The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has exempted surveys involving drilling and felling of up to 100 trees for hydro and other developmental projects in forest areas from taking prior forest clearance.
Surveys for projects like hydel plants involve drilling and tree-felling, which normally need forest clearance. (HT Archive)
According to the minutes of FAC’s meeting held on July 4, the forest panel of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) has observed that surveys involving drilling for hydel and other developmental projects in the forest area “are of relatively lesser intensity and does not result any permanent change in the forest land use”.
“Such preliminary drilling is crucial for project design, preparation of detailed project report and estimating the financial provisions of the proposed development project,” the minutes added.
The FAC further noted that survey-related drilling is a prerequisite activity for such development projects and in any case, if the finding of such drillings indicates the involvement of forest land during their project implementation, a prior forest clearance will be required.
The statutory forest body considered the matter following a request by the Union power ministry. The power ministry secretary on May 28 wrote to the MoEFCC, requesting that the dispensation provided to mining projects for drilling 25 bore holes and felling of 100 trees be extended to hydro and pump storage projects also.
The power ministry also pointed out that MoEFCC in a November 29, 2023 notification exempted survey for mining projects that include drilling of 25 bore holes of four-inch diameters per 10 sq km; felling of up to 100 trees in the entire prospecting area; and 80 shot holes of 6.5-inch diameters per square kilometre. For other developmental projects including hydro, the survey in forest areas is restricted to clearing of bushes and lopping of tree branches for purpose of sighting, therefore, invariably the user agency needs to abide by the entire process of approval as envisaged in the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, it further pointed out.
Hydroelectric project developers are required to carry out activities such as exploratory core drilling/drifting works, rock testing etc. for preparation of DPR. Most hydro projects are also located in ecologically sensitive river basins. Presently, there is resistance to building of multiply dams and hydro projects in Arunachal Pradesh by local indigenous people. Civil society groups, such as Siang Indigenous Farmers Forum, Dibang Resistance and North East Human Rights, have expressed concern about the 11,000 MW Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage project in the light of its possible adverse environmental repercussions.
“With a view to reduce the time line by almost 3 months for formulation of DPR of Hydro electric/pump storage projects, the Secretary, M/o Power has requested for extension of exemption to HEP/PSP projects as given to surveys for mining projects,” the minutes state.
Further, the power ministry also said it has issued guidelines in June 2023 for accelerating development of Pump Storage Projects (PSPs) for increasing the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix go tackle climate change. At the same time, it is also coming up with a new hydro policy in order to give boost to development of hydel projects for clean energy. Over 55,000 MW of PSPs are at various stages of survey and investigation.
The FAC further decided that MoEFCC may consider extension of provisions under the November 29 notification pertaining to surveys in the forest areas for mining projects to other development projects including hydel/pump storage projects provided sample collected from the site after drilling shall be used exclusively for research purpose.
“It is strange that FAC has accepted this demand without checking about the need of such requirement, when hydro projects have in the past been planned without this concession,” Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), said. “In fact, hydro development is past its peak and such a demand at this stage should have been critically scrutinised and it also involves felling of up to 100 trees. It is also not clear to what depth these holes are to be bored as that will also decide the extent of disturbance in the forest area.”
‘White’ industries exempted from pollution nod
The MoEFCC, in a draft notification on July 19, has also proposed that certain categories of industries will be exempted from requirement of prior consent to establish or operate from central and state pollution control boards. The notification stated that the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was amended (in February) with a view to exempt certain categories of industries/activities from dual compliance of consent to establish (CTE)/consent to operate (CTO) and environmental clearance.
“…this notification is intended not only to enhance ease of doing business, minimising compliance burden of industries, but also to reduce duplication in the work at the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB)/Pollution Control Committee (PCC) level,” the draft notification stated. “And whereas, due care has been taken, while preparing this notification, that appropriate monitoring and compliance of pollution is ensured.”
All industries or activities categorised as “white” — lower pollution footprint — by CPCB shall be exempted from the mandatory condition of obtaining CTE and CTO subject to some conditions, the draft stated. One of the conditions is that these units will have to intimate about their operation to SPCBs/PCCs in the form of a self-declaration, complying with all the prevalent rules and regulations.
All industries requiring prior environmental clearance as per the Environmental Impact Assessment notification, 2006 shall be exempted from obtaining consent to establish (CTE) separately, the notification stated. The CTE in all such cases shall be deemed to have been integrated with EC.
White category industries include air coolers/conditioners, bicycles, baby carriages, bio pesticides, engineering and fabrication units, bulb manufacturing, solar modules, diesel pump repairing etc. The draft notification has been kept open for public comments for 60 days from the date of issue.
“The environment regulatory architecture has come to increasingly rely on governance by exemption. While flexibility is important to accommodate both economic and environmental imperatives, it needs to be whetted by whether it is exacerbating risks. In order to fully ascertain this, such proposals require careful review by science and society. While social choices need to be informed by scientific assessments, these assessments need to understand that environmental decision making is a not a mere technical exercise. Each exemption means altering the interaction between people, place and project developers, where each aspect deserves a seat at the table,” Kanchi Kohli, independent legal and policy expert, said, referring to both the FAC decision and the draft notification.
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