1. Issues and challenges for senior forestry professionals in facilitating infrastructure
creation leading to transformational changes in the economic growth of India
Karan Singh Negi
School of Management
Doon University
Dehradun
Email: karannegi1990@rediffmail.com
Abstract
In India, forests, occupy about 22 percent of the total geographical area, with most of the
forests being owned by the government. The total recorded forest area of India is about 697,898
sq kms which is about 21.23% of the total geographical area of the country (FSI 2013). This rich
forest resource lies in reserved, protected and other forest areas and also in more than 500
national parks and sanctuaries which have been set up for protecting the wild animals. In many
cases, the density of trees in these forests could vary from 10% to 90%, though all recorded
forest lands may not always have a tree cover. These forests are the home to thousands of
different species of animals and plants whose survival is essential for maintaining the
environment.
The Indian Forest Act of 1927 remains the main law for management of this vast forest
resource. At the time of independence, the condition of the forests of India was considered better
in terms of area and its quality as compared to at present. (NFC 2006). As the economic growth
of India accelerated, forest lands were needed for infrastructure development like roads, railway
lines, ports, hydroelectric projects, canals, power transmission lines, industrial complexes,
mining and other related activities. Due to a shortage of land for these activities and also as
forests often lie in areas where roads, railway lines, electric transmission lines or canals are to
pass through, or where minerals like coal, iron etc are located beneath the earth, forests need to
be cleared for facilitating economic growth.
As a result, there has been a decline in the forest area of the country and this led to the
enactment of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 which states that no forest land can be
diverted for non-forestry purposes, except with the prior permission of the central government.
Afterwards, additions were made to this act and many guidelines were issued, making the
procedures time consuming and difficult. There is provision in this law for compensatory
afforestation to compensate for this area of forest taken for infrastructure development.
However, difficult procedures and the presence in some infrastructure projects of rich forest
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2. areas including national parks and sanctuaries, has led to a situation where forest land (which is
nearly 22% of the total geographical area of India) for infrastructure development has became
difficult to obtain. Major projects may get delayed due to lack of permissions from the forest
department.
The Indian Forest Service, one of the three all-India Services, provides senior professionals
for the forestry sector in India. The main functions of the Indian Forest Service are to provide
personnel for important middle and high level positions related to forestry in the central and state
governments; to maintain a reasonable level of uniformity in functioning of the senior forest
service in the country and to ensure that the policies of the central government are taken into
account in forest management (Negi 2015).
Implementation of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, in letter and spirit by the senior
forestry professionals has helped in maintaining the forest cover at about 22% in spite of all the
pressure on the land due to development activities. However, permissions for use of forest land
for infrastructure are difficult to get and takes a long time. As a result there are delays in major
projects like roads, railways, airports, mining etc. thus indirectly affecting the process of
transformational change in promoting brand India. Difficulty in getting permission for use of
forest land is one of the reasons for slow development of roads, railway lines, canals,
transmission lines and other infrastructure projects in India and is seen as an obstacle for
transformational change.
The senior forestry professionals, who have the mandate for managing India’s forests,
face the challenge of conserving the forests and also facilitating infrastructure creation leading to
the economic growth of India. While forests need to be preserved for environmental conservation
and protecting the animals and plants living in them, forest land is needed for infrastructure
development leading to transformational change and supporting the process of brand India. This
is the major challenge facing the senior forestry professionals in India. Their immediate
professional responsibility is conserving the forests while the larger interest of the country lies in
facilitating infrastructure development and also protecting the environment. The challenge is
how to balance between forest conservation and facilitate infrastructure development leading to
transformational changes.
Ease of use of forest land for infrastructure development would mean better and faster
means of transport of people and goods from one part of the country to the other; increased
power generation and its transmission for use in all regions and reduced dependence on import of
resources like coal. This would lead to transformational change in the development of
infrastructure in all parts of India, particularly the backward regions which also need to grow at a
faster pace.
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3. Another challenge is how to effectively implement the compensatory afforestation plan
which is required to be done whenever forest land is used for infrastructure and other non-
forestry purposes.
In recent years many steps have been taken for facilitating the procedures for use of
forest land for infrastructure development. These include a time line for actions at various levels
in the forest department; online submission and processing of applications and a GIS based
decision support system which informs the infrastructure developer of the quality of the forest
land he needs and if this land can be approved or not.
Analysis of the recent initiatives taken to streamline the procedures for use of forest land
for infrastructure development and the existing HRM issues related to the senior forestry
professionals, have revealed that they can meet these challenges of balancing forest conservation
and infrastructure development by further streamlining the procedures by cutting delays,
strengthening capacity enhancement and strategic thinking on these matters.
