Environmental Acts: Pollution, wildlife and forest laws

The amendment, first issued as an ordinance in November 2017, changed section 2(7) of the Indian Forest Act so that bamboo grown in non-forest areas is no longer a 'tree'. Bamboo is botanically a grass, and the change freed farmers from felling and transit permits, aiming to raise farm incomes and bamboo-based industry. Bamboo in forest areas remains regulated. The CAF came from a separate 2016 Act, and MFP ownership and community forest resources come from the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

The 2023 amendment added zoos and safaris owned by the Government or any authority (in forest areas outside protected areas), eco-tourism facilities, silvicultural operations and other purposes notified by the Centre to the activities excluded from 'non-forest purpose'. Works such as check posts, fire lines, fencing and wireless communication were already excluded under the original Explanation to section 2. Cultivation of tea, coffee, rubber or medicinal plants is expressly a non-forest purpose, and mining always needs prior approval.

All three are correct. The amending Act (passed in August 2023, in force from 1 December 2023) renamed the law as the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, and added a preamble linking forest conservation to the net zero by 2070 goal, the NDC carbon-sink target and raising forest and tree cover. Its new section 1A limits coverage to land notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act or other laws and land recorded as forest in government records on or after 25 October 1980, and excludes land changed to non-forest use on or before 12 December 1996, the date of the Godavarman order.

All three are correct. The Act placed funds that had piled up in the ad hoc CAMPA account into the public accounts of India and of each State, so they are no longer kept outside the government's books. Collections from user agencies for compensatory afforestation, net present value (NPV) of diverted forest land and other project-specific payments are split 90:10 between the State Fund and the National Fund. The Act also set up National and State authorities to manage the funds.

Items 1 and 2 need prior Central approval. Section 2 bars a State Government or other authority, without the Centre's prior approval, from (i) de-reserving a reserved forest, (ii) using forest land for a non-forest purpose, (iii) assigning forest land by lease to any entity, and (iv) clearing naturally grown trees for reafforestation. Item 3 is wrongly framed: the Explanation to section 2 expressly treats cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticultural crops or medicinal plants as a non-forest purpose, so such cultivation also needs approval, not because it is a forest purpose.

Both are correct. In the Godavarman case (a continuing mandamus), the order of 12 December 1996 held that 'forest' must be understood in its dictionary meaning, covering all statutorily recognised forests and any area recorded as forest in government records, irrespective of ownership. It directed that all ongoing non-forest activities in such areas without prior Central approval under the 1980 Act must stop. The ruling extended the Act to 'deemed forests', which is why the 2023 amendment's narrower coverage was challenged.

The first three are exempted under the new section 1A(2): strategic linear projects within 100 km of the border, LoC or LAC; security-related infrastructure up to 10 hectares; and defence, paramilitary or public-utility projects up to 5 hectares in LWE-affected areas. Also exempted are small strips along rail lines and public roads leading to habitations, and roadside amenities up to 0.10 hectare. There is no exemption for private tourism resorts; the amendment allows only eco-tourism facilities and government-run zoos and safaris (outside protected areas) as non-forest-purpose exclusions.

All three statements are correct. Because water is a State subject, the amendment (assent 15 February 2024) applied first to Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union territories, whose legislatures had passed Article 252 resolutions; other States can adopt it. A new proviso to section 25 lets the Centre, in consultation with the CPCB, exempt categories of industrial plants from consent; this was used in November 2024 for white-category units. The Act also decriminalised many offences, replacing jail with penalties of ₹10,000 up to ₹15 lakh decided by an adjudicating officer (section 45B), with appeals to the NGT.