Central regulations pertaining to the forest clearances are observed more in the breach when it comes to the Telangana State’s flagship projects such as Mission Bhagiratha and irrigation projects.
While the State Forest Department just looks the other way, pipeline laying work is on in full swing in the forest and also wildlife areas, even before permissions are accorded for the same by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
“Norms are being violated left, right and centre, in case of Mission Bhagiratha and irrigation projects like Palamur-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS). Ground levelling and tunnelling works are going on even before permissions are obtained,” a wildlife activist said under the condition of anonymity, while providing photographs of the works with geographical coordinates.
Incidentally, submissions to MoEF for Forest clearance were made by the Rural Water Supply department, with active support from the Forest Department.
Awaiting clearance
Senior Forest officials from the State Forest Department admit the violations under the condition of anonymity. As per the official information, of the 97 forest segments pertaining to Mission Bhagiratha, only 59 have been cleared in Stage-I, while the rest are pending at various stages.
Stage-I sanction
Stage-I sanction points to in-principle approval of the work, after basic conditions such as demarcation of area for compensatory afforestation, and payment of net present value of the trees to be felled. However, the agencies can go ahead with work, after giving an undertaking to fulfil certain conditions set forth by the Central committee. Stage-II approval will come only after conforming to the conditions.
In case of wildlife sanctuaries, including the two tiger reserves, no clearances have been accorded by MoEF till now, even while the National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) has given a green signal.
Wildlife sanctuaries
As per reliable sources, digging and pipeline laying works are being carried out both in forest and wildlife sanctuaries even before the Stage-I approvals are obtained.
“About 80% of the Mission Bhagiratha pipelines are only 30 centimetre in size. They need only 75 centimetre digging, which is not much. The maximum diameter of the pipeline is a meter. They are only distributory pipelines, and most of them are running along the road,” an official said, justifying the violations. The field level officials however, have been apparently instructed to give occasional notices to the contractors for violations and collect penalties, so that the department could be absolved in case of future trouble.
