Presently, 55 projects for forest clearance and one project for environment clearance are pending in these states including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern States.
"56 proposals under Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 and 11 projects under Environment Impact Assessment Notification 2006 for roads and public utility sectors were granted clearances during the last one year in states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern States," Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
He said his ministry was aware of the importance of developmental works in critical and sensitive border areas and accordingly it has taken steps to "simplify and expedite" the process of granting clearances.
Elaborating on the measures, the minister said under the Forest Conservation Act 1980, grant of general approval for construction and widening of two lane roads and by BRO in area falling within 100 kms aerial distance from LAC, while similar has been done for widening of roads by BRO as link roads between border roads in the area within 100 Kms of LAC has been given.
He said general approval has also been given to 13 categories of public utility projects including construction of bridges, involving forest land not more than 1 ha and felling of not more than 50 trees.