The Jammu and Kashmir government has approved the diversion of 51.501 hectares of forest land for 33 projects in Uri over the 2024-25 to 2026-27 financial years, with 20.9352 hectares allocated for the Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri Road, the Legislative Assembly was informed Tuesday.
The figures were disclosed by the Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, Javed Ahmad Rana in response to an unstarred question by Uri National Conference MLA Sajjad Shafi, who sought details of forest and agricultural land affected by government and private construction in the constituency.
The Ministry said the projects were cleared under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Abhiniyam and related rules.
These projects include work by the Jal Shakti Department, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the Uri-II Stage-II hydroelectric project.
The government said the diversions were in the public interest and subject to “statutory environmental safeguards, conditions and compensatory measures” to minimise and mitigate their impact.
“Under the applicable provisions, user agencies must provide equivalent non-forest or State forest land for compensatory afforestation,” it said.
If such land is unavailable, the government said afforestation is carried out over twice the diverted area on degraded forest land.
Approved plans provide for 1,000 plants per hectare and 10 years of maintenance.
Depending on the project, agencies must also fund slope stabilisation, muck disposal, wildlife mitigation, Catchment Area Treatment and biodiversity management measures.
The Ministry said compensatory, mitigation and strip plantations have been undertaken near developmental and hydropower projects in Uri through CAPEX and CAMPA schemes, wherever feasible.
The response also lists the Uri-I Stage-II hydropower project and several water-supply schemes in Boniyar and Uri among the projects involving forest-land diversion.
Plantation and compensatory afforestation sites have been identified under approved plans, and the respective user agencies or companies are required to bear the costs, the Ministry said.
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