To
Ms Leena Nandan
Secretary
Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MEFCC)
Dear Ms Leena Nandan,
I invite your attention to a disturbing news report that a large portion of the Aravalli land in Haryana being diverted for mining, though it had been set apart earlier for compensatory afforestation towards the loss of valuable tropical forests in Great Nicobar Island for a Mega Infrastructure Project being set up there (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/notified-aravali-forest-portion-sold-for-mining/articleshow/113359785.cms)In this connection, I refer to my article
“Tropical forests in Greater Nicobar Islands to Aravalli forests in Haryana – The “Green” connection between politicians and their corporate allies” (https://countercurrents.org/2023/11/tropical-forests-in-greater-nicobar-islands-to-aravalli-forests-in-haryana-the-green-connection-between-politicians-and-their-corporate-allies/) in which I pointed out how your Ministry’s clearance for diversion of the tropical forest habitat in Greater Nicobar Island for the Mega Infra Project there was ill-advised and imprudent, violating the spirit of the apex court’s well-known Godavarman judgement, as the court’s intention was that precious forest land should in the first instance be conserved as a rule and, if an exception were to be made, it should result in afforesting at least twice the area of the forest land to be lost at the nearest location. To say that far-off Haryana lands would be afforded to make good for the loss of a unique tropical forest stretch in Greater Nicobar Island would amount to a highly distorted interpretation of the Godavarman judgement. My article gave examples of how Haryana is deliberately denuding its own forest lands, in the ecologically sensitive Aravalli range, caving in to the greed of real estate developers and how linking Haryana to compensatory afforestation for damaging forests in Greater Nicobar Island would be nothing more than outright violation of the spirit and intent of the Godavarmam judgement.
The latest report ((https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/notified-aravali-forest-portion-sold-for-mining/articleshow/113359785.cms) further corroborates what I pointed out in the above-cited article, as a portion of the land identified in Haryana for undertaking compensatory afforestation for the forest land being lost for the Mega Infra Project in Greater Nicobar Island is now being diverted for mining, a measure, if what has been reported is factually correct, that amounts to violating the Godavarman direction of the apex court. In my view, this calls for an independent investigation.
I request you to refer to my letters to Rashtrapatiji (readily accessible at https://countercurrents.org/2024/06/open-letter-to-the-president-of-india-who-will-stand-up-for-229-shompens-pvtg-and-27168-nicobarese-tribals-in-great-nicobar-island-whose-interests-stand-ignored-by-a-mega-infra-project/) on how clearances given by your Ministry, both forest clearance and environmental clearance, for the Mega Infrastructure Project in Great Nicobar Island in the first instance violated the provisions of the A&N Islands Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation (ANIPATR) notified through a Presidential Proclamation in 1956 under Article 243(2) of the Constitution.
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May I request you to refer the whole matter revolving around wholesale diversion of the lands identified in Haryana for compensatory afforestation for the Mega Infra Project in Greater Nicobar Island for an independent enquiry so that violations, if any, in respect of the norm for compensatory afforestation stipulated by the apex court may be established for your Ministry to take corrective steps. If your Ministry fails to act urgently, it could become a party to committing contempt of the Godavarman judgement.
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
