New Delhi, February 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre has issued wildlife clearances at a rate of 65 percent in its tenure, nearly 20 percent higher as compared to the Congress-led UPA era, reveals a report ‘State of Environment 2019’ prepared by research and advocacy group, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The report states that the NDA government cleared 519 of 794 projects, while the UPA-II government cleared only 260 of 571 projects (45.5 percent). Due to this revelation, environmentalists have sounded a red alert hinting that the NDA must have flouted wildlife norms.

According to the report, the NDA government has issued the wildlife clearances to infra projects, and the rejection rate was negligible, i.e. 1.1 percent projects disallowed between June 2014 and May 2018. The report further stated that due to these sanctions, 24,329 hectares (ha) of forest and wildlife zones were impacted in the country. The government differed 249, (31.3 percent) of the projects for additional details or requirements while de-listed 17 projects and rejected only nine. Leopard Mortality Rate 2018 in India Recorded at 460, Highest in Last 4 Years; Says Wildlife Protection Society of India. 

The report states, as Hindustan Times quoted, “It can be said that practically no proposal has been denied clearance under this government. What is clear from the trend is that the process of seeking clearances is increasingly becoming a formality.” India And China Are Leading in Increasing Earth's Green Cover Through Various Agriculture Initiatives.

Adding insights of the report, programme manager of environmental governance unit of CSE Srestha Banerjee said: “From allowing coal mining projects in eco-sensitive areas to recommending numerous linear infrastructure projects across wildlife habitats in northeast India and central India, the entire process to study and issue clearances has been diluted.”

Banerjee even claimed that the Union government gave clearances despite the minutes recording arguments against them. She said: “On some occasions, projects have been cleared despite the minutes recording arguments against them, and on some others, the committee has not waited for the detailed findings of the project site inspection committees before granting its approval.”

Reacting to the report and the findings, the Union Ministry stated that the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) clearances were needed only for protected areas. Director General of Forests – Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) – Siddhanta Das explained, “However, the Supreme Court declared a 10km buffer area outside national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as eco-sensitive zones, and proposals in these areas needed to be examined by NBWL also. As a result, the number of proposals rose to more than double.”  Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train: Maharashtra Wildlife Board Refuses Clearance For Narendra Modi's Ambitious Project. 

Adding more, he said, “Secondly, we have a much more transparent web-based system that allows people to apply for clearances easily. Most proposals are public utility projects, and they are rigorously scrutinised at the district, state and then by NBWL, which further weighs each application by providing appropriate recommendations for its feasibility.”

Attacking the Union government of destroying the wildlife of country, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh said that NDA government cleared many proposals that were rejected during UPA-II tenure. He said, “There is a lopsided obsession with ease of doing business, which proved disastrous for ecological protection.”

Citing loss of wildlife due to road projects across the country, director of Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun – V B Mathur – stated, “As India is going through a rapid phase of development, all road projects across the country causing fragmentation or loss to wildlife are being approved with compulsory wildlife mitigation plans. Such stringency was never there before 2014.”

Mathur added, “In August 2018, the environment ministry notified the ‘animal passage plan’, which also makes it mandatory to provide wildlife safety measures before drafting the plan passing through PAs.” Tiger Found Dead in Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh With Paws Chopped. 

As per the norms, wildlife clearances involves a process in which authorities’ NOC (no objection certificates) is required for projects related to linear infrastructure, transmission lines, hydroelectric power, seismic surveys, exploration for oil, drilling, and different types of mining activities. After the authorities of the state board of wildlife and the state government review the proposition of projects, the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) scrutinises and clears proposals.

However, ecologists opine that the impression of the ruling dispensation has a shoddier record in protecting what is at stake. Bengaluru based ecologist and Centre for Ecological Sciences founder at IISc, Madhav Gadgil, allege the clearances are being filled with wrong information and incorrect analysis to suit the needs of those in power.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2019 05:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).