Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 25: When tree is adored as green gold since it is most precious and vital to our planet called Earth due to the fact that trees produce oxygen, store carbon, regulate climate, support biodiversity, and sustain human and ecological health, formal approval for felling of millions of trees standing on forest land in India between July 2023 and May 2026 has been analysed and reported.
A recent analysis reportedly made by Down To Earth (DTE) as well as published by certain media outlets reveals that, “Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) has accorded its seal of approval for felling more than 2.8 million trees standing on forest land between July 2023 and May 2026, while 242 proposals out of the 288 unique ones were approved by the Advisory Committee set up under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. This approval rate of over 80% was based on the 288 unique forest diversion proposals. Records also showed that more than 22,000 hectares of forest land were diverted for mining, hydropower and transmission lines.”
The DTE analysis has also reportedly discovered that, “mining projects accounted for felling of the highest number of 1.35 million trees followed by felling of 0.93 million trees for hydropower projects, and felling of 0.23 million trees for rehabilitation projects approved during July 2023 and May 2026.”
The DTE analysis reportedly revealed that, “The MoEF Advisory Committee approved more than 0.4 million trees (4 lakh trees) to be felled for the Kente Extension opencast coal mining and pit-head coal washery project in Surguja division in Chhattisgarh, while a proposal has been submitted in 2024 for forest land diversion approval and clearing 708.204 hectares of the forest land for the Sijimali bauxite mining project in Odisha.”
Notably, “The felling of trees on forest land is regulated by several laws, including the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. These laws require prior permission from the forest department for tree felling, especially in reserved forests, protected forests, and village forests. The penalties for illegal tree felling can be severe, including fines and imprisonment. The Supreme Court has even approved a fine of Rs 1 lakh for each illegally cut tree. The Indian Forest Act also empowers the government to declare certain forests as Reserved Forests, Protected Forests, or Village Forests, with specific regulations governing tree felling and timber production.”
Read More: Market Access Deprivation Relegates Millions Of Forest-Reliant People To Abject Poverty: UN GFG
