AGENDA ITEM NO. 2

Diversion of 127.20 ha of forest land in favour of Superintending Engineer, National Highway Section, Road Construction Department, for widening and upgradation of - (from Km 0.00 to 136.00 Km) Section of NH-106 in Sahrsa , and District of Bihar (F. No. 8-55/2013-FC). 7. The State vide its letter no. Van Bhoomi-16/2013/332/(E) dated 21.06.2013 has submitted the above mentioned diversion proposal seeking prior approval of the Central Government in accordance with Section – 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. 8. The proposal envisage widening and upgradation of existing Natinal Hghway to 2 lane/2 lane with paved shoulders of Birpur-Bihpur (from Km 0.00 to 136.00 Km) Section of NH-106. The project road passes through 4 Districts of . The project road crosses the settlements of Simrahi, Pipra, Singeshwar, Maddhepura, Udakishanganj, Phulaut and supaul in the State of Bihar. The project Highways starts at km 0.00 at Bhimnagar and ends at Bihpur km 136 at junction with Nh-31 in Bihpur (km 321 of NH-31). The road traverses through plain terrain with carriageway widths varying from 3.05 m to 5.5 m. The Project Highway has got development throughout its length with more than 88 major and minor habitations covering a length of about 41 km. In general the existing Right of Way varies from 20 m to 24 m. 9. The proposal involves felling of 9014 trees and 17040 plants. 10. The linear plantation of double the number of trees i.e. 52108 trees CA has been proposed as compensatory Afforestation in notified forest area comprising of eight sites in the Forest Division. CA scheme has been submitted for 10 years. 11. The forest area proposed for diversion has been declared as protected forest for the management purpose. 12. The State Government has recommended the proposal with general conditions i.e. no specific conditions has been recommended by the State Government. 13. Facts related to the proposal as contained in the State Government’s letter dated 21.06.2013 are summarized below in the form of fact sheet: FACT SHEET

1. Name of the Proposal Diversion of 127.20 ha of forest land in favour of Superintending Engineer, National Highway Section, Road Construction Department, Bihar for widening and upgradation of Birpur-Bihpur (from Km 0.00 to 136.00 Km) Section of NH-106 in Sahrsa , Supaul and of Bihar 2. Location (iii) State Bihar (iv) District Saharsa, Supaul & Madhepura 3. Particulars of Forests: (i) Name of Forest Division Saharsa Forest Division and Forest area involved. 127.250 ha 13

(ii) Legal status/Sy.No. Protected Forest Land

(iii) Map B. SOI Toposheets – enclosed (Black and white copy on A4 size is enclosed. However, complete and coloured toposheet showing area proposed for diversion is not enclosed. C. DGPS map – not enclosed. D. Forest Cover map – not enclosed E. 10 km radius map – enclosed.

4. Topography of the area -

5. (i) Geology - (ii) Vulnerability to erosion The forest area is not vulnerable to erosion. 6. (i) Vegetation Amaltas, Amla, Anar, Arjun, Ashok, Babool, Bair, Bargad, Coconut, Equliptus, Eucoleptas, Farhar, Guava, Guller, Gulmohar, Imli, Jalebi, Jamun, Kadam, Katahal, Khajoor, Lemon, Lichi, Liptash, Litchi, Mahua, , Masala, Neem, Night Queen, Papular, Pial, Sagwan, Sahtoot, Semal, Supari etc.

(ii) Density Negligible 0.2

(iii) No. of trees to be felled As reported by the State Government, detail of project affected trees are given as below: 1. No. of trees – 9014 2. No. of Plants – 17040 Total :- 26054

However, Regional Office, Bhubaneswar has reported that total of 9014 trees will be felled as per the detail provided below: Trees above 60 cm girth – 3952 trees Trees above 60 cm girth - 5062 trees Total - 9014 7. Whether area is significant from No wildlife point of view 8. Whether forms part of National The proposal area is not a part of National park park, Wildlife Sanctuary, wild life sanctuary, biosphere reserve tiger reserve Biosphere Reserve, Tiger on elephant corridor. Reserve, Elephant Corridor, etc. (if so, details of the area and comments of the Chief Wildlife Warden 14

9. Whether any RET species of No rare/endangered/unique species of flora and flora and fauna are found in the fauna have been found/recorded in the area. area. If so details thereof 10. Approximate distance of the Within notified Road side protected Forest Area. proposed site for diversion from boundary of forest. 11. Whether any protected There is no protected archaeological/heritage archaeological/ heritage site/defense establishment in the proposed area. site/defence establishment or any other important monuments is located in the area. 12. Whether any work of in No violation of FC Act observed till date. violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 has been carried out (Yes/No). If yes details of the same including period of work done, action taken on erring officials. Whether work in violation is still in progress. 13. Whether the requirement of The proposed area of the minimum area of the forest land as proposed by the protected forest which has been identified after user agency in col. 2 of Part-I is considering all the alternatives. unavoidable and barest minimum for the project, if no recommended area item-wise with details of alternatives examined. 14. Whether clearance under the Yes Environment (protection) Act, 1986 is required?

