Two lakh hectares of forest razed in four years

CHENNAI: The Environment Ministry has allowed more than two lakh hectares of forest to be chopped down in the past four years for industrialisation and other developmental activities, according to a study by the Centre for Science and Environment.  From 2007, the extent of forest land diverted for deve­lopmental projects accounts for about 25 per cent of the total area of wooded area given up since 1981. The stu­dy also notes that Tamil Nadu obtained the maximu­m number of environmental clearances for setting up thermal power plants, compared to any other state.“In the period between 2007 and August 2011, 8,284 projects were granted forest clearance and 2,03,576 hectares of forest land was diverted,” the study noted.  “The area of forest land diverted is equal to the average area of two tiger reserves and about four times the area of a Panna or a Tadoba tiger reserve,” it said.  The rejection rates for clearances were extremely low—only six per between 1980 and July 2011.“Clearly, the present syste­m of forest clearance is not wor­king for the environment and needs to be stopped until a transparent and effective system is put into place,” says Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director of Centre for Science and Environment. “MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) must impose a moratorium on forest clearance and use the time period to strengthen its regulatory mechanisms,” he said.Significantly, a large proportion of these lands, about 50,000 hectares, was allotted for mining and power projects. And Tamil Nadu got clearances for 37 thermal power plants in the state.  Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra follow with clearance for 31 plants.