Wildlife board to consider 120 projects for clearance in 2 days

New Delhi: The newly reconstituted standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday and consider more than 120 projects for clearing, said an environment ministry official who requested anonymity.

Of these, at least 10 were those being considered by the project monitoring group (PMG) which has been set up to track large investment projects, the official said. “Less than 10 are defence projects which will also be fast-tracked,” the official said.

Environment, forests and climate change minister Prakash Javadekar had said defence projects and roads projects near border areas need to be fast-tracked to ensure safety.

A lot of proposals to be considered by the board are those which have been considered previously by the former standing committee of the board and site inspection reports have been submitted. The new committee is likely to take a call on all the projects where the reports have been submitted.

Some of the big projects coming up for clearance include fencing of the India-Bangladesh border, Teesta IV dam in West Bengal, and the Sardar Sarovar canal, which passes through the desert sanctuary in Gujarat.