Army infrastructure projects along LAC don’t need forest clearance: Govt

New Delhi: Alarmed by the poor defence infrastructure along the sensitive India-China border, the government has done away with the need for forest clearance for infrastructure projects for the army within 100km of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

In July 2014, a similar general approval was given by the government soon after assuming power for diversion of forest land for construction and widening of two-lane roads in the area falling within the 100km aerial distance from the LAC in four states—Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

The latest decision was taken by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) on Monday—the day the India-China standoff at Doklam ended. It came in response to a letter from the Arunachal Pradesh government, which asked whether the 2014 general approval included “army infrastructure” as well.

“The matter has been examined in the (environment) ministry and I am directed to clarify that the above stated guidelines will also include army infrastructure development project falling within 100km of aerial distance from LAC,” said the MoEFCC order of 28 August, which was reviewed by Mint.

Explaining the rationale behind the move, a senior official of the environment ministry, requesting anonymity, said, “How will we save environment if we can’t save the country?”

He explained that this general approval will now also apply to the army’s critical infrastructure projects in the region like construction of depots, barracks, logistics centres and others.

“They would not need to seek separate forest clearances and would make the entire process smooth for the security forces,” he added.

However, the MoEFCC official clarified that the general approval given for the army infrastructure projects is subject to several conditions—for instance, the legal status of forest land diverted would have to be unchanged; the land would have to be outside protected areas; and the user agency would have to fund the creation of compensatory afforestation over degraded forest land equal in extent to the area of forest land utilized.

On 20 August, the Union defence ministry announced that it has decided to delegate administrative and financial powers to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). The decision was taken in order to speed up stuck road projects along the India-China border.

India shares an undemarcated 3,488-km border with China, which witnesses frequent incursions.

China’s preparedness on its side of the border is far superior to India’s in terms of roads, highways, rail lines, air strips, and logistic depots, according to security analysts in India. Concerns about poor Indian infrastructure were raised during the Doklam standoff when it was pointed out that it would be difficult for India to quickly increase its deployment in the region if tensions escalate.

The MoEFCC’s move is significant as India’s defence establishment has repeatedly complained about the slow pace of environment and forest clearance along the India-China border, saying it has delayed critical defence infrastructure. North-east India is a biodiversity rich region and the clearance process for projects involving forest diversion takes time—ranging from months to years.

In July 2017, Union minister of state for home affairs Kiren Rijiju told Lok Sabha that the central government has undertaken construction of 73 roads of operational significance along the India-China border and of those roads, 46 are being constructed by the ministry of defence and the remaining by the ministry of home affairs.

Of these 73 roads, 30 have been completed. The roads projects was expected to be completed in the year 2012-13 but were delayed due to reasons like limited working season combined with logistical issue due to the high altitude and mountainous, rugged and difficult terrain, natural calamities, delays in forest and wild life clearances, land acquisition etc.

Rijiju had pointed to general approval to roads as one of the key measures that the NDA government had taken to speed up road building.