Play all audios:
Advisory committee recommends resolution of issues pertaining to local communities first The forest advisory committee (FAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has
deferred recommending clearance for Defence Research Development Organisation's (DRDO) proposed test facility on the coast in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. The proposed testing
facility requires diversion of 155 hectares of forest land from the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary, a notified protected area that is home to endangered and vulnerable wildlife species like
Fishing Cat and Smooth Indian Otter. The proposed facility is also adjacent to a beach that is a nesting site of the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles, a species protected under Schedule-I of the
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. However, the National Board for Wildlife granted it wildlife clearance. DRDO has proposed to set up a testing facility, an approach road connecting the test
site and technical facility. The eco-system is primarily an estuarine area with mangroves, rivulets that are distinct to the Krishna Delta Complex. During the meeting, FAC observed that
settlement procedures of forest rights of locals communities are pending. Detailed records of consultations and meetings of the Forest Rights committees and Gram Sabhas have not been
furnished, it noted. The FAC has asked authorities to look into the matter. "We recommend the proposal be put up to competent authority on provision of details with regard to Forest
Rights Act, that calls for meetings of Forest Rights Committee, Gram Sabha and Gram Sabha resolutions,"the committee said. As the project is located near the mangrove and estuarine
habitats, the livelihood of locals would be affected; officials of the forest department had informed the ministry. "The livelihood of fishermen who are dependent on fishing in the
creeks would be badly affected due to closure of creeks and nullas by formation of an approach road," the divisional forest officer (DFO) had said in his report.