15. Compensatory Afforestation The linear plantation of double the number of trees i.e. 52108 trees has been proposed as compensatory Afforestation. However, Regional Office, Bhubaneswar, in its site inspection report has reported that the DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa has stated that the Compensatory afforestation will be done in 8 notified protected forest sites. However, details of the area identified has not been provided.

(i) Details of non-forest The compensatory afforestation will be done in area/degraded forest area notified protected forest 8 sites. identified for CA, its distance from adjoining forest, number of patches, 15

sixe of each patches. (ii) Map showing non- Enclosed. forest/degraded forest area identified for CA and adjoining forest boundaries. (iii) Detailed CA scheme CA scheme for linear plantation has been submitted including species to be with maintenance of 10 years. planted, implementing agency, time schedule, cost structure, etc. (iv) Total financial outlay for Rs.27355114/-(Rupees two crore seventy three lac CA fifty five thousand on hundred fourteen only).

(v) Certificate from the The area identified for the compensatory competent authority afforestation is suitable on management point of regarding suitability of the view. It is part of notified canal side protected area identified for CA and forest. from management point of view. (vi) Site inspection report Enclosed. 16. Catchment Area Treatment 17. Rehabilitation of Oustees a) No of families involved Number of families : 274 families. b) Category of families i. Number of scheduled caste: 256 house holds c) Details of rehabilitation ii. ii. Scheduled Tribe families: 6 house holds plan Rehabilitation Plan : A summary of R&R plan enclosed as Annexure VI

18. Cost Benefit Ratio Economic & Financial Analysis carried out for the project in brief is enclosed at Annex C.

19. Employment to be generated Employment opportunity for about 350 laboureres (skilled & unskilled) (local) are likely to be generated during the construction phase of the project, for a period of about 36 months.

20. Total Cost of the Project The cost of the project is INR 592.59 crore (Package 1), INR 791.5 crore (Package 2) including civil construction, Land Acquisition, RAP and Environmental costs.

21. Recommendation i. DFO Yes ii. CCF Yes iii. Nodal Officer Yes iv SG Yes 22. District Profile

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(i) Total Geographical Not mentioned area of the district

(ii) Total Forest Nil area/Divisional Forest area

(iii) Total area diverted Nil since 1980

(iv) Total CA stipulated Nil since 1980 (Forest land)

23. Specific recommendation of The proposed area of the road side protected Forest DCF is required for that widening of the existing road. It will help in development of the rural arrears of the districts as well as management the forest remote areas. The user agency has submitted and undertaking to bear the cost of raising and maintenance of compensatory afforestation cost for protection regeneration etc. The proposal is recommended for consideration.

10. The area proposed for diversion has been declared as notified Protected Forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 entrusting the responsibly of afforestation, felling and other related activities to the Forest Department without abridging or affecting existing rights of the bonafide operation of the parent department. 11. Forest cover map showing details of vegetation in the area proposed for diversion, map showing details of Protected Areas in 10 km radius from the boundary of area proposed for diversion, Digital map (Differential GPS) showing Geo-referenced boundary in shape file of the forest land proposed for diversion duly authenticated by the competent authority in the State Government, muck disposal plan have not been submitted by the State Government. 12. Report on settlements of rights under the Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the MoEF in this regard have not been submitted by the State Government.

SITE INSPECTION REPORT FROM THE REGIONAL OFFICE, BHUBANESWAR The site inspection of the above project was carried out by me on 04.09.2013 along with Shri Saroj Paswan, Range Officer, Birpur and Shri Naveen Kumar Singh, Executive Engineer, NH Division, Madhepura. 21. Legal status of the forest land proposed for diversion: As reported by the Divisional Forest Officer, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa, the legal status of forest is road & canal side Notified Protected Forest.

