The Union Environment Ministry’s Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) has “in principle” cleared the Rajasthan government’s proposal to divert 120 hectares of forest to extend an airstrip in Kolana (Jhalrapatan district), which happens to be the constituency of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
This was after the FAC reprimanded the State government for “violating” forest conservation laws and diverting nine acres of land in 2008 while developing the same airstrip.
Case pending
A case was filed against three Public Works Department officials of Rajasthan and is still to be adjudicated by the courts.
“The State government must explain in detail why and how it allowed use of forest land for non-forestry purpose, i.e. aerial strip construction,” said an FAC committee report on January 25.
The Rajasthan government envisages the Kolana airstrip to morph into a full-blown air terminal and this means elongating the 1700-metre airstrip to a 3000-metre one. This also means expanding the 50-hectare terminal and pooling in an additional 120 hectares of forest land in the vicinity of the Mukundara Tiger Reserve.
Among the other conditions imposed as part of giving the go-ahead to the project, the FAC also requires that the State government plant at least 1000 plants per hectare, as compensation, at another suitable tract of land. An extra 25% of compensatory afforestation penalty would be imposed on the State government for soil and moisture conservation. The land diverted also couldn’t be used for making shops, residence, parks and recreational centres.
