NEW DELHI: To reduce the outflow of Ravi river water to Pakistan, a central green panel has decided to let go of the mandatory norms of compensatory afforestation for the diversion of forest land for the construction of the Shahpurkandi Dam project in Punjab.
The Forest Advisory Committee of the environment ministry considered the proposal seeking prior approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for use of 275.16 ha of forestland for the construction of Reservoir for the ShahpurKandi Dam Project in Punjab.
According to officials, the project will reduce the water flowing into Pakistan drastically and will help save the critical water resources that could be utilised for irrigation in Punjab and UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Being a national project and considering its high significance, FAC decided to accept the justification of the State Government in identifying few compensatory afforestation (CA) patches each of which is less than 5 hectare,” noted the panel.Read more…