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22. Item-wise break-up details of the forest land proposed for diversion: Total forest land proposed for diversion is 127.20 ha. The entire forest land will be used for strengthening and widening of the Road. 23. Whether proposal involves any construction of buildings (including residential) or not. If yes, details thereof: As stated in Point No 2. 24. Total cost of the project at present rates: As reported by the User agency in the proposal, the cost of the project is Rs. 592.59 Crores (Package 1), Rs. 791.5 Crores (Package 2) including civil construction, Land acquisition, RAP and Environmental costs. 25. Wildlife: As reported by DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, the proposed road is not a part of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere reserve, tiger reserve, elephant corridor. Whether forest area proposed for diversion is important from wildlife point of view or not: As reported by DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, the proposed road is not a part of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere reserve, tiger reserve, elephant corridor. 26. Vegetation: As reported by DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa, the density of vegetation is negligible i.e. 0.2. c) Total number of trees to be felled:

As reported by the DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa, 9014 no. of trees and 17040 plants, totaling to 26054 nos. have been proposed to be felled during the strengthening and widening of NH-106 road project with a condition that the user agency will pay for compensatory afforestation for three times of total number of trees & plants to be felled. Effect of removal of trees on the general ecosystem in the area: As there is a large number of trees to be felled, it will naturally adversely affect the general eco-system in the area.

d) Important species: As reported by the User agency, the predominant species are Amaltas, Amla, Anar, Arjun, Ashok, Babool, Bair, Bargad, Coconut, Equliptus, Eucoleptas, Farhar, Guava, Guller, Gulmohar, Imli, Jalebi, Jamun, Kadam, Katahal, Khajoor, Lemon, Lichi, Liptash, Litchi, Mahua, Mango, Masala, Neem, Night Queen, Papular, Pial, Sagwan, Sahtoot, Semal, Supari etc.

Number of trees of girth below 60 cm. 3952 no. of trees, as reported by the User agency. Number of trees of girth above 60 cm. 5062 no. of trees, as reported by the User agency.

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27. Background note on the proposal:

As reported by the User agency, the proposed project is rehabilitation and upgrading to 2-lane/2-lane with paved shoulders of Birpur-Bihpur Section (km 0 to 136) of NH 106 in the state of Bihar. The project road passes through 4 districts of Bihar. The project road crosses the settlements of Simrahi, Pipra, Singeshwar, Madhepura, Udaikishanganj, Phulaut and Supaul in the State of Bihar. The project Highways starts at km 0 at Bhimnagar and ends at Bihpur km 136 at junction with NH 31 in Bihpur (km 321 of NH31). The road traverses through plain terrain with carriageway widths varying from 3.05 m to 5.5 m. The project Highway has got development throughout its length with more than 88 major and minor habitations covering a length of about 41 km. In general, the existing Right of Way varies from 20m to 24 m. The horizontal alignment of the road is fluent except sharp curves at few locations. There are 9 major junctions (T junctions). Three National Highways (NH-57, NH-107 and NH 31) and 3 State Highways (SH 76, SH-66 and SH-58) meet the Project Highway at various locations. NH 106 and NH 107 overlap in Madhepura Town in a length of 2 km. A total Land Acquisition of 16.251 ha is required for upgradation and construction of Bridges, ROBs and Truck lay bye on NH 106 in Supaul (8.980 ha) and Madhepura (7.271 ha) districts. All this land is agricultural or habitation land. No forest land is involved.

28. Compensatory afforestation: The DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa has stated that the Compensatory afforestation will be done in 8 notified protected forest sites. However, details of the area identified has not been provided. g) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is suitable from plantation and management point of view or not: Land suitability Certificate has not been submitted.

h) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is free from encroachment/other encumbrances: Details not furnished.

i) Whether land for compensatory afforestation is important from Religious/Archaeological point of view: Not reported.

j) Land identified for raising compensatory afforestation is in how many patches, whether patches are compact or not: A total of 8 notified protected forest sites, as stated by DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa (enclosed as Annexure-III). 19

k) Map with details: C.A. map not submitted.

l) Total financial outlay: As stated by the DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa, the total financial outlay for Compensatory afforestation scheme is Rs. 27355114/-.

