Congress attacks Modi government over policies concerning environmental protection

New Delhi [India], April 8 (ANI): Congress on Monday attacked the BJP-led central government over its policies concerning environmental protection and said the Forest Conservation Amendment Act undermines the Forest Rights Act of 2006, doing away with provisions for the consent of local communities and other statutory requirements for forest clearance in vast areas.

Party leader Jairam Ramesh made the remarks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s to Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

He said on X that the dense, biodiversity-rich Hasdeo Aranya forest, considered the “lungs of the state” is under threat.

He accused PM Modi of “paying lip service” to the slogan of Jal-Jangal-Zameen. “The dealings of the BJP here have shown that their friendship with corporate cronies runs much deeper than their sense of duty to the people,” he said.

Referring to Hasdeo Aranya forest, he said when the Congress Party was in power, “we had 40 coal blocks in this forest cancelled by the Union Coal Ministry to protect the sacred forest”.

He said the BJP government in the state “reversed this decision”. Jairam Ramesh said PM Modi dedicated the Nagarnar Steel Plant, “conceptualised and initiated by Manmohan Singh government – to the public in October last year, to much fanfare”.

He alleged that the BJP government has been planning to privatise this plant since 2020. “In the lead up to Assembly elections last year, Home Minister Amit Shah came to Bastar and promised that the plant will not be privatised – but the fact is that the BJP government is yet to provide concrete assurances to validate this claim. Can the BJP show any proof that it never intended to and never will sell this steel plant to their corporate friends?” Jairam Ramesh asked.

The Congress leader said that the Forest Rights Act, 2006, grants marginal and tribal communities a path to assert their rights over the forest land on which they have been traditionally dependent.

“Last year, when PM Modi introduced the Forest Conservation Amendment Act…the new Act undermines the Forest Rights Act of 2006, doing away with provisions for the consent of local communities and other statutory requirements for forest clearance in vast areas,” he said.