Underlining the whole-of-the-nation approach of the Narendra Modi-led government that has been the cornerstone strategy in tackling challenges, Union minister for forest and environment minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday stressed the primacy of national security.
Asked on the issue relating to several military infrastructure and strategic projects of the Indian military that are reportedly being stalled due to delayed forest and environmental clearances, Yadav told THE WEEK on the sidelines of a press conference: “National security is paramount”.
The minister’s stand is in alignment with the government push for changes are contained in the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023 that was laid down in the Lok Sabha on March 29.
The bill seeks to exempt upto 100 km from the border—in the entire sweep along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan—from the purview of the law so that road construction and setting up of military infrastructure is not held back especially in the backdrop of a frenetic construction activities by both India and China at the border.
The extant law is the Forest Act of 1980.
With large stretches of the LAC-LoC being forested and green-covered, any construction activity in this swath requires adherence to ‘green norms’ and accordingly permission from the relevant authorities.
The media meet was organized to mark the achievements in the nine years of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
A key achievement highlighted was the sharp reduction in average time taken for environmental clearances at the central level from an average period of more than 600 days before 2014 to less than 75 days in 2023. For forest clearance, the average time taken has come down to less than 135 days in 2021-2022.
The Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government swept to power in 2014.
In wildlife conservation, the report card showed an increased population of tigers (42.27% increase), Asiatic lions (28.9%), leopards (81.26%) and the one-horned rhinoceros (15.38%) in the nine-year period from 2014 to 2023.
A notable effort was the Project Cheetah which involved the first ever continental translocation project in the wild from Africa to India.
In the conservation and restoration sector, there was a 188% increase in the number of Ramsar Sites from 26 in 2014 to 75 in 2023.
In 2021, India was designated as a Global Champion for Energy Transition during the UN High Level Dialogue. India now stands fourth in terms of installed renewable energy capacity, fourth in terms of wind installed capacity and fifth in terms of solar installed capacity.