Entangled in a legal dispute with Himachal Pradesh Government over lease of a 22 acre plot in Solan, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Yog Peeth is in for a new controversy as it has been alleged violating the Bio-diversity Act.
Himachal Pradesh State Biodiversity Board is likely to issue notices to the Patanjali Yog Peeth and Dabur, the other major manufacturer of Ayurvedic medicines in the country, for alleged violation of Bio-diversity Act.
Both the firms have been allegedly procuring herbal raw material from the State without getting registered with State bio-diversity body and paying the requisite fee.
Interacting with media in Shimla on the side lines of State level conference on the provision of Biodiversity Act 2002, Chairman of State Biodiversity Board (SBB) and Additional Chief Secretary Forest, Environment and Science Tarun Kapoor revealed the lacunae with both the major herbal medicine makers.
Kapoor claimed herbal industry was getting 40 per cent raw material from the pristine Himalayan ranges of Himachal, however, it was matter of concern that not a single penny was being paid by the herbal medicine makers to the State Government.
He said under the provisions of Biodiversity Act, the companies need to seek a registration from the Biodiversity Board and pay fee for procuring natural herbs and other raw material. The fee under the act is determined according to the turnover of the company.
Kapoor said some other companies are also operating in the State without getting registration and making heavy profits out of the raw material procured from natural resources of the State. The State Government is now planning to recover the entire amount from these companies, which were making heavy gains out of raw material procured from the State.
The State Biodiversity Board would seek details of use of flora and fauna from the companies before putting any penalties on the alleged erring companies. On the basis of the information to be provided by the companies, the pending fee would be made liable on the erring companies. Kapoor said that these companies would not be able to procure raw material from Himachal Pradesh without getting required registration under Biodiversity Act.
The officer said 95 per cent amount of the fee to the Biodiversity Management Committee goes to the Panchayats concerned so that the amount might be spent on regeneration of the bio-diversity of the area.
Kapoor said Himachal Pradesh had biodiversity economy worth Rs 10,000 Cr and the SBB would soon be documenting the transactions of biodiversity soon. He said better implementation of Biodiversity Act would help the state economy to grow faster as the state was a rich abode of natural herbs and medicinal plants.