No action against forest law violation in Gujarat: CAG report

Gandhinagar : A CAG report has said that despite an order to the Gujarat government to file complaints against Adani Power Limited (APL) for alleged violation of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 while laying a power transmission line, the state had till date failed to take action in the matter.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) economic report ending March 2017 observed that for the transmission of power produced at Mundra plant, the APL set up high-voltage transmission line in the wildlife protected area of the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) without prior approval from the central government in 2009. 

The LRK is a nesting ground of lesser and greater flamingoes and also a stopover for migratory birds. 

The APL required diversion of 18.20 hectares of forest land and 40.77 hectares of non-forest land of the Wild Ass Sanctuary (WAS) for laying the Mundra-Dehgam transmission line. 

Though the company was said to be required to obtain prior permission under the Forest Conservation Act and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, but field inspections in March 2009 revealed that the company had already laid the transmission line without prior permission. 

The APL was ordered to stop work, which it did in March 2009. Subsequently, the Ministry of Forests, Environment and Climate Change granted in-principle approval for diversion of forest land in May 2009. 

In May 2009, the APL applied for the diversion of sanctuary land under Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act even though it allegedly started work in January 2009. The permission for the same was granted by the Principle Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) in September 2010. 

However, in May 2015, the Ministry ordered the Gujarat government to inquire into the alleged violation of forest law by the APL and file complaint within a month against persons found prima facie guilty. 

But till date, no such complaint had been filed against any APL official. 

The Ministry had issued guidelines in May 2014 to emphasise the use of insulated conductors to prevent electrocution of birds in the Little Rann of Kutch and the sanction for laying of power lines was subject to the installation of reflectors or use of insulated cables. 

The CAG report said there was no system to monitor compliance with the laid-down conditions.