No new permanent structures allowed in eco-sensitive zones: Minister in Lok Sabha
The development is significant because the standing committee for the National Wildlife Board and the Forest Advisory Committee get several proposals to locate various projects in parts of eco-sensitive zones.
No new permanent structure shall be permitted in eco-sensitive zones of forest reserve area and forest lands as per a Supreme Court order, Union environment ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The development is significant because the standing committee for the National Wildlife Board and the Forest Advisory Committee get several proposals to locate various projects in parts of eco-sensitive zones.
Kirti Vardhan Singh, minister of state (environment), made the statement while responding to a question on whether, as per the directions of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT), there is a ban on the construction of hotels, resorts etc., inside buffer zones of any forest reserve area, forest land etc. along with the catchment and submergence areas of lakes.
“The directions of the Supreme Court in an order dated June 3, 2022, stated that no new permanent structure shall be permitted for whatsoever purpose within the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ). The referred order of Supreme Court was later clarified vide the said Court order dated April 26, 2023, wherein activities were permitted subject to strict adherence of the guidelines of this Ministry dated February 9, 2011,” he said.
Lok Sabha MP Hanuman Beniwal further asked, “If so, the basis on which hotels and resorts were constructed in the buffer zone of Sariska and in the catchment area of Siliserh Lake in Alwar district of Rajasthan along with the details thereof; whether the government proposes to demolish such illegal constructions by taking suo-motu cognizance of such cases without any delay?”
Singh responded and said that “compliance of the order of the Supreme Court and the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have to be adhered by the States/Union Territories for protection and management of forest areas including Eco-Sensitive Zones.”
Responding to another question by Khalilur Rahaman of the All India Trinamool Congress, on whether the government is cognizant of the fact that increased in tourism activities in hillstations across the country are vulnerable to climate change, the MoS said, “Unregulated tourism beyond the carrying capacity of hill stations disturbs their ecological balance and may increase the vulnerability of such hill stations. Rampant infrastructural and tourism-related development, involving removal of forests and vegetation over a large area, alteration of natural water flow patterns, overloading on slopes, unscientific excavation, etc. may make the hill regions more prone to erosion and landslides, especially during heavy rainfall and earthquakes. Post disaster landslide studies carried out by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines has observed that human interference disturbs the natural environment and enhances the scope of increase in landslide occurrence.”
The GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, established by the environment ministry, strives to advance scientific knowledge and evolve integrated management strategies for conservation of biodiversity and natural resources in the Indian Himalayan Region. The ministry also implements the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) to support the sustenance and enhancement of the ecological, natural, cultural and socio-economic capital assets and values of the IHR.
In 2023-24, a total of 2,616 lives were lost due to hydrometeorological disasters, of which Bihar lost 518 lives; Himachal Pradesh lost 449 lives; Punjab lost 63,649 cattle, among highest in the country.