Forest Act amendment gets go-ahead

Shillong, July 19: The state Cabinet on Monday approved the proposed amendment to the Meghalaya Forest Regulation Act (MFRA), 1973, that seeks to add teeth to the Act to make it more potent.
“We decided to amend the present Act as it has not been amended since being formulated and passed 49 years ago,” Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet.
According to him, the amendment was needed as a lot of things have changed over the years and there is a need to look into different powers, fees or penalties that are being charged. He said a number of amendments would be made.
The chief minister said some important amendments proposed were to confer the powers on forest officers. He also said that the proposed amendments are also aimed at providing punishment as an effective deterrence against offences relating to forest.
He said there is a need for effective utilization of powers and to investigate and prosecute by a law-enforcement agency, powers to arrest offenders or to be candidly defined keeping in mind the probability of present day offenders.
He said the regulation in the present form conferred powers to arrest under limited circumstances, which often allows the offenders to escape the clutches of law.
Sangma said the amendments, in compliance with a Supreme Court directive, provide effective security to strictly enforce forest protection.
“We have also made various other important amendments to the existing Act to make it relevant to the prevailing situation,” he added.