September 21st 2023.
Bhopal: In a shocking revelation, the Wildlife wing of Madhya Pradesh's forest department has no record of compliance certificates regarding the non-forestry activities sanctioned within the forest for more than 10 years, as per an RTI. Non-forestry activities such as construction of roads, railway tracks, mining, ponds, electricity lines and more are carried out only after getting clearance from the state Wildlife board. This clearance consists of certain guidelines imposed by the National Wildlife Board under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change.
The clearance is issued to ensure that the proposed project does not harm the animals and the flora and fauna of the forest zone are not destroyed. The state chief wildlife warden office is responsible for carrying out regular inspections of the projects to ensure that the conditions imposed by the MoEFCC are met and they submit an annual report to the national wildlife board.
Recently, the state wildlife warden has issued notices to the national parks, sanctuaries and district forest offices and has sought detailed reports of compliance certificates regarding the conditions imposed by the national wildlife board from 2011 to 2021. This was done after a Bhopal-based wildlife activist Ajay Dube filed an RTI.
The notices sought a report on an excel sheet which would include details such as the name of the project, name of applicants, date of meeting of state and national wildlife boards and details of the compliances. The state wildlife wing has asked for the detailed report from all national parks and wildlife sanctuaries within the next one week.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dube expressed his surprise on the absence of the record of wildlife clearance for the past decade. He said, "The state board is supposed to submit annual reports of all projects to the national wildlife board after proper field inspections. I will approach the supreme court seeking high level inquiry of this syndicate of forest officials and private contractors who have indulged in violating Wildlife and Forest Conservation Act since the last 10 years."
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