set up by the Prime Minister’s Office suggested replacing the requirement of approval by the relevant village councils (gram sabhas) with state government certificates that the Forest Rights Act (FRA) had been complied with. This would supercede all earlier Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) circulars.[12] (iii) The Government issued a notification in December 2012 giving Coal India Ltd (CIL) the authority to directly approach the Central Pollution Control Authority, in order to boost the output of mines in operation since 1994 by as much as 25 per cent. This notification thus dispenses with the process of public hearings for these expansions.[13] (iv) In February 2013, the MoEF announced that clearance for “linear” projects (road, rail, power transmission, cables, and canals) would not require gram sabha consent – in violation of the FRA. Further, 13 categories of infrastructure projects in 82 Maoist insurgency-affected districts have been exempted from requiring forest clearances. The same holds for public roads that require less than 5 hectares of forest land in those districts. (v) The MoEF’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has been clearing diversion of forest land at breakneck speed.[14] Among the proposals cleared: the JSW Steel mining project in the Saranda region of Jharkhand, from which security forces have been engaged in trying to evict Maoist forces.[15] (vi) The MoEF has agreed to de-link environmental clearances from forest clearances. Thus firms which have not yet obtained forest clearances for their projects can begin work on the non-forest segment. The Supreme Court has approved this de-linking. (vii) In the Vedanta case, regarding bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills of Odisha’s Kalahandi district, the MoEF has significantly changed its stance. Whereas it had earlier rejected the forest clearance for the project on the ground that it violated provisions of the Forest Rights Act and other Acts, on February 15, 2013 the MoEF said in court that the consent of the people would be required only in cases where “displacement of large number of people” is involved and which “affect the quality of life of the people.” The terms “displacement of large number of people” and “quality of life” were left undefined. Further, the MoEF affidavit said that for the projects for which diversion of such forest is “unavoidable” where rights of the forest dwellers are recognised, the rights may be “circumscribed or extinguished using the eminent domain of the state”. In this fashion it asserted that the Government and not the forest dwellers would have the final say in diversion of forest land for mining projects, regardless of the provisions of the Forest Rights Act.[16] Though the ministry continued to oppose permission for Vedanta to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills, it has weakened its own case against Vedanta. The process of displacing and disenfranchising the forest dwellers has been facilitated by the large-scale rejection of tribals’ claims under the FRA. The official Saxena Committee report on the implementation of the FRA (December 2010) found that its implementation was “very poor.” As of December 31, 2012, 3.24 million claims have been filed under the FRA since it came into force in 2008; 1.28 million have been accepted, and a larger number, 1.51 million, have been rejected.[17] The process of filing of fresh claims appears to have ground to a halt. A recent study has found that the provisions for recognition of community forest rights under the FRA are largely unimplemented.[18] As the Minister for Tribal Affairs points out, “Until you’ve settled rights, what basis will you compensate tribals on? Once you catch them by the neck and throw them out, they’re totally orphaned.” The Minister of Environment has expressed her eagerness to cooperate in the PMO’s drive to accelerate corporate plunder: “We are a partner in the development of the country, and environment shouldn’t be considered a roadblock”. She points out that in the past one and a half years, 754 proposals out of 828 have been cleared by her ministry, involving the diversion of 18,200 hectares of forest land. Much more devastation awaits the forests: It is reported that proposals still pending involve the diversion of 57,469 hectares.[19] More important than the specific legal steps, however, is the overall climate of aggression and emphasis on ‘results’, regardless of the law, the effect on the environment, and the devastation of the lives of the forest dwellers. Forest land diversion has already taken place on a large scale (about 2 lakh hectares) since the FRA came into operation.[20] It is now taking place at an even more accelerated pace. rupeindia.wordpress/2013/04/04/the-two-aims-of-the-budget/
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:16:56 +0000
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