CONTROVERSY | Will the new CEC be able to protect India’s forests?

The government’s controversial revamp of the Central Empowered Committee raises questions about its autonomy. The Kudremukh iron ore mines issue, the rampant and illegal iron ore mining at Bellary, the protection of the Aravalli hills, the issue of compensatory afforestation, and determining the value of the ecological services provided to forests and which further led to the creation of the CAMPA funds, the illegal saw mills in Tansa WLS that led to the jailing of a serving Minister and a high-ranking bureaucrat of the Maharashtra government—these were some of the landmark issues that the CEC has dealt with since 2002. The Eco-Sensitive Zones were to be notified not under the Wildlife Protection Act, which is very inflexible, but under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, which allowed for each ESZ notification to be tailor-made to deal with the problems facing the PA. Wrong moves Unfortunately, instead of ensuring that the SC’s orders were implemented by the MoEFCC and the State governments, the CEC recommended that the 10-km distance be reduced on a case-by-case basis. Instead, they are a case of user agencies, mining and power companies, and the government approaching the court directly seeking approval by filing applications — sometimes even before statutory authorities have examined a project.” To sum this up, instead of waiting for proposals for the diversion of forests to be submitted by the use agencies to the Forest Department, and the FD then submitting approved proposals to the MoEFCC, the statutory process was bypassed by the CEC, and the projects were endorsed by the Supreme Court without statutory approvals in place. The biggest concern is whether this new CEC will cease to function independently, as the previous CEC did when it reported to the SC, and may take decisions under the influence of the government.” Now, it remains to be seen whether we have perhaps created yet another toothless government-run committee or a strong body that will take bold decisions and question government policies that are not in the interest of the environment and nature, added Gore.