The JPC consists of 31 members, out of whom 18 are from the BJP, and despite opposition, they have endorsed and approved the Bill.
Activists, conservationists, and former forest officials have recorded their disapproval against the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill. (Supplied)
With the monsoon session of Parliament set to open, and leaders of 26 Opposition parties meeting in Bengaluru, activists in Karnataka sought to draw their attention to the controversial Forest Conservation Amendment (FCA) Bill that is to be tabled in the Lok Sabha shortly.
“We appeal to all the members of the Opposition who are in Bengaluru today (Tuesday, 18 July)… to kindly come together and evolve a consensus to stop this controversial Forest Conservation Amendment Bill from being passed in the Lok Sabha,” said Joseph Hoover, president of the United Conservation Movement (UCM) and a former member of the State Wildlife Board.
Silent protests against the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill. (Supplied)
Hoover said that activists in Hubballi-Dharwad staged a silent protest to stop the Union government from passing the “dreaded” FCA Bill in the Lok Sabha. They planted saplings to underscore the need for afforestation, instead of deforestation.
“Its fragile ecosystem already battered, India has been reeling under the impact of global warming-triggered extreme climate events,” Hoover pointed out.
“The impact on vulnerable and poor populations, and the farming community will be much, much bigger than the Covid-19 pandemic, if the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill is given the go-ahead by our parliamentarians,” he added.
Silent protests against the Bill have been held in more than 20 cities across India.
Hoover contended that, if the Bill is passed, it will sound “the death knell for India and its people” as it dilutes the definition of forests.
“This is one of the most destructive Bills in terms of the environment. Our prime minister has said on record that he is interested in protecting our biodiversity and forests, but his very own people are set to destroy the forests by passing this Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha,” Hoover told South First.
He explained that if the Bill is passed, vast areas of forests would be devastated, as forest lands would be opened up for various kind of activities.
“Other than protecting the national parks and wildlife reserves, every other forest patch can be opened for mining, hydro-projects, linear projects, railway projects, and for eco-tourism. This is going to sound the death knell for the country,” the conservationist reiterated.
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer BJ Hosmath told South First that the FCA Bill, if passed, will strip India naked of the ecological security we have in our country.
“The landmark judgement of the Supreme Court in 1996, in the Godavarman Thirumulpad case, said even areas not formally notified as forests, but fitting the description of the ‘dictionary meaning’ of forests, were to be protected — including privately-owned lands,” Hosmath added.
As the Revenue Department in each state owns a considerable amount of forested land, soon after this judgement, various state governments identified such areas and termed them as deemed forests.
In 2002, Karnataka filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court stating it had identified 10 lakh hectares of such deemed forests.
However, over the past six years, the state government had prepared a list taking around 6.6 lakh hectares of deemed forest land out of this list. And with the FCA Bill being passed, the entire 10 lakh hectares of forested area would disappear into thin air, Hosmath contended.
The FCA Bill is a “senseless move” by the Union government and it is going to strike at the very base of environment conservation — the Bill is being passed only to favour crony capitalists, Hosmath told South First.
The retired IFS officer also explained that reserve forests are being denuded in the name of eco-tourism. Near the Mookambika temple in the Western Ghats, for instance, work is underway on 7 km cable car project.
And at the Jog falls, the Jog Development Authority, along with the Revenue Department, has ruined the area around the pristine waterfall, he said.
“When we visited Jog Falls last February, the zip line has already been put in place, and concrete structures had also been built in reserve forest areas,” Hosmath recallled.
Retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Karnataka, BK Singh, said that the amendment in the FCA Bill dilutes the definition of forests — and ignores the importance of mangroves, and promotes deforestation.
Terming the Bill as the “biggest tool for destruction of the forests”, he said that nearly 80 percent of public representations sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) were reportedly against the Bill.
“The importance of mangroves in the coastal belt in checking cyclones and sea surges is a known fact, and many states are in the process of notifying them as reserved forests. All such areas are excluded from the scope of applicability in this FCA Bill,” Singh stated.
“Diluting the existing Forest Conservation Act will make the Forest Department toothless and it would accelerate deforestation.”
The JPC comprised 31 members, out of whom 18 were from the BJP. Despite the Opposition having filed dissent notes, their objections were overruled and the amendments made to the FCA have been endorsed and approved by the JPC to be tabled in the Parliament with almost no comments, revisions, or suggestions.
“At least six out of the 31 members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill have filed dissent notes, raising alarm over exemptions extended to significant tracts of land in the draft legislation, even as the panel cleared the controversial Bill without proposing any changes,” The Hindu had reported.
“More than 100 former civil servants, members of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), have written to all Members of Parliament in India expressing their concerns with the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill, 2023. The group has said they are worried both by the contents of the Bill and the process being followed in passing it,” The Wire had reported.
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