How India performed in managing forests, water and plastic waste in 2019

PM Modi on many occasions in 2019 announced plans to rid the country of single-use plastic by 2022.

BS : As the year 2019 draws to a close, we take a look at how India performed in managing its forests, water and waste.

India approved 99% of proposals to fell forests for non-forestry uses (until June 2019). It ranked 13th among the most water-stressed nations in 2019. And as the prime minister urged the nation to stop using single-use plastic, states and cities remained underprepared.

Forests

In the first six months of 2019, out of 240 proposals seeking diversion of forest land, the government of India only rejected seven--98.99% of forest land considered for diversion was allowed to be put to non-forestry uses, as per this August 2019 analysis of the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), a Delhi-based advocacy.

This rate of diversion “is a matter of serious concern”, said the analysis.

The forest area approved for diversion till June 2019 was about 92.20 sq km. This, combined with diversion approvals from 2017 and 2018, amounts to 588.20 sq km--larger than the union territory of Puducherry--according to the analysis.

About 43% of forest land recommended for diversion in 2019 falls in ecologically sensitive wildlife habitats, the analysis said.

Over 500 projects were cleared in India’s Protected Areas and their ‘Eco-Sensitive Zones’ by the National Board of Wildlife over the four years of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government between June 2014 and May 2018. In comparison, the preceding United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had cleared 260 projects between 2009 and 2013, as IndiaSpend reported in September 2018.

No more than 1.1% of projects were rejected annually, on average, between June 2014 and May 2018, dropping from 11.9% under the previous UPA government between 2009 and 2013, according to an analysis by the Delhi-based advocacy, Centre for Science & Environment.

These compensatory plantations, often monoculture adding little value to biodiversity, are further leading to state-approved violation of the rights of forest dwellers, IndiaSpend reported on June 25, 2019.