Cement cos will be allowed to acquire land for afforestation prog: Tynsong

SHILLONG: The nine cement companies in East Jaintia Hills, which have violated the Forest Conservation Act, will be allowed to acquire land as per the proposed Land Acquisition Act for afforestation, said Forest and Environment minister Prestone Tynsong.
These nine cement companies have violated Forest and Conversation Act, 1980, and the joint inspection team constituted by the Meghalaya government had unearthed misuse of around 1,600 hectares of forest land by these nine companies.
According to Tynsong, companies acquiring land through the land transfer Act is out of question.
He said that as per the amended act, social assessment has to be conducted for inhabitants whose land will be acquired.
“The Deputy Commissioner will not be able to proceed with the land acquisition unless the report is submitted,” he said.
The minister also said that the land acquisition act will be simplified as it is expected   that the Union Government would amend the act  in the  upcoming budget session of the parliament.
In all, 2150 hectares were inspected, of which 838 hectares are forest and 1254 non-forest, with 58 remaining unresolved. This amount does not account for all cement plant land, however; 1142 hectares were not surveyed at all during these inspections, carried out between March and June 2012.
Earlier, the State Government was examining the ‘tripartite agreement’ to facilitate the land acquisition process but the department felt otherwise and the idea was dropped.