Hundreds of guidelines and clarifications are making it hard to understand regulations that protect India’s forests.
Last week, I wrote about the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, which aims to modify the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, India’s primary law to stop deforestation caused by industrial and other projects. The bill wants to reduce the extent of forests covered under the law, and leaves out specific activities from its ambit. Naturally, this has drawn criticism from various quarters. It is now up to a joint parliamentary committee to look into these issues and make its recommendations to the government.
As it does so, it is perhaps a good time to relook at the entire legal edifice of …
Nihar Gokhale led the Chaos coverage at The Morning Context. Nihar wrote on the environment, the economy and resource conflicts in India. He has reported from across the country on everything from displacement, pollution and environmental violations to land regulation, corruption and human rights. He was earlier associate editor at Land Conflict Watch, and his work has appeared in Scroll, The Wire, IndiaSpend, The Caravan and Mongabay India.
Editor, Chaos
nihar@mailtmc.com
Delhi