The Centre has issued fresh guidelines allowing scientifically planned river dredging in forest areas to mitigate floods and restore river ecosystems, without treating the activity as a “non-forest purpose” and exempting qualifying works from forest clearance requirements, compensatory afforestation and net present value (NPV) payments.
The guidelines come following Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s meeting with Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav in September, where he sought a separate framework for dredging in flood-affected rivers. Sukhu had cited the accumulation of debris, silt, stones and boulders after extreme rainfall and flash floods, which narrows river channels and reduces their water-carrying capacity. “Such initiatives can be thought of when all conservation and preventive measure has been taken and not as the sole solution.
Experts however said the focus should be on conservation and prevention of any disasters or floods — beginning with efforts to prevent buildings coming up along river catchments or in sensitive hilly areas. At the same time, we will have to look at the grey area possibly where agencies may argue any activity being undertaken near the river is for protection of the river, even if it is not,” said Prakriti Srivastava, a retired IFS officer, who has served as the deputy inspector general of forests (wildlife) in the environment ministry.
