Underground works in forest land for projects eco-friendly: Govt

The Union environment ministry has clarified that all underground works in forest land linked to linear, irrigation, hydel, and other development projects should be considered equivalent to underground mining, which is an environmentally-friendly activity and exempt from compensatory afforestation.

The clarification was issued in response to a request from the Rajasthan government, which enquired about the applicability of compensatory afforestation for tunnels constructed as part of water resource development projects.

Tunnel construction is environmentally friendly because it does not disrupt surface flora, fauna or ecological regimes, said the ministry.

The ministry's guidelines from April 17, 2018, already consider tunnels constructed for hydel projects to be equivalent to underground mining.

In a meeting on January 27, the Forest Advisory Committee said the ministry's October 1, 2024, guidelines exempted tunnel construction for linear projects (railways and roads) from compensatory afforestation and net present value charges, as there was no ground surface disturbance.

Following discussions with regional and nodal officers, and the Forest Conservation Division, the committee determined that tunnel construction for irrigation and similar purposes, such as hydel projects, is environmentally friendly and causes no surface disturbance.

Therefore, it said, "all underground works in forest land related to linear, irrigation, hydel, and other developmental projects be considered equivalent to underground mining proposals".