Team Herald
PANJIM: Goa along with other States has been directed to submit compliance certificates of the projects which were granted Wildlife Clearances (WCs) in the last decade, by November 20; failing which no more proposals would be considered by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).
The Standing Committee on the NBWL, during its meeting held last month, recommended to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to direct the Chief Wildlife Wardens to submit compliance certificates regarding the conditions imposed by the panel on projects recommended in the last 10 years by November 20.
Accordingly, the ministry has written to all the States directing them to furnish the compliance certificates. A physical meeting is also convened with Chief Wildlife Wardens after submission of the compliance report.
“The project proposals received from only those States/UTs should be considered by the Standing Committee in future that submitted compliance certificates for past projects,” the panel said.
During the meeting, Standing Committee chairman Bhupendra Yadav observed that the terms and conditions imposed by the committee are not complied with by the project proponents and that it is the responsibility of the Chief Wildlife Warden to ensure that the quality of the forests is maintained while providing facilities for the public through protected areas.
It was pointed out that despite communications to the Chief Wildlife Wardens, via email, no compliance certificates were submitted.
The MoEF&CC secretary R P Gupta said it needs to be ensured that activities for which funds were collected from User Agencies are carried out for mitigating the impacts of projects. He suggested that the Chief Wildlife Wardens may be requested to submit compliance reports on conditions imposed by the committee on projects recommended in the last decade.
While granting WCs to the projects, passing through the protected areas, the NBWL has laid several conditions towards mitigating the project impact.
