Exempt exploratory drilling from clearance, consider it ‘forest activity’, says government panel

Exploratory drilling in forest areas for hydroelectric and pumped storage projects should be considered forest activity and made exempt from obtaining forest clearance, the Forest Advisory Committee has said, adding to a spate of recent policy changes that will ease the environmental compliance burden for pumped hydro and other development projects.

The exemption will allow for the felling of up to 100 trees for exploratory drilling in forest areas and consider it “forest activity,” so as to keep it outside the purview of the Forest (Conservation) Act, which mandates clearance for non-forest activity.

The Committee’s decision was made after the Power Ministry’s secretary argued that similar exemptions were already in place for mining activities, and that the purpose of setting up hydropower and pumped storage projects was to “to reduce dependence on fossil fuel based electricity” and increase the share of renewable energy “to tackle climate change”.

The Forest Advisory Committee is a statutory body that advises the government on matters related to the conservation and use of forest land for non-forestry purposes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

The Ministry of Power is in the midst of redrafting its hydropower policy “in order to give boost to development of hydro power projects for clean energy,” the...

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