The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) was set up by the environment ministry during the United Progressive Alliance's tenure to advise the Union minister on forest clearances for large projects. The FAC, which considers these approvals on a case-by-case basis, meets every 20 days and the minutes of the meeting are regularly updated on the ministry's website. After its last meeting on April 29-30, which involved some crucial projects, the minutes stated that forest clearance had been rejected. Mysteriously, however, these minutes were removed from the website just a few days before vote counting began. A sign of things to come, perhaps?
Top Section
Explore Business Standard