Report of the Committee to Study Development in Hill States Arising from Management of Forest Lands with Special Focus on Creati
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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE TO STUDY DEVELOPMENT IN HILL STATES ARISING FROM MANAGEMENT OF FOREST LANDS WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON CREATION OF INFRASTRUCTURE, LIVELIHOOD AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Planning Commission Government of India New Delhi November 2013 [i] THE COMMITTEE To study Development in Hill States arising from Management of Forest Lands with Special focus on Creation of Infrastructure, Livelihood and Human Development Members of the Committee i) Shri B.K. Chaturvedi Chairperson – (In charge of Member, Planning Commission North Eastern States, Jammu & Kashmir and Energy Division) ii) Shri Saumitra Chaudhuri In charge of Himachal Member Planning Commission. Pradesh & Uttarakhand (up to end-2012) iii) Dr. K. Kasturirangan In charge of Environment & Member, Planning Commission. Forests iv) Dr. Mihir Shah In charge of Rural Member, Planning Commission. Development v) Prof. Abhijit Sen In charge of Financial Member, Planning Commission Resources vi) Smt. Sindhushree Khullar Secretary, Planning Commission vii) Dr. M. Govinda Rao (up to January 7, 2013) Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, now Member 14th Finance Commission viii) Prof. Atul Sarma, Former Member, 13th Finance Commission & Former Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University, Itanagar. ix) Shri R.S. Tolia, Former Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand x) Smt. Anjali Goyal, Convenor Adviser, PAMD, Planning Commission [ii] ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Committee takes this opportunity to thank the Hon’ble Prime Minister at whose instance this Committee was set up to look into the issues pertaining to the development in Hill States arising from Management of Forest Lands with Special focus on Creation of Infrastructure, Livelihood and Human Development. The Committee expresses its gratitude towards Dr. M Govinda Rao, the then Director, NIPFP who served as the member of the Committee upto January 2013 and contributed towards developing the framework for providing special assistance to hilly States of India particularly those in the Himalayan Region. Special thanks to Dr. K Radhakrishnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation; Dr. Y V N Krishnamurthy, Director, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and their colleagues for providing valuable inputs for the deliberations of the Committee and preparation of the Report. The Committee takes this opportunity to thank Dr. Rita Pandey, Professor, NIPFP for providing valuable inputs including towards developing a model for ascertaining developmental disabilities of various States. The Committee also acknowledges the contribution of various officials of Planning Commission particularly Dr. Nagesh Singh, the then Adviser (PAMD), Ms. Anjali Goyal, Adviser (PAMD), Dr. Yogesh Suri, Adviser (Development Policy), Dr. Savita Sharma, Adviser (Perspective Planning) and Shri Shatrughan Lal, Consultant (PAMD) for their excellent support in organizing the meetings of the committee, development of the analytical model and preparation of the Report of the Committee. It is sincerely hoped that this Report would serve its purpose in addressing both the process issues and also fiscal compensation for Himalayan and North Eastern States for maintaining valuable eco-systems, the benefits of which are shared by the country at large. [iii] CONTENTS Pg. No. Executive Summary 1 Chapter-1 - Introduction 9 1.1. Constitution of the Committee 9 Chapter-2 - Background 14 2.1. Twelfth Five Year Plan- Approach towards Environmental Governance 14 2.2. Mountain Ecosystems 15 2.3. Status of Forests 17 2.4. Estimates of Wasteland in India and Hill States 21 2.5. Estimates as per Land Use Statistics 22 2.6. Forest Management Policies and Laws 22 2.7. Forest Management in Special Areas 24 2.8. Cross-Sectoral Linkages 24 2.9. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management & Planning Authority 25 (CAMPA) 2.10. Infrastructure in Hill States 25 2.11. Projects Held up on Environmental Issues 28 2.12. The Uttarakhand Tragedy of June 2013: Reconstruction & Rehabilitation 30 Chapter 3 - Special Schemes and Programmes for Hill States 37 3.1. Weak Financial Base of North Eastern States 37 3.2. Plan Assistance for Hill States 40 3.3. Flow of Funds to NE Region 40 Chapter-4 - Analytical Methodology for Compensating Hill States 41 4.1. Constructing a Developmental Disability Index 41 4.2. Conceptual Framework 41 4.3. Components of the Index 42 4.4. Arriving at Developmental Disability Index (DDI) 44 4.5. Results and Analysis 45 Chapter-5 - Conclusions and Recommendations 48 5.1. The Issues Involved 48 5.2. Twelfth and Thirteenth Finance Commission Awards 49 5.3. Planning Commission & Other Transfers 49 5.4. Recommendations – Process Issues 50 5.5. Recommendations – Fiscal Compensation 52 [iv] List of Tables Sl.No. Subject Pg. No. 1 Land Area under Hilly Terrain within States in India 15 2 Comparative Economic Indicators Across States 17 3 Forest Cover Area in Last two Decades 18 4 Forest and Tree Cover of India (2011) 19 5 Forest Cover in States/ Union Territories of India 20 6 Forest Cover Area in Hill Districts of India 21 7 Wastelands and Non-Usable Lands in the IHR (km2) 22 8 Plan Outlays and Expenditure for States/UTs 39 9 Ranking of States according to Components 1 & 2 & DDI Values 1 & 2 45 10 Calculations of Developmental Disability Index 46 List of Annexures Sl.No. Subject Pg. No. 1 Notification of the Committee 55 2 Uttarakhand Disaster 2013: A Concept Note for Reconstruction 57 And Rehabilitation Activities [with two Annexures 2(A) & (2B)] 3 A Note on Landslide Hazard Zonation (LHZ) Mapping along the 84 Pilgrimage Route Corridors of Uttarakhand and Himachal Himalaya 4 Concept paper on Creating a Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and 89 Sustainable Development in the Indian Himalayan Region [v] ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE REPORT AAI : Airports Authority of India LWE : Left Wing Extremism AWS : Automatic Weather Stations. MDF : Moderately Dense Forest BARC : Bhabha Atomic Research Centre MoE&F : Ministry of Environment & Forest BULI : Barren & Unculturable Land Index NAPCC : National Action Plan on Climate CAMPA : Compensatory Afforestation Fund Change Management and Planning Authority NEP : National Environment Policy CEA : Central Electricity Authority NER : North Eastern Region CGWB : Central Ground Water Board NFP : National Forest Policy CWC : Central Water Commission NGLM : National Geomorphological and DDI : Developmental Disability Index Lineament Mapping DONER : Department of Development of NIH : National Institute of Hydrology North Eastern Region NIPFP : National Institute of Public Finance & DRR : Disaster Risk Reduction Policy DST : Department of Science & Technology NLCPR : Non-Lapsable Central Pool of DWR : Doppler Weather Radar Resources E&F : Environment & Forest NNRMS : National Natural Resources EIA : Environment Impact Assessment Management System EMP : Environment Management Plan NPV : Net Present value FAO : Food and Agricultural Organisation NRSA : National Remote Sensing Agency FCA : Forest Conservation Act NRSC : National Remote Sensing Centre FCA : Forest Cover Area NTFP : Non-timber forest produce FCI : Forest Cover Index NWP : Numerical Weather Prediction FPC : Forest Protection Committee OF : Open Forest FR : Financial Resources R&R : Reconstruction & Rehabilitation GA: Geographical Area RGDWM : Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking GADI : Geographical Area Disadvantage Index Water Mission GBS : Gross Budgetary Support SDMC : SAARC Disaster Management Centre GDP : Gross Domestic Product SAC : Space Applications Centre GFRA : Global Forest Resources Assessment SDP : State Domestic Product GIS : Geological Information System SEOC : State Emergency Operation Centre GLOF : Glacial Lake Outburst Flood DMMC : Disaster Mitigation &Management GSI : Geological Survey of India Centre IDI : Infrastructure Deficit Index SOI : Survey of India IFA : Indian Forest Act SP : State Plan IIRS : Indian Institute of Remote Sensing SPP : Special Project Plan IMD : Indian Meteorological Department USAC : Uttarakhand Space Application Centre NCMRWF : National Centre for Medium Range VDF : Very Dense Forest Weather Forecasting IMSD : Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development ISRO : Indian Space Research Organization IRS : Institute of Remote Sensing IWMP : Integrated Watershed Management Programme JFMR : Joint Forest Management Resolution LHMP : Landslide Hazard Mitigation Programme LHZ : Landslide Hazard Zonation LUS : Land Use Statistics [vi] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION 1. The Twelfth Five Year Plan, while striving for faster and more inclusive growth, lays significant emphasis on the issue of sustainability. The Plan document recognizes that the development process cannot afford to neglect the environmental consequences of economic activity, or allow unsustainable depletion and deterioration of natural resources. The Twelfth Plan must, therefore, have a strategy of development which effectively reconciles the objective of development with the objective of protecting the environment. 2. All States in India have State-specific requirements to meet their developmental aspirations and targets of which poverty alleviation and the creation of infrastructure command high priority. However, certain States such as those in the Himalayan region stretching from Jammu & Kashmir to North East are at disadvantageous situation in terms of difficult terrain, severe weather conditions, large forest land, dispersed habitations, small and under-developed markets, long international borders, poor connectivity and inadequate general infrastructure. The cost of delivery of public