29. Whether proposal involves violation of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 or not. If yes, a detailed report on violation including action taken against the concerned officials: As stated by the DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, Saharsa, no violation of the Act has been committed. 30. Whether proposal involves rehabilitation of displaced persons. If yes, whether rehabilitation plan has been prepared by the State Government or not : As reported by the User agency, the displacement of people due to project are as follows: Number of families - 274 families No. of Scheduled Caste - 256 households Scheduled Tribe Families- 6 households 31. Reclamation plan: Not applicable. Details and financial allocation: Not applicable. 32. Details on catchment and command area under the project: Not applicable. Catchment area treatment plan to prevent siltation of reservoir: Not applicable. 33. Cost benefit ratio: Cost Benefit analysis has been submitted (Annexure-IV). 34. Recommendations of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/State Government: Recommended by CCF-cum-Nodal Officer (FC), Bihar, Patna. 35. Recommendations of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Central) along with detailed reasons: Appended separately. 36. Conservator of Forests (Central) shall give detailed comments on whether there are any alternative routes/alignment for locating the project on the non-forest land: The proposed area is the minimum area of the protected forest which has been identified after considering all the alternatives. 37. Utility of the project: 20

As reported by the User agency, the benefits of the project will be reduction in cost of travelling & transportation, reduction in travelling time, reduction in accidents due to better service levels of the road and better connectivity from Birpur to Bihpur etc. It is also stated that the project will provide employment opportunity to people, development of tourism, development of local industry, quick transportation of agriculture produce and perishable goods, improved quality of life for people, upliftment of social and educational standard of the people. Numbers of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes to be benefited by the project: As stated by the User agency, the labourers engaged for the construction work would be Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes/Backward classes. 38. d) Whether land being diverted has any socio-cultural/ religious value: No. e) Whether any sacred grove or very old growth trees/forests exist in the areas proposed for diversion: Not reported. f) Whether the land under diversion forms part of any unique eco-system: As stated by the DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, no protected, archaeological/heritage site/defence establishment or any other important monument is located in the area. 39. Situation with respect to any Protected Area: As reported by DFO, Saharsa Forest Division, the proposed road is not a part of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere reserve, tiger reserve, elephant corridor. As stated by the DFO, Saharsa, the near protected area is Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary which is about 100 km away from the project site. 40. Any other information relating to the project: 1. FRA Certificate in the prescribed format from Collector-cum-DM has been submitted in respect of only. The FRA certificates submitted by Collector/DM in respect of Saharsa and Madhepura are not in prescribed format (Annexure-V, V-A, V- B). 2. Some re-alignments have been made in the proposal due to excess banking of the road and human habitation. At many places, it was observed that many settlements have come up on the road side which are being treated as encroachment by the User agency. Therefore, no R&R provision has been made for them. 3. Road condition in some portion is extremely bad due to presence of many pot holes. 4. The user agency was instructed to transplant trees on roadside which are of lesser girth to distant places, after widening of roads is complete. 5. By widening of roads, some agricultural lands will be damaged. However, User agency claims that crops have been grown on their land, therefore no compensation will be given to the growers. 6. Topo-sheets & DGPS map are enclosed as Annexure- I, I(A), I(B) & Annexure-II. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ADDL. PCCF (CENTRAL) The instant proposal is for diversion of 127.20 ha of forest land for strengthening and widening of NH-106, Birpur-Bihpur in Saharsa, Supaul and Madhepura districts by NH Works Circle, Road Construction Department, Bihar. It is observed that the road is for the 21

public utility and will facilitate the communication system of the regions and will be beneficial to the people of the state. On perusal of the records and the site inspection report of the Conservator of Forests (Central), the following observations are made: 10. Greening plan and maintenance: The user agency should ensure plantation of adequate number of trees as well as their maintenance as per advice of the Forest Department and guidelines of NHAI so that a continuous long green belt can be maintained. Preference should be given to indigenous tree species like Ber, Peepal, Imli, Jamun, etc. so that food will be available to the wild animals and birds apart from shelter to the birds. 11. Transplantation of trees up to 40 cm girth : Trees having girth up to 40 cm should not be felled as far as possible, rather they should be transplanted to nearby suitable places with utmost care under the supervision of State Forest Department. Trees of height above 12m should be protected with fencing around them. 12. At least 20 nos. of bus bays should be constructed at suitable places on road side. Parking bays, toilets, especially for the women, should be provided along the road at appropriate places. 13. For construction of road, digging of soil should not be carried out within 100m from the road. The Addl. PCCF (Central) has recommended the diversion of 127.20 ha of forest land for this project.

In view of the above facts related to the proposal, if approved, the proposal may be placed before the FAC in its forthcoming meeting. ****

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