New Delhi: After making a series of changes to simplify green clearance rules in the last three years, the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi now wants the environment ministry to further water down forest clearance rules.

The prime minister’s office (PMO) also wants the environment ministry to speed up clearance of pending cases and regularly follow up with state governments to push such projects.

The issue was discussed at a 15 March meeting the of PMO’s project monitoring group (PMG) where the review of pending projects was taken up.

The PMG’s mandate includes fast tracking approvals for setting up and commissioning large public, private and -public-private partnership projects. Starting out as a body under the cabinet secretariat in 2013, it was brought under the PMO in September 2015.

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“As part of suggestions to improve the speed of decision making in respect of forest clearances, the representatives of MoRT&H (ministry of road transport and highways) and ministry of coal suggested that identification of land for compensatory afforestation can be done after grant of stage-II forest clearance … The user agencies can be asked to deposit the compensation for land in advance and prior to Stage-II FC. However, the clearances need not be held up for want of identification of such land," said the minutes of the PMG’s 15th March meeting, which were reviewed by Mint.

The minutes said that, “such lands are usually identified with the concurrence of forest department and hence the delinking of Stage-II FC and CA (compensatory afforestation) land can considerably improve the progress in several held up projects". PMG wanted the environment ministry to examine the suggestion at an early date.

But environment ministry officials are unsure about the change sought as they feel they may not be legally tenable.

“Not everything that is suggested can be implemented. The changes suggested may not be legally tenable. A final decision on this is yet to be taken," said a senior official of the environment ministry, who wished to remain anonymous.

The environment ministry gives clearance for using forest land for non-forestry purposes like mining and infrastructure projects under the Forest Conservation Act 1980.

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This is not the first time PMO has pushed for easing the rules on environment, forest and wildlife clearances. In the run-up to May 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to simplify green clearance rules after complaints from industry that delays in environmental clearance were stalling projects and economic growth. Soon after assuming power, the PMO’s principal secretary Nripendra Misra led an effort that saw the implementation of nearly all 60 action points suggested by industry bodies.

The environment ministry has also put the process of environment, forest, wildlife and coastal regulation zone clearances online.

But during the PMG’s March meeting, it was claimed that a large number of case were awaiting approval in some states.

“It was therefore considered essential that an institutional mechanism be set up within the ministry to constantly monitor and review the pendency and periodically remind all concerned officers in the States to dispose (of) the pending applications," noted the minutes, adding that the environment ministry will send periodic reminders to states.

The ministry has already sent one such reminder to states in March, asking all officers dealing with forest diversion cases to process them within the prescribed time limits.

Environmental law experts are, however, not convinced.

“Identifying land for compensatory afforestation provides a definite parameter for compliance. It is essential. De-linking may ease the process, but it would be foolish. It is because we don’t have a strong monitoring framework and there are enough examples of poor Forest Clearance monitoring," said Sanjay Upadhyay, an environmental advocate in the Supreme Court and managing partner of the Enviro Legal Defence Firm, an environmental law firm that also deals with training, education, publishing and outreach work.

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