While the present training is traditional, it needs to include skills required for forest
conservation and facilitating infrastructure development for accelerating economic growth (Negi
2014). The senior forestry professionals need to focus on strategic changes in forest management
and also to focus on gaps in the implementation on the compensatory afforestation schemes
which are required to be done whenever, permission is given for the use of forest land for non-
forestry purposes including for infrastructure development. There is need for the senior forestry
professionals to reorient their thinking and actions for meeting the challenges faced in facilitating
infrastructure development in India.
Key words: Infrastructure development; Transformational changes; Forest land; Forestry
professionals
INTRODUCTION
Nearly 22 percent of the total geographical area of India consists of forest, falling in the
category of reserved, protected and other forest. These are owned by the government, except a
few forest areas which belong to private individuals. As India attains economic growth, roads,
railway lines, ports, power plants, airports and many other facilities need to be set up for
supporting high levels of growth. Land is needed for these and often, these need to come up on
forest land. As a result, there could be loss of forest when it is cleared for creating infrastructure
for economic growth.
Forests are complex ecosystems which need to be preserved and maintained in natural
conditions for providing us with water, soil conservation, biodiversity and many other benefits.
They are also a source of livelihood for millions of people living in and around these areas,
particularly the tribal communities. The life, life style and economic well being of the people
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4. living in and around forest areas depend on the forests. In this way, destruction of the forest
affects them directly and also has an adverse effect on the environment. However, when forest
land is needed for economic growth, its diversion for non-forestry purposes is required to be
approved by the central government under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980, which
prescribes that prior approval for such non-forestry use of forest land is needed. After this Act
came into force, the procedure for such permission has evolved based on the need of the hour
and also on the basis of different judgments of the Supreme Court of India.
The main enforcing agency of this Act is the forest department which is manned by
forestry professionals belonging to the Indian Forest Service. The Indian Forest Service is the
senior most professional service in India, coming into being (in its present form) in October
1966 as the third all-India Service with the other two being the Indian Administrative Service
and the Indian Police Service. It provides officers at the senior level to the forest departments in
all states and union territories in India and also to the central government, mainly to the Ministry
of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The Forest Conservation Act of 1980 is the main law under which non-forestry use of
forest land can be permitted. It is both regulatory in nature and also is a law which facilitates the
growth of infrastructure, in the absence of which infrastructure creation leading to
transformational changes in the economic growth of India would not take place. However, the
main object of this Act remains conserving forests, thus the senior forestry professionals face a
major challenge in striking a balance between conservation and development.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objectives of this study are:
1- To analyze the process for use of forest for infrastructure creation leading to economic
growth.
2- To identify the issues and challenges for senior forestry professionals in facilitating
infrastructure creation leading to transformational changes in the economic growth of
India.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology adopted for this study has been summarized in the following points:
a-Primary data
Primary data was collected through informal personal interviews with senior forestry
professionals at the headquarters of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
New Delhi and also in the state headquarters of the forest departments of the states of Himachal
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5. Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The main purpose was to understand the process, procedural changes,
issues and challenges.
b-Secondary data
Secondary data has been collected through consultation of published and unpublished
literature including books and reports. The web site of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change was also consulted.
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The following results have been obtained after analysis of the primary and secondary data
collected for this study:
Process
The process for obtaining prior approval of the central government for use of forest land for
non-forestry purposes starts with the user agency (UA) for creating infrastructure or any other
purpose. This could be the National Highway Authority of India or Public Works Department in
the case of roads; Power companies or Port Authority or Power Transmission Companies. The
User Agency identifies the forest needed by them and then files an application with the field
functionaries of the forest department of the state where the forest land is required by them.
Thereafter, the field functionaries prepare detailed reports which includes the details of the
forest land proposed to be used for infrastructure development; vegetation growing on it such as
trees and the species to which they belong; occurrence of wild animals; rights of local
communities on the forest land and measures for mitigating the effects of infrastructure
development, suggested by the field staff of the forest department.
The proposal of the use agency is then sent to the higher authorities such as the conservator of
forests; chief conservator of forests and then to the principal chief conservator of forests who
sends it to the state government. These are levels of officers, most of them middle and senior
level forestry professionals.
After this the proposal is sent by the state government to the Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change for prior approval under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. The proposal
is put up to the Forest Advisory Committee which may recommend the proposal or reject it or
ask for modifications to be done.
Once the proposal is finally recommended by the Forest Advisory Committee it is placed
before the Central Minister in charge of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for approval.
