Facilitating oil, gas exploration, pvt plantations in govt plans
The Centre has released a consultation paper on amending the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, to bring significant changes to how forest land is managed in India, a move that will facilitate private plantations and the extraction of oil and natural gas from deep beneath forest land by drilling holes from outside the forest areas, although some experts are worried that the changes could actually accelerate trade in what is unquestionably India’s most precious commodity — land.
According to the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, the amendment recognises considerable changes in the ecological, social, and environmental regimes in the country in the last 40 years. State governments have been asked to send their comments within 15 days.
