land selection draws flak from environmentalists

The selection of land for construction of the new Vidhan Sabha and secretariat buildings in Raipur, Dehradun has elicited strong objection from local environmentalists and concerned citizens. They point out that apart from thousands of trees which will have to be felled on this land to make way for the planned buildings, the report submitted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) on elephant movements in the Raipur forest area is flawed.

It will be recalled that earlier in May this year, the Additional Director General of Forests (Conservation) Dr Sharad Singh Negi had visited the site in Dehradun marked for the construction of the new Vidhan Sabha and secretariat buildings. He had sought an explanation from State officials as to why an alternate site was not identified for the buildings instead of the site in Raipur. The Centre had earlier suggested utilisation of non-forest land for construction of the Assembly and secretariat buildings instead of the identified forestland in Raipur area. 

The State had pointed out that the option was checked by the district magistrate but small farmers were found to be unwilling to let go of their lands for the buildings. The State has been seeking clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for utilising this land in Raipur for construction of the buildings. 

Recently, a delegation of Citizens For Green Doon (CFGD) submitted a memorandum to additional principal chief conservator of forests in charge of the MoEF office in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar. In the memorandum, the group members have pointed out that the proposed construction at Raipur involves felling of 2150 trees and was twice rejected by the Central Government. The State has sent the proposal the third time to the Centre for clearance. The CFGD members stated that the WII report states that three inspections were carried out by the team of WII between July and September 2014 to study elephant movement in the area but the notes, when received by the group through RTI, mentioned that an inspection was carried out in October of the area, not to study  elephant movement but to study the river banks under orders of National Green Tribunal.

The CFGD memorandum claims that because of the discrepancy in the aims and dates of the field visits, the entire report is suspect and since the entire project is based on this report, the project should not be approved. It also called on MoEF to order another inquiry into elephant movements in the area, prior to it's approval. It also enlisted four areas where the construction can be undertaken without taking a recourse to forest land.