After this the in-principle approval is granted to the infrastructure project following which the
user agency deposits the required fees for compensatory afforestation and Net Present Value of
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6. the Forest; complies with other conditions. The state government concerned satisfies itself that
the conditions have been complied and then informs the central government, which grants the
final approval. After this the forest is used for creating the infrastructure for economic growth.
Procedural changes
The process for approvals under the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 has changed over the
past many decades, mainly as a part of the evolution of the process after the Act came into being.
In the last one year, many procedural changes have taken place in this process of forest clearance
and these are helping in facilitating infrastructure creation leading to transformational changes in
the economic growth of India.
The procedural changes which have come into effect recently and that will help in facilitating
creation of infrastructure have been brought out in the following text:
1- Time lines have been fixed for processing cases for approvals of the use of forest land for
non-forestry purposes. The time in which these matters are to be processed at various
levels is fixed, in order to reduce delays. Systems have also been put in place to track the
proposals at various levels.
2- A Geographical Information System(GIS) based decision support system has been
developed which enables the applicant to access the data of the forest land which is
required for creation of infrastructure facility such as nature of the forest land; its legal
position; density of the forest; grasslands it may contain or water bodies or any other
related information.
3- Four more regional offices of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
have set up for facilitating the process. Now there are ten offices at Bhopal, Dehradun,
Nagpur, Chennai, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Shillong, Ranchi and Lucknow.
Each regional office caters to the needs of specific states. Opening of new offices will
help in fast clearances.
4- Regional Empowered Committees have been set up in each of these regions for clearing
forest conservation cases. These committees comprise of official and non- official
members and have been given powers to process cases of forest land up to 40 hectares
except mining; hydro-power and regularization of encroachments. They have full powers
for all linear projects which include infrastructure projects like roads, railway lines and
canals. In this way, it is expected that the Regional Empowered Committees would
handle a large number of cases related to infrastructure like roads and railway lies which
would not be required to be sent to Delhi. This would reduce the delays which were
taking place earlier.
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7. 5- In case of defence roads, general approval has been given for roads required by the
defence forces including para-military forces within 100 kms. from Indo-China border so
as to facilitate infrastructure development in the border areas.
6- The approval of forest land for mining projects has been made co-terminus with the
period of the mining lease. This has also been done for reducing delays in such approvals
for forest land.
Issues
Senior forestry professionals managing the forests of India belong to the Indian Forest
Service. They occupy various positions in the state and central government organizations,
mainly the forest departments and as they gain experience occupy the highest levels of posts. The
IFS officers hold the responsibility of conserving the forests while also facilitating the process of
infrastructure development by facilitating forest clearances. This is a delicate balance that needs
to be maintained so that forests continue to be maintained at the present levels while land
becomes available for infrastructure creation for the development of the country.
Based on this study, the main issues before senior forestry professionals in facilitating
infrastructure creation leading to transformational changes in the economic growth of India are
given in the following points:
1-Compensatory afforestation
When forest clearance is given for creation of infrastructure for facilitating economic
growth of India, the forest lost is compensated by a system of compensatory afforestation under
which tree plantation is required to be done in a non-forest area equal to the forest area which has
been lost due to the infrastructure project. This land has to be planted with trees and transferred
in the name of the forest department. The cost of the land and tree plantation is borne by the
agency that is creating the infrastructure for development. Government agencies like the Public
Works Departments are not required to do tree plantation on non-forest land but they can opt for
plantation on degraded forest land two times the area of the land which is being used for creation
of the infrastructure.
The object of this provision is to ensure that the total forest area of the country does not
reduce and the forest land which is used for roads or any other infrastructure gets compensated
by adding non-forest land. However, there are many issues of concern in this compensatory
afforestation process. These are:
a- Due to pressure on all types of lands in India, non-forest land may not be available for tree
planting under compensatory afforestation.
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8. b- The agency creating the infrastructure such as Public Works Department or National
Highways Authority of India needs to do tree planting on the degraded land. This increases
the cost of the project.
c- The moneys for compensatory afforestation is paid to the Adhoc Compensatory
Afforestation Fund (CAMPA) and then released to the state CAMPA authority for doing the
tree plantation. This is a slow process and often, there occur delays. In this way, the rate of
loss of forest for infrastructure creation is more than the rate at which compensatory
afforestation can be done by the state governments. This is an issue of concern for senior
forestry professionals.
