Column: Forests Must Be Conserved Carefully

By Ashutosh Mishra

Bhubaneswar: The good news is that Odisha’s forest cover has increased. The latest India State of Forest Report, as quoted in a section of the media, says that the state has added 274 sq km of forest in the last two years. Currently, our forested area extends up to 51,619 sq km of which 6,970 sq km is dense forest and 21,552 sq km moderately dense.

The bad news is that even community-conserved forests are being cut down to pave way for mining and industries. Right now this is happening in Talabira and some of its adjoining villages in Sambalpur district. Several thousand trees have already been felled to facilitate coal mining that will sustain a proposed thermal power project.

The forest abounds in Sal, Mahua, Harda and Amla trees, some of them having important medicinal properties. The villagers, who depend on the forest, have been guarding it for the last several decades. One can understand their pain and grief at the systematic destruction of this sylvan wealth which they had come to treat as their own.

The move of the government has expectedly triggered a controversy with villagers accusing the officialdom of setting chainsaws into action in the forest without their consent. On their part, the authorities have disputed this claim asserting that local gram sabha’s consent has been obtained.

The moot question is was it necessary to destroy a forest conserved with the efforts of the local community for the sake of mining? The question assumes significance in the context of forests in several areas of the state withering away for want of government care and the failure of the authorities to involve local communities in such efforts. Besides, there is a growing lack of awareness among the younger generation about the need to conserve greenery and environment.

Largescale felling of trees is also taking place in the neighbouring Jharsuguda district for the same purpose. It is a highly industrialized district where groundwater shrinkage has emerged as a major environmental issue. Pollution, too, has acquired crisis proportions in the district. Under the circumstances, largescale cutting of full-grown trees does not make sense.

The issue of forest rights has also come to the fore in connection with the controversy. Reports in a section of the media suggest that villagers had filed community forest rights claim under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) way back in 2012. They allege that their claim has not been processed so far. The fact is that there is still a lot of confusion over FRA among communities living in forests in many areas. The confusion stems from their ignorance about the law for which the government remains primarily responsible. It has failed to sufficiently sensitize communities on the issue.

The issue has also put the focus back on the perennial debate over development at the cost of the environment. There seems to be a general consensus about the need for a balance between the two but defining ‘right balance’ with any degree of certainty remains a challenge. We will have to find an answer to the problem at the earliest.

(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same)