Himachal seeks exemption under forest laws for Jal Jeevan Mission

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 11

Governor Bandaru Dattatreya has requested the Union Government to grant a one-time exemption to the state under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and Forest Rights Act, 2006, for the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Governor, in a letter to Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar, has urged him to look into the matter personally and issue necessary directions.

He said there would be no felling of trees or any other damage to the ecology of the area. Most components of the project, such as pipes and trenches, are either underground or do not damage the trees, he added.

Dattatreya told the Union Minister that the state was facing a peculiar problem in implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission as most ridge lines in the state were forest lands and no non-forestry activity was allowed in the forest area.

Since all activities related to the construction of gravity-based water supply schemes such as water storage and conservation structure, laying of main pipelines and distribution network were classified as non-forestry activities, the state is finding it difficult to construct gravity-based schemes, he added.

The Governor said instead of holding the water along the ridges, it was first allowed to drain to the valley and then lifted up with electric power to be supplied to the villages. This adds to the cost and creates other problems as well, he said.

He said in order to make good gravity-based schemes, all activities under the mission needed to be exempted from the Forest Conservation Act and this could also be done by providing a one-time exemption under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. He said it was estimated that the state would save an amount of Rs 700-750 crore annually that could be spent on the construction and maintenance of these schemes.

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