2-Net Present Value (NPV)
Net Present Value (NPV) is the value of the forest that is being cleared for creation of
infrastructure like roads, railway lines, ports, airports etc. The agencies developing the
infrastructure need to pay the NPV to the forest departments at the prescribed rates. This
amount is to be used for conservation of forests. Though the amount of NPV is not very high,
still, payment of NPV means that the cost of infrastructure creation increases.
Further, use of the NPV for forest conservation is done through the CAMPA process and is
slow. Huge funds are lying unspent and the rate at which forest land is being lost is faster than
the rate at which the NPV being paid is spent by the state forest departments.
3-Technical decisions
Forests often lie in areas where roads, railway lines, electric transmission lines or canals are to
pass through, or where minerals like coal, iron etc are located beneath the earth. Thus, forests are
needed to be cleared for facilitating economic growth. The process of decision making for forest
clearances leading to the creation of infrastructure for facilitating economic growth in India is
complex and usually time consuming. It has already been stated in the previous text that the
proposal starts with the application of the user agency to the forest department of the state
concerned. Various forms have to be filled up and then the proposal is processed through the
forest guard who is at the lowest level in the forest department. The area of the forest land is
confirmed on the ground and number of trees that need to be felled for creating the infrastructure
are counted and a list made.
After this, the proposal or file is sent to the deputy ranger; range officer and divisional forest
officer of the area who may inspect the forest to be used for the infrastructure. The divisional
forest officer forwards the proposal to the conservator of forests who sends it to the nodal officer
of the state. Then the file is sent to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests or head of the
forest department.
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9. Once the forest department agrees to the forest land being used for creating the infrastructure,
it forwards the proposal to the state government which gives certificates that the forest land is
necessary for the infrastructure and also about the proposal for compensatory afforestation. The
state government sends the proposal to the regional office of the Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change for further processing.
The issues in processing for technical decisions are:
a- The actual area of the forest to be used for infrastructure creation. Often, the Public
Works Department or National Highway Authority of India may ask for a larger area than
is actually needed.
b- Rich forest may be needed to be cut for the infrastructure project.
c- Trees may have to be felled, which often, are valuable and their loss is difficult to
replace.
d- Taking technical decisions by balancing the need for infrastructure creation, while
conserving the forest.
e- Processing the forest clearance cases speedily so that the rate of infrastructure creation is
not slowed down, as this could affect the rate of economic growth in the country.
Challenges
The challenges faced by senior forestry professionals in facilitating infrastructure creation
leading to transformational changes in the economic growth of India have been bought out in the
following points:
a- There is an increased requirement of forest for creation of infrastructure like roads,
railway lines, canals, ports, power transmission lines and mining of minerals like coal and
iron. This is increasing as the pace of economic development in India increases.
b- The procedures for forest clearance are cumbersome and often this leads to delay in
creation of infrastructure. Many projects get delayed due to lack of timely clearance
from the forest department. . Difficulty in getting permission for use of forest land is one
of the reasons for slow development of roads, railway lines, canals, transmission lines
and other infrastructure projects in India and is seen as an obstacle for transformational
change.
c- Rich forest land may have to be used for such purposes. The challenge is how to maintain
the forest cover and also how to facilitate economic development in the country.
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10. d- Using the available technology such as Geographical Information Systems and
Information Technology for faster decision making in matters of forest clearance for
infrastructure creation.
e- Senior forestry professionals face the challenge of conserving forests, particularly those
vital for ecological reasons and also facilitating infrastructure development leading to
transformational changes.
f- Ease of use of forest land for infrastructure development would mean better and faster
means of transport of people and goods from one part of the country to the other;
increased power generation and transmission for use in all regions and reduced
dependence on import of resources like coal. This would lead to transformational change
in the development of infrastructure in all parts of India, particularly the backward
regions which also need to grow at a faster pace.
g- Another challenge is how to effectively implement the compensatory afforestation plan
which is required to be done whenever forest land is used for infrastructure and other
non-forestry purposes.
h- Enhancing the skills of staff of the forest departments for facilitating forest clearances for
infrastructure development. This would mean use of modern technology; following
specific time lines; balancing between conservation and development and re-orienting
their thinking.
REFERENCES
FSI 2013- India’s State of Forest Report, 2013, Forest Survey of India, Govt. of India, Dehradun
MOEFCC- website of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change- moef.nic.in
Negi K.S. 2014- Training of Indian Forest Service professionals: an analysis, Int. Jour. Business Mgt and
Leadership, vol 5 no.3, 527-538.
Negi K.S. 2015- Professional forest services in India: an analysis: International Journal of Management,
IT and Engineering, In Press
NFC 2006- Report of the National Forest Commission, Govt .of India, Ministry of Environment and
Forests, New Delhi
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