Failure of Compensatory Afforestation Policies

While much of this alarming reduction in forest would be attributed to all-round development efforts, it would also be necessary to point out that India has “Compensatory Afforestation” (CA) policies in place. The question, therefore, is: How effective have these policies been?

Compensatory afforestation encompasses fresh plantings done in lieu of the diversion of forest land. This also requires transferring non-forest land to the state forest department. CA aims to balance development with conservation.

Contributors to Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (Campa) span diverse sectors, reflecting India’s development priorities. Infrastructure-building agencies feature prominently in this. Industrial enterprises – including mining canals and pipelines – also contribute significantly. Urban-development agencies and strategic entities like oil and gas companies further bolster the fund.

Challenges in the implementation the audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General conducted in 2013, reveals serious flaws in its management. From 2006 to 2012, only 27 per cent of non-forest land designated for afforestation was handed over, with afforestation occurring on just 7 per cent of it.

Financial discrepancies were glaring, with significant funds and related expenditures unaccounted for. The e-Green Watch system, meant for real-time project monitoring, remained largely non-functional. Weak enforcement mechanisms further enabled unauthorised mining and other encroachments.

Not even 50 per cent of CA targets had been achieved by many state and for few states like Bihar, Delhi, Mizoram, and Nagaland, the achievements were exceptionally low. It was also highlighted in the report that only seven states/Union Territories – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, and Haryana – had dedicated websites for maintaining records.

 In the analysis of land diversion and fund utilisation for Campa activities, a significant issue was identified – that the data uploaded across various platforms – such as e-Green Watch, Parivesh Portal, Annual Plan of Action (APO), Annual Reports, and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) documents – did not align.

Key challenges identified include land unavailability and fragmentation, inefficient fund utilisation, and inadequate record maintenance. Furthermore, despite several initiatives aimed at compiling data, much of it remains outdated inaccessible, or unavailable.

In conclusion, it would be fair to say that the state of affairs in CA is far from satisfactory, and a comprehensive reset with greater transparency and public accountability is desirable. Only then will India’s rapid growth ambitions be balanced with appropriate sensitivity to ecological preservation.

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