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Guwahati: The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Union environment ministry has granted post-facto approval for two Commando Battalion camps in Assam’s protected forest areas, while
imposing significant penalties for violations of forest conservation laws.
The approval pertains to the diversion of 26.1 hectares within the Geleky Reserved Forest, situated along the volatile Assam-Nagaland border in Sivasagar Forest Division.
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Additionally, FAC has accorded ex-post facto clearance for the diversion of 11.5 hectares of forest land in favor of the Assam Police Housing Corporation for the establishment of a second
Commando Battalion Camp at Damchera in Innerline Reserved Forest under Hailakandi Division, subject to the same conditions and penalties.
The first, a 44-hectare diversion for a commando unit on the Assam-Mizoram border, drew immediate criticism from the environment ministry.
Further investigation revealed that Yadava had also approved a second project in 2022 – the diversion of 28 hectares in Geleky Reserve Forest in Sivasagar Forest Division for another police
camp. Geleky Reserve Forest is situated along the volatile Assam-Nagaland border.
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These unauthorized constructions sparked widespread concern and prompted the environment ministry to seek explanations from the Assam government through letters dated April 25 and June 13,
2024, specifically inquiring about Yadava’s role in approving the Geleky forest diversion.
Northeast Now previously reported that M.K. Yadava, then Assam’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, had approved these projects without proper clearances from the Union Environment
Ministry.
In response to these violations, the FAC has imposed substantial penalties.
Assam government are directed to pay five times the standard Net Present Value (NPV) for the extent of violation, plus 12% simple interest.
Shillong-based Regional Office of the Environment ministry has been instructed to initiate proceedings under Sections 3A and 3B of the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 1980, which can lead
to imprisonment for those responsible.
The committee has cautioned that this approval should not be construed as a precedent for regularizing similar violations.
Moreover, the approval remains subject to orders from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which is currently hearing a petition challenging these violations.
The NGT took suo motu cognizance of the case in January 2024 based on a news report titled, “Assam: PCCF MK Yadava accused of illegally clearing protected forest for Commando Battalion,”
published in Northeast Now on December 25, 2023.
Yadava allegedly bypassed mandatory procedures under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for this project located within an Inner Line Reserved Forest.
This prompted the MoEF&CC to initiate an investigation in February last year.