The guidelines proposed by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) in respect of exemption of strategic linear projects of national importance falling within a 100 km aerial distance from any international border, Line of Control, or Line of Actual Control from prior forest clearance approval provide an alternative mechanism for maintaining the ecological balance in project areas. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) considering the FAC proposal is crucial for forest conservation in the Northeast region. As the region has 98% international borders, the aerial distance of 100 km covers a large tract of land with forest cover, and the linear projects of strategic and national importance in these areas, such as highways, railway lines, and national security projects, will have huge ramifications. Putting in place a robust mechanism for utilisation of the charges to be collected from project developers for compensatory afforestation and the net present value (NPV) of trees to be felled for these projects will be crucial to achieving the objectives of the guidelines. The FAC proposed the guidelines after the Ministry of Home Affairs sought clarification on the applicability of charges for compensatory afforestation and NPV on such projects when forest land is diverted. The Central Government prescribed the terms and conditions to be abided by the State Government while considering such exemptions. The notification mentioned that provisions of compensatory afforestation and NPV will be governed as per the provisions of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, but it lacked clarity whether these would also be applicable for these strategic projects. This required the FAC to propose a comprehensive set of guidelines. Key provisions of the proposed guidelines are: The land for compensating the loss of trees may be identified in the degraded forest land, revenue forest land, waste lands, double in extent to the land proposed for diversion, or in non-forest land, equivalent to the forest land being diverted, as per availability on a case-to-case basis. The Divisional Forest Officer, within a period of one month after receiving the proposal, shall arrange to carry out tree enumeration, prepare a scheme for compensating the loss of project-affected trees in the land identified, and forward project-specific mitigation plans, if any are needed, and forward the proposal to the Nodal Officer, along with demand for making the payment of NPV, compensatory scheme, site-specific mitigation plan, soil and moisture conservation plan, etc. The guidelines also state that, according to approval for a project, the Nodal Officer may specify conditions, as may be required based on the site-specific conditions, to compensate for the loss of trees, site-specific mitigation measures, and plans to be implemented in and around the forest area applied for diversion. The project developer, soon after receiving the approval from the Nodal Officer, within a period of one month, shall deposit the compensatory levies into the account of the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), which is managed by the national CAMPA. The guidelines insist that in case, the project developer fails to make payment against the demand raised as above within the stipulated time, 12% interest per month shall be levied on the amount not paid in time. However, if the user agency fails to make payment within a period of three months of approval, the state government shall suspend the work in the forest area diverted, and such a proposal can be reconsidered by the state government/UT administration subject to submission of a valid and cogent justification from the user agency along with admissible interest on account of delayed payment. The terms and conditions laid down in the proposed guidelines have raised hopes for checks and balance in the form of compensatory afforestation against diversion of forest land. Inclusion of a mandatory provision on time-bound utilisation of the compensatory afforestation charges to be levied on project developers so that losses of forest cover can be compensated in the true sense of the term. The onus on strict adherence to guidelines will lie on MoEFCC and the state government in respect of defence projects, as those projects will be masked and will not be accessible for public scrutiny because of the strategic importance and sensitivity involved. The push for liner infrastructure projects to boost connectivity in the region and facilitate faster troop movement to the international borders in the region has led to diversion of forest cover on vast stretches of land. Exemption from prior forest and environment clearance will facilitate expeditious construction and facilitate faster progress. However, failure to balance the development push with forest conservation will have a catastrophic impact on the fragile ecology of the region. Rising temperatures and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events across the region have already sounded the alarm bell against indiscriminate felling of trees in the region. Fast-tracking strategic linear projects along the international borders must not lead to precipitating the climate change vulnerability in the Northeast.