Arunachal Pradesh mulling over de-reserving forest areas

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh Forest & Environment Minister Mama Natung Wednesday informed the Assembly that the Government is seriously thinking for de-reserving forest areas for bringing development in the State.

Responding to a short hour discussion brought in the House by BJP MLA Gabriel Denwang Wangsu on 'de-reservation of forests and issue of net present value (NPV) for forest areas by user agencies in the State', the Minister informed that neither the State Government nor the Centre have any say on de-reservation of forest as the issue lies with the Supreme Court.

"We will have to take permission from the Supreme Court for de-reservation of forest areas. We have already directed the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts to prepare list of reserve areas to be de-reserved and submit to the State Government so that the matter can be taken up with the apex court," he said.

He added that after the Supreme Court, in its judgement of November 13, 2000, in the Interlocutory Application No 2 in WP (C) 337 of 1996, has ordered that "pending further orders no de-reservation of forests, sanctuaries and national parks shall be affected".

Natung added that even if the apex court allowed de-reservation, the State Government has to pay compensatory amount to the tune of Rs 17 lakh per hectares against afforestation, as fixed by an expert committee constituted by the apex court.

"Arunachal Pradesh has three categories of forest – very dense forest, dense forest and open forest - and accordingly net present values have been fixed by the committee category wise," the Minister said.

Initiating the discussion, Wangsu said that 25 years have elapsed since ban of timber operations in the State in 1995, but there has been no tangible effort to convince the Supreme Court the need of the hour to lift such ban for the uplift of the tribals of the State in particular and in the interest of the human society in general.

Stating that all lands in the State are held under community or clan ownership, Wangsu said that if any user agency has to pay NPV once to the Government and then again pay to the villagers who have traditional ownership over such land, it amounts to twice payments for the same land.

"This makes the projects unviable and double costly. Therefore, investors are running away and not keen to invest in the state for mega projects," he said.

"In spite of all the odds, difficulty in town planning matters, being bereft of development works due to delay in FCA clearances and being deprived of a better life in civil society at par with other brethren of the country, Arunachal Pradesh does not ask for de-reservation of such enumerated disputed notified forests," he said.

"Rather the people seek an amicable solution where the actual virgin remote forest areas on high altitudes which act as catchment areas and carbon pool for sequestration could be preserved while, the equivalent area of notified forests in plain areas comprising of thickly populated towns could be developed by the Government as per developmental needs," Wangsu added.

He urged the Government to have a re-look at the reserved forest notifications to deduce a logical resolution lest the State confront a situation where the people find no more forest in the reserved forests!

"It is the right time to approach the Centre to apprise the courts of justice, the predicament the tribal population faced with as regards the habitable, cultivable, plain areas near to cities and towns of having been reserved, instead of the lush green pristine forests in the higher echelons of the State," he pointed out.

He added that the Centre could be requested to even consult the judiciary, which is the third pillar of democracy, and, if required, even a High Power Committee could be set up by the Supreme Court comprising of retired Chief Justice of the Gauhati or Kolkata High Court to study the matter and suggest ways to come out of this precarious situation in the best interest of the State.

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