Minutes of 27Th Meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife Held on 12Th
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Minutes of 27th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL held on 12.12.2012 Government of India Ministry of Environment & Forests (Wildlife D ivision) Paryavaran Bhawan, eGO Complex, Lodi Road, N cw Delhi -110003 F. No. 6-43/2007 WL-I(pt) Dated: .2,t\, January, 2013 All M embers, Standing Committee ofNBWL. Sub: Minutes of the 27,h Meeting of the Standing Committee ofNBWL. Sir/ l'vladam, Kindly find enclo!icd minutes of 27 Th :Meetmg of the Standing Committee of NB\X!L held on 121h December 2012 under the chairpersonship of Hon'blc Minister of Slate (Independent Charge) for Environment (lOci porcsts. The comments received from members have been appropriately incorporated in the minutes. Your) fai: liY, (Viv~aXCna) Deputy Inspector General (WL) Telefax: 011-24361791 E nd: As above Distribution: 1. Director General of Forests & Special Secretary, -r-.loEF. 2. Director, \'{fildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 3. Dr. .Asad luhmani, Director, BN HS, Mumbai-23. 4. Shri Kishor l\.ithe, President, Satpuda Foundation, Amravati-444607. 5. Executive Director, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore - 570 002. 6. 5hri BriJcndra Singh, 28, Sundcr Nagar, New Delhi-l 10003. 7. Dr. M.K. Ranjitsinh, 'Krishna saar', No.5 Tiger Lane, WG C Lane, Sainik Farms, New Dellu-62. 8. Dr. Divyabhanusinh Chavda, "Suryodaya", 310 Gom Defence Colony, Vaishali Marg, Jaipur-302021. 9. Dr. A.J.T. Johnsingh, 101 Magnolia, Esteem Gardenia, Sahakara Nagar, Bangalore- 560092. 10. Ms. Prerna 13indra, Environment Journalist, 2/13, lris, Jasmine Sueet, \lanka City, Sector 49, G urgaon - 122003, I-:Iaryana. Copy to: I. PS to Hon'ble MOS (l/ C) E&F. 2. PPS to DGF&SS/PPS to Addl. DGF(WL) 3. PS to IGF(WL)/PS to DJG(WL) 1 ~----- Minutes of 27th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL held on 12.12.2012 Ministry of Environment and Forests Wildlife Division **** Minutes of the 27th Meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife held on 12th December 2012 in Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The 27th Meeting of the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) was held on 12th December 2012 in the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), New Delhi with Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests in chair. The list of participants is at Annexure-1. At the outset, Hon’ble chairperson welcomed the new Secretary (Environment and Forests) and the Additional Director General of Forests (WL) and Member-Secretary, Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife, who had recently assumed their respective offices. This was followed by a round of introduction by the participants. Thereafter, the Additional Director General of Forests (WL) welcomed the Hon’ble Chairperson, the members, Chief Wildlife Wardens of the States, and all other delegates and officials present in the meeting. The agenda items were then opened for discussion. Agenda No. 1: Confirmation of the minutes of the 26th Meeting of Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife held on 31st October 2012. The Member Secretary informed the Committee that the draft minutes of the 26th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL, held on 31.10.2012 were circulated to the members on 21st November 2012 for their comments within two weeks as decided in the 24th Meeting of the Standing Committee. The comments had been received from some members till 7th December 2012 and final minutes, after incorporating the comments appropriately, were being finalized and would be circulated to the members thereafter. The Committee, therefore, decided to consider the minutes of the 26th meeting held on 31st October 2012 in the next meeting for confirmation. Agenda No. 2: Action Taken Report The Member Secretary informed the Committee that the actions on the decisions of the Standing Committee of NBWL in its 26th Meeting held on 31st October 2012 were being taken up. However, the following items under the Action Taken Report of the last Meeting were deferred. The deliberations and decisions on these agenda items are as below: Item 2[4(2)]: Proposal seeking permission for control of fencing and patrol road along the Indo-Bangladesh Border in Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram. The Member Secretary informed the Committee that during the 26th meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL, the DIG (Operations), BSF had made a presentation on the strategic need of fencing the border, which is part of the larger fencing along the border. He also informed about the submission made by Dr M.K. Ranjitsinh for strict adherence of the condition no. (iii) of the site inspection report, i.e, “The patrol road and the border outposts 2 Minutes of 27th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL held on 12.12.2012 should be on the Bangladesh side of the three line fencing to ensure that the habitat of Dampa Tiger Reserve inside the fencing remains sacrosanct and free of disturbance.”