The Great Indian Land Grab: In the name of compensatory afforestation

The CAMPA is now being formalised by notifying the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act, 2016, which mandates that forest clearances in India are to be accompanied by afforesting equivalent areas

On October 13, 2017, villagers in Jhadutola, Jharkhand, were slapped with cases for violating law and order. The villagers alleged that local police forces coerced them into allowing plantations for ‘compensatory afforestation’ on their land. However, portions of this land belonging to descendants of a local zamindar were exempt from the plantation. Rumour also had it that this land had previously been ‘purchased’ by a Chaibasa-based iron ore company with the suspected connivance of local government officials.

A ‘win-win’ solution?

CAMPA or the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority is a body that oversees afforestation in lieu of forest