Supreme Court of India has allowed the Himachal Pradesh government to divert forest land for non-forest purpose for 103 projects under Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (FCA) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) in respect of projects appended with the interlocutory applications.
According to the state government spokesperson, the Supreme Court has restrained March 11 , 2019 order passed in the writ petition (Civil) No. 202 of 1995 and allowed government to divert the land.
As many 103 projects included 63 roads, 13 electric projects, one airport, three Anaj Mandi's and Sabji mandi projects, four college buildings, one hospitals, four bus stands, one market Yard, two railways lines, one ware house for storage of EVMs, one weather radar, one ropeway, one helipad, two mining, one parking, two hot mix plants, one police post and one NDRF have been cleared for diversion of land.
He said that projects under FRA, 2006 include cases of 13 community centres, 268 roads projects, 11 schools, 19 drinking water supply schemes and water pipelines, 5 minor irrigation canal or rain water harvesting structures, 10 health institutions, three skill upgradation and vocational training centres and one fair price shop.
