Centre notifies docile standing panel of National Board for Wildlife

The Union environment ministry has notified the reconstitution of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).

It has only three non-government members, recently appointed on the Board. The rules require appointing eight non-government wildlife and ecology experts to the 12-member panel, which clears projects and takes policy decisions.

The Board is chaired by the Prime Minister and is required to meet only once a year. The standing committee is headed by the Union environment, forests and climate change minister, draws members from the larger pool, meets regularly, and is operationally critical. It is to meet once in three months and exercises all the powers of the wider Board.

POWERS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE

• Appraise projects requiring forest lands within or around wildlife areas
• Review decisions and guidelines of the environment ministry impacting wildlife zones
• Review implementation of National Wildlife Policy and Wildlife Protection Act

It is to hold its first meeting on August 4 and is expected to appraise around 75 cases that require lands inside or around national parks and sanctuaries.

Business Standard had on July 24 reported Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointing a truncated NBWL, nominating only three non-government members instead of the statutory 10.  One of them is a quasi-government institution of the Gujarat government and another a retired forest officer from the same state.

After a Supreme Court order, the standing committee of the NBWL is required to review and appraise all projects that require forest lands either inside the national parks and sanctuaries or within a 10-km radius around these.

Its views are only recommendatory for the government but strong disagreement with the non-government wildlife experts in the past has led to either alteration in projects on some occasions and also put several others on hold. A case of complete rejection of a project, based on views of the standing committee, have been rare in the past.

The previous standing board had five non-government experts and three non-government institutions. Its tenure had ended in September 2013. The new government was tasked to re-constitute the Board, along with the standing committee. A little more than 200 projects remain pending for NBWL’s appraisal and around half are proposals pending since the earlier Board’s tenure was completed.