Felling of 30,000 trees for Bist Doab canal renovation stalled

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 17

The felling of 30,000 full-grown eucalyptus, ‘sheesham’ and ‘keekar’ trees — standing on a land strip classified as protected forest — under a project to rejuvenate the Bist Doab canal has been stalled.

Worth crores of rupees, the trees, located along the canal meandering through Nawanshahr and Jalandhar districts, were to be felled by the Punjab Forest Corporation.

Contrary to the stand taken by the state Forest Department that it does not require permission of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for diversion of forest under the Forest Conservation Act 1980, the state government has asked the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) to reassess the stand and get the case examined from a different team of officials.

“Being the head of department, the PCCF has been asked to get the case re-assessed and take necessary permissions if required. The department has also been asked to access the exact number of trees to be axed,” said Principal Secretary, Forests, Viswajeet Khanna.

The controversy over the felling of trees erupted after foresters and environmentalists cried foul over the stand taken by the state Forest Department where the department has shown it as forest area in its working plan of the Garhshankar forest division and the trees were enumerated.

As per the Forest Conservation Act and instructions of the Supreme Court, the user agency (Irrigation Department in this case) has to apply for diversion of land through the Forest Department to the Union ministry.

On approval, the user agency has to pay the compensatory afforestation cost and net present value of the land to be diverted to the state Forest Department. This money is then used to plant double the number of trees.

“The modernisation of the Bist-Doab canal as part of a plan to renovate the 801-km-long stretch of the canal network at a cost of Rs 269.78 crore to provide irrigation facility to the cultivated land of 847 villages is a welcome thing. But the necessary permissions should be taken so that the state government is not embarrassed,” said another officer.