Clearance to Durgawati Reservoir Project

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Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
28-November-2011 17:13 IST

The Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India has granted the stage-I clearance to the Durgawati Reservoir Project on 13 April 2010.

The Ministry has laid down conditions for giving the final approval of the said project. The said conditions have been given in annexure I.

The compliance of the conditions is pending at the level of the State Government of Bihar. As and when the compliance is received, the Ministry will consider the grant of final approval.

Annexure I

Conditions for giving final clearance to Durgawati Reservoir Project

1	Legal Status of the forest land being considered for diversion shall remain unchanged.
2	Twice the sanctuary area permitted to be diverted i.e. approximately 1200 ha non-forest area to be included into Kaimur WL Sanctuary and to be notified as part of the WL Sanctuary before the final approval for diversion.
3	The boundary of the land diverted should be delineated clearly on map as well as demarcated on ground by erecting four feet high concrete pillars with numbers and bearings to avoid any dispute in future.
4	Five percent for the revised estimate cost of the project will be deposited by the project authorities for conservation, protection and improvement of National parks and Sanctuaries in the state of Bihar. For utilization of the fund, a society under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary, Bihar with Principal Secretary (Forest), PCCF, CWLW as its member and one officer not below the rank of CCF as its Member Secretary may be got registered. The amount should be deposited in an interest bearing account (s) in a nationalized bank (s) maintained by Society and income received by way of interest should be used in perpetuity for conservation, Protection and development of forest and wildlife in the State.
5	A wildlife management plan shall be got prepared in consultation of the CWLW of the state and allocation of fund strictly to the extent required shall be made available by the project authorities
6	Compensatory Afforestation (CA) shall be raised and maintained over equivalent non-forest land (2029.802 ha) at the project cost.
7	The non-forest land earmarked for CA shall be acquired, mutated and transferred to the State Forest Department
8	The State Government shall issue Notification (s) Under Section 4 (for Section 29 as the case may be) of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (or the corresponding Local Act) to constitute the non forest land identified for raising Compensatory Afforestation as RF/PF within six months w.e.f. the date of issue of this letter. The Nodal Officer shall report compliance.
9	The State Government shall charge the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forest area diverted under this proposal from the user agency as per the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court vide order dated 30.10.2002 and 01.08.2003 in IA No. 566 in WP (c) no. 202/1995 and as per the guidelines issued by this Ministry letter No. 5-1/1998-FC (Pt.II) dated 18.09.2003 and 22.09.2003, as well as letter No. 5-2/2006-FC dated 03.10.2006 in this regard.
10	Additional amount of NPV of the diverted forest land, if any, becoming due after finalization of the same by Hon’ble Supreme Court on receipt of the report from the Expert Committee, shall be charged by the State Government form the user agency. The user agency shall furnish an undertaking to this effect.
11	All the funds received from the user agency shall be transferred to Ad-hoc CAMPA in account number 1576 of Corporation Bank, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003.
12	Any tree felling shall be done under strict supervision of State Forest Department and only when it becomes necessary.
13	The reservoir created under the project shall be declared as Reserved Forests under the India Forest Act, 1927 with regulated fishing rights.
14	Tree felling shall be permitted below FRL-4 mts level only.
15	Water will be provided free for cost to the forest Department for raising nursery/plantations in nearby areas.
16	Catchments Area Treatment Plan shall be implemented at the project cost under the Supervision of State Forest Department.
17	No labour camps shall be established on the forest land.
18	The user agency shall ensure that there should be no damage to the wildlife in the area.
19	The approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, w980 is subject to clearance under the Environment (protection) Act, 1986 if required.
20	The forest land shall not be used for any purpose other than that specified in the proposal.
21	Any other condition that the state Government as well as CCF (Central) Regional Office, Bhubaneswar may impose from time to time for protection and improvement of flora and fauna in the forest area, shall be binding on the project proponent.
22	The State Government and the User agency shall ensure compliance of the provisions of scheduled Tribes and other forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and provisions of any other Acts Rules etc in vogue and applicable in the case.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan in a written reply to a question by . Shri Jagadanand Singh in Lok Sabha today.