Norms eased for wood-based industry in Punjab

Chandigarh, December 8

In a boost for industry, the Punjab Forest Department has paved the way to streamline the establishment of wood-based industry in the state.

The department has clarified that as per the Ministry of Environment guidelines, called as the Wood-Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016, the industry would be permitted at a distance of 10 km from notified government block forests, besides demarcated and undemarcated protected forests in the state.

The issue had been embroiled in legal tangles after the state government made the Punjab Regulation of Wood Based Industries Rules, 2017, notified in 2019. Instead of the 10-km distance guidelines of the Centre, the state had fixed the distance to set up the industry within 100-metre aerial distance from notified government block forests, besides demarcated and undemarcated protected forests in the state. Now, the Centre’s guideline of 10 km has been made applicable. — TNS

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