CAG Report Reveals Massive Violations of Forest Conservation Act in Himachal Pradesh
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed major irregularities in forest conservation efforts in Himachal Pradesh. According to the report, five rest houses were constructed at a cost of ₹3.06 crore without prior approval or a detailed project plan. These include eight rooms, with special VIP accommodations.
Additionally, the ₹12.09 crore debris rehabilitation plan related to the Atal Tunnel in Rohtang remains unimplemented even 13 years after approval. The report further points out that state-level forest authority meetings were not held on time and compensatory afforestation funds remained grossly underutilized.
Between 2016-17 and 2021-22, out of ₹849 crore received from the national authority, ₹169.73 crore—nearly 20%—was left unspent. Moreover, in violation of Ministry of Environment guidelines, ₹6.51 crore meant for degraded forest development was spent on eco and nature parks in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Out of 1,018 forest clearance proposals received from user agencies, 766 are still pending. Of these, 17% are stuck at the state forest department’s level, while the rest are delayed by other agencies. The department also failed to recover ₹3.29 crore from user agencies for compensatory afforestation.
Negligence in Addressing Global Warming
The forest department spent ₹1.01 crore under the high-altitude transition zone scheme but failed to carry out plantation. A requirement to establish 500 hectares of such zones to study the impact of global warming remains unmet. Furthermore, for violating Ministry conditions over four years, the user agency was to be fined double the Net Present Value (₹3.29 crore), but no recovery was made.
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