. The Member Secretary also added that this matter was thereafter deferred. The DIG (Operations), BSF requested the Committee for considering the proposal in view of the presentations made during the 26th Meeting and the strategic requirement of the fencing along the border. The Additional Director General of Forests (WL) mentioned that he had attended the meeting of the State Board for Wildlife, Mizoram wherein, the State Board had categorically rejected this proposal. In the circumstances, the SC of NBWL needs to take a view on the proposal. After discussion, the chairperson advised the BSF that a meeting may be convened with the Additional Director General of Forests (WL) and State Government of Mizoram regarding the conditions stipulated by the site inspection team in their report, to resolve the matter and based on the discussions, the matter could be referred to the State Board for Wildlife for their re-consideration. Item 4.1 (2): Diversion of 79.474 ha of forest land in Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary and Wild Ass Sanctuary for construction of Gaduli to Hajipur-Odma-Khavda- Kunariya-Dholavira-Maovana-Gadakbet-Santalpur road. The Member Secretary informed the Committee that in the 26th meeting of the Standing Committee of NBWL, the IG (BSF), Gujarat had made a detailed presentation before the Committee and Dr Ranjitsinh had explained the recommendations of the inspection team that the existing parallel road from Nanabhitara to Tingribet can be permitted to be extended up to Gaduli. Rest of the proposed road was passing through the best habitats of the Lesser Flamingoes and therefore, can not be permitted further eastwards. The Member Secretary also mentioned that the committee had decided to defer the matter. Dr M.K. Ranjitsinh mentioned that this case was similar to that of Dampa Tiger Reserve, wherein the conditions stipulated in the site inspection report were not being adhered to. Hon’ble Chairperson opined that the suggestions made by Dr Ranjitsinh and Dr Divyabhanusinh Chavda in the site inspection report were very valid as the habitat of flamingoes needed to be protected and the alternate route as suggested in the report may be considered by the BSF. The DIG , BSF (Operations), requested the committee members for an onsite visit to ascertain the strategic requirement of the proposed alignment of road in border patrolling. The Committee after discussion, was of the opinion that the BSF should submit a report on willingness for compliance of the conditions stipulated in the site inspection report. The matter would be only be taken up for discussion after the receipt of the report from the BSF. Item 2.1 (5): Implementation Protocol on Critical Wildlife Habitats to be approved by the Standing Committee. The Member Secretary informed the Committee that the draft protocol and the comments received from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs along with suggestions of the National Advisory Council were circulated to the Members for their perusal and comments. He also added that in the 27th Meeting, it was decided that a separate meeting would be called 3 Minutes of 27th Meeting of Standing Committee of NBWL held on 12.12.2012 for discussing this issue. He also mentioned that the Ministry was in the process of preparation of a comparative status note on the protocol of the Ministry, the comments of MoTA and the suggestions of the National Advisory Council. Hon’ble chairperson indicated that a separate meeting to discuss this matter would be called soon. Agenda item No. 2.2: Proposals that were placed for consideration in the 26th Meeting of the Standing Committee of NBWL held on 31st October 2011 but could not be discussed due to paucity of time. 2.2.1: Proposals for activities within 10 kms from boundaries of National Parks and Sanctuaries 2.2.1(1). Proposal for laying 8" dia ATF pipeline from Indian Oil Corporation Refinery, Noonmati to LGBI Airport, Borjhar, Guwahati, Assam The Member Secretary informed the Committee that the proposal for laying 8” dia ATF pipeline from Indian Oil Corporation Refinery, Noonmati to LGBI Airport, Borjhar, Guwahati, Assam by Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. He also added that as per the project proposal the project is undertaken for easy and smooth transportation of ATF to the airport and to defence installation and that it has now become essential to avoid the road congestion and other deterrents by laying an underground pipeline (1.5 meter to 2 meter depth). Hon’ble chairperson desired to know whether the proposal was sub-judice or not. She also indicated that in future, all the proposals should contain a column indicating the details of whether the proposal was sub-judice or not. And that in case the same was not mentioned, the proposal would not be considered by the Standing Committee of NBWL.