82,000 trees felled, Rs 49 crore unpaid: J&K govt cites 2019 decision to NGT

Under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, any agency seeking to divert forest land for non-forest purposes must first pay the Net Present Value – the monetised value of the forest being cleared – and charges for Compensatory Afforestation. Final approval is granted only after these funds are deposited.

However, the chief secretary’s report reveals that on July 30, 2019 – less than a week before the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution – the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by the then Governor passed a decision that for government-executed projects, the sanction for diversion of forest land “shall be issued… without imposing the condition of prior payment of compensatory levies by the indenting agencies”.

The report states that following this decision, cases that were earlier held up solely due to non-payment “were cleared and sanction orders were issued”.

The impact of this policy is detailed in a 12-page list in the report titled “Projects with outstanding compensatory levies where felling is done”. The Indian Express analysed details of the 154 listed projects and found that a total of 82,511 trees were felled. While the total liability for these projects was approximately Rs 84.82 crore, the outstanding dues currently stand at Rs 49.07 crore.

In the compliance report, the J&K chief secretary attributes the delay in remitting these funds to the “administrative transition following the reorganisation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir with effect from 05.08.2019”, coupled with disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic.

The chief secretary has submitted that the government is now “actively pursuing recovery” of these outstanding levies. The report notes that in recent meetings held in July and December 2025, specific directions were issued for the reconciliation of dues.

The administration has also signalled a reversal of the 2019 policy. The report states that a “categorical and prospective policy decision” has now been taken that no future cases for forest land diversion will be processed unless all outstanding levies are fully cleared. Twenty-three fresh proposals from the Jal Shakti, Public Works and Rural Development departments have been returned due to pending payments.

The applicant, Bhat, however, argued in an objection filed to the report that the 2019 policy was legally untenable from the outset, asserting that the “polluter pays” principle cannot be suspended by an administrative order, regardless of the urgency of infrastructure projects.

The NGT has listed the matter for final hearing on April 9.