Power companies denude forests

The culprits in this latest round of felling are mostly power companies who cut trees on the ground that it is necessitated by their hydro-power projects.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal recently said, 8220;The forest mafia alone is not to blame. The real danger is from the political mafia. It8217;s an ironical that while tough laws prevent farmers and locals from cutting trees8212;not even for a cremation8212;powerful companies get away with it.8221;

The most glaring case is that of the Allain Duhangan power company, a subsidiary of the Rajasthan-based Bhilwara group that executed a 192 MW hydel project near Manali. The company felled about 1,400 trees, 934 of these at the project site. It paid a penalty of close to Rs 5 crore and moved on. The company has another project, Malana-II 90 MW, in Kullu district and recently scored two more mega hydel projects. The company is among about 10 hydro-power giants that are registered for carbon credit benefits.

Forest records reveal that more than 11 hydro-power companies have indulged in felling of trees at their project sites in complete violation of the Forest Conservation Act. Companies like Om Hydropower Corporation that set up its project at Palampur felled 253 trees and got away with a fine of Rs 2.17 lakh. At Parbati hydro project, the National Hydro-Power Corporation NHPC cleared 136 forest trees and paid up a fine of Rs 19.51 lakh to escape criminal liability. With more than 200 mini and micro power projects at different stages of execution, more trees will have to pay with their lives.

Himachal Pradesh8217;s Forest And Environment Minister J.P. Nadda said the state Government would take the hydro-power companies to task. 8220;Companies indulging in felling of forests will be dealt with sternly. We will start with Allain Duhangan,8221; he said.