A day after the Punjab Cabinet approved low-impact residential units of minimum 1-acre (4,000 sq yards) in the eco-fragile Kandi areas in the lower Shivalik Hills, foresters have expressed serious concern over the state not waiting for the Centre’s approval to the impending declaration of the Eco Sensitive Zone around the Sukhna Wild Life Sanctuary and adhering to the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980.

Referring to the March 2015 communication of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to the state government, it was pointed out that while taking out the land in Mohali, Ropar, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts from the purview of the Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900, the ministry had pointed out that such areas would be treated as forest f

See Full Page