Forest clearing provision impractical: Arun III officials
Mon, Jan 11, 2016 10:07 AM on External Media,
An existing provision that requires development projects to plant trees equivalent to trees uprooted for project development has emerged as a stumbling block for Arun III hydropower project, according to officials of Indian-firm Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited.
The project with capacity of 900 MW has to 117 hectares of land, including 85 hectares of government forest. “It is impossible for us to buy such a huge land plot and plant trees there,” Hare Ram Subedi, local representative of the Indian developer, told media persons at a press meet organized by Investment Board Nepal on Friday. “Our project cannot be viable without reviewing this provision.
The provision came into force after Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation issued a guideline as per the directive of parliamentary Natural Resources and Means Committee two years ago.
Hari Krishna Upreti, senior community relation officer of Investment Board Nepal, also said the obligatory provision was creating difficulty for big projects like Arun III. “Private land of this size is not easily available. Even if it is available, the price is very expensive,” added Upreti. He also said even wasteland without any tree has been categorized as forest.
“The government should take a practical approach of planting trees in project area,” he added.
As per the existing provision, projects have to register private land in the name of District Forest Offices to get permission for forest clearance.
“Arun III is not the only project that has suffered due to this provision enforced with a view of keeping forest area intact while carrying out development activities,” Khadga Bahadur Bisht, president of Independent Power Producers' Association, said. “We are waiting for the government to change this provision and switch to the previous provision that required projects to make plantation anywhere in the project-affected district.”
Source: Republica
