 "MP to merge Biodiversity Board in forest dept")
Thus, the department of Bio-Diversity will officially be abrogated. State, however, also said it will retain legal powers and strength of the state bio-diversity board.
"Through a cabinet approval both the arms of State Bio-Diversity department will be merged with state forest and state agriculture department," state forest minister Gauri Shankar Shejwar said.
The board was constituted under norms and provisions of the Biological Diversity Act 2002, which was legislated by Parliament. The board's prime responsibility is to implement the Act in the state and monitor that biological resources are used judiciously.
Madhya Pradesh is the first state to implement the provisions of the Act in 2013. "If the board is merged with forest department it would have more powers as it would be assisted by state forest staff. Also, provisions of the Act reads that state forest officers above ranger rank can take cognizance of any violation of the Act," Ramgopal Soni, who has recently retired as the member secretary of the board said.
Non-compliance of the Act has adversely affected the state bio-diversity and biological resources as companies avoid sharing "access benefit sharing levy" defined in the Act with the bio-diversity management committees in rural areas from where they extract or procure biological resources.
The industry community had protested the "levy" since the board in recent past had demanded it at 2 per cent of the total turnover of the company. Few cases are pending at the central bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) which has sought a reply on guidelines in this regard from National Biodiversity Authority on August 1 this year. Also, coal companies like Southern Coalfields Limited has argued in NGT that "coal" which it extract from Madhya Pradesh mines does not fall under ambit of biological resources. A Chhindwara district based bio-diversity management committee has challenged the argument.
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Madhya Pradesh has 27,000 such biodiversity management committees and these committees reserves the right to grant permission to any corporate house to use of biological resources.
Merger of both the arms, particularly state Bio-Diversity board came into limelight last year when the board slapped notices to several industrial units, including Anil Ambani promoted Reliance, Ruchi Soya, Hershey India, Southern Coal Fields Limited. The board not only slapped notices but also initiated legal process of prosecution against several companies which did not inform about their consumption of bio-resources in any kind of manufacturing activities under Biological Diversity Act 2002.