Bhubaneswar | Jan 11, 2016: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow the state PSUs for undertaking compensatory afforestation in degraded forest land as in case of the Central Public Sector Undertakings.

“I would therefore urge that the special provisions made in para 3.2 (ix-a) of the Forest Conservation Act guidelines for Central Government/PSUs in the matter of raising of compensatory afforestation be also made applicable to the projects of the state government/state PSUs in order to expedite the forest clearance for such development projects,” Patnaik wrote to the Prime Minister.

Patnaik’s letter to the PM followed rejection of the government proposal by the Ministry of Environment and Forest. The compensatory afforestation is required to be taken up on non-forest land in equal extent in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest use in terms of Para 3.2 (i) of the Forest Conservation Act guidelines, Patnaik said. ”A special dispensation has been allowed for the projects of the central government and central undertakings,” he said.

“In all other cases including the projects of the state government and the state PSUs, use of degraded forest land for compensatory afforestation is permitted only if it is certified by the chief secretary of the state that suitable non-forest land is not available in the entire state,” Patnaik said. In Odisha, where 37.34 per cent of the geographical area is recorded as forest areas, difficulties are faced especially by the state government and the state PSUs in identifying non-forest land of large chunk for raising compensatory afforestation particularly in the districts having a large number of mining and industrial projects, he said.

Besides, it is also more desirable to take up compensatory afforestation in degraded forest land located in close proximity of the project area from the environmental as well as forest management point of view rather than taking it up in faraway areas, the chief minister said. ”In my view it will be in fitness of things to extend the special dispensation given to the central government/PSUs projects. The project owned by the state government/PSUs are as important as the projects of the central government/PSUs for achieving the national development goals/objectives,” Patnaik said in the letter which was made available to the media.

(Source: http://www.india.com/)