Explained | Why is there a controversy on the forest Bill?

The story so far: The Forest Amendment Bill, 2023 is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament which is slated to begin from July 20. The amendments also say that the Act would only apply to lands notified in, any government record, as ‘forest’ on or after 1980. Editorial | Green washing: On amendments and the Forest Amendment Bill, 2023 Forest land situated 100 km away from international borders and to be used for “strategic projects of national importance” or land ranging from 5-10 hectares for security and defence projects would also be exempted from the Act’s stipulations. Other objections are that restricting the legislation’s ambit only to areas recorded as forests on or after October 25, 1980 would mean leaving out significant sections of forest land and many biodiversity hot spots to be potentially sold, diverted, cleared, and exploited for non-forestry purposes. There is also dissent against the move to rename the bill as Van Adhiniyam, on the grounds that it was “sanskritik terminology…and untenable.” Some objections have come in from experts invited to depose before the committee who have said that the Act waters down the Godavarman judgment and a few State governments have said that forest conservation comes under the domain of both the Centre and States, which means it is in the Concurrent List, and the amendments tilted the balance towards the Centre.