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7381 GI/202 3 (1)
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II —Section 3 —Sub-section ( ii)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 4863] NEW DELHI, WEDNES DAY , NOVEMBER 29, 2023/ AGRAHAYANA 8, 1945
CG-DL-E-30112023-250313
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 29th November, 2023
S.O. 5075 (E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub -section (2) of section 2 read wit h section 3 C of
the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, (69 of 1980) (hereinafter referred to as said Adhiniyam),
the Central Government hereby issues an order specifying the terms and conditions, subject to which any survey, such
as, reconn aissance, prospecting, investigation or exploration including seismic survey, shall not be treated as non -
forest purpose. These terms and conditions shall be followed by the State Government or Union territory
Administration while considering exemptions pr ovided under sub -section (2) of section 2 of the said Adhiniyam,
namely: -
1. Surveys, including seismic surveys other than for mining purposes, to be undertaken in the forest lands for
developmental projects such as hydro -electric projects, establishment of w ind energy farms, transmission lines,
railway line, etc. shall not be treated as non -forest purpose as long as these surveys do not involve any breaking
of forest land or cutting of trees and operations are restricted to clearing of bushes and lopping of trees branches
for purpose of sighting . However, prior permission of the State Forest Department under the Indian Forest Act,
1927 (16 of 1927) or the State Forest Act will be obtained by the user agency concerned for entry and carrying
out such surveys in the forest lands.
2. Surveys in the for est lands for mining purposes which involve breaking of forest land by way of drilling the bore
holes and digging the trenches, such as for mining, shall not be treated a non -forest purpose as long as such
surveys involve felling of up to hundred trees in the entire areas proposed for survey and drilling of twenty five
boreholes of four inch diameter per ten square kilometre or eighty shot holes of 6.5 inch diameter per square
kilometre in case of seismic surveys. Proposals involving felling of more than hu ndred trees or drilling of more
than twenty five bore holes per ten square or more than eighty shot holes of six inch diameter per square
kilometre shall require prior approval of the Central Government under the Adhiniyam.
3. Exploratory drilling of Petrol eum Mining Leases, neither resulting into permanent change in the forest land use
nor in production of hydrocarbon, shall also be exempted from the provisions of the sub -section (2) of section 2
of the Adhiniyam.
4. The State Government and Union territory Administration shall use the existing Forms developed by the Central
Government for submission of proposals, and such proposals shall be processed for approval on the PARIVESH
(ProActive and Responsive facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmenta l Singlewindow Hub) Portal in
the light of sub -section (2) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam.
5. No surveys for mining of minerals shall be undertaken in the protected areas such as National Parks, Wildlife
Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves, Tiger Corridors. Survey in the protected areas for developmental projects other
than mining shall be undertaken only after obtaining the approval of the Standing Committee of the National
Board for Wildlife or as per the guidelines issued by the Central Government in this regard.
6. The State Government or Union territory Administration may authorise an officer not below the rank of the
Deputy Conservator of Forests to receive and accept the proposals and process them through the Nodal Officer,
dealing with the matters related to land transfer under the Adhiniyam for obtaining the approval of the Principal
Chief Conservator of Forests, Head of Forest Force or an officer as may be authorised by the State Government
or the Union territory Administration to grant approval.
7. In case the surv eys involve felling of trees, as specified above, the user agency shall pay the cost of afforestation
of trees, to the extent of hundred tree per bore hole along with maintenance cost of such plants for ten years.
The State Government or the Union territo ry Administration shall ensure that the plants are planted on
abandoned bore -hole areas or in the degraded forest land as per prescriptions given in the working plan.
8. In case of seismic surveys, the user agency shall bear the cost of plantation of two tal l plants near the shot hole
site along with the maintenance cost of such plants for ten years. The State Government shall ensure that the
money charged shall be used to supplement plantation in degraded forest areas as per working plan
prescriptions.
9. The N et Present Value, in respect of surveys, involving breaking of forest land, shall be charged and deposited
into the account of State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority on the basis of
impact area of a bore hole which is obser ved to be 0.1 ha per bore hole. Any variation from 0.1 ha area per
borehole shall be informed by the user agency at the time of submission of the proposal.
10. Compensatory levies realised from the user agency shall be deposited into the account of the State
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority of the State or Union territory
Administration, managed by the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning
Authority.
11. The amount to be realised towards the cost of Net P resent Value shall be non -refundable and the said deposited
amount of Net Present Value shall be adjusted against the estimated Net Present Value to be levied, in case
approval is obtained for the diversion of the same forest land for mineral extraction, u nder clause (ii) of
sub-section 1 of section 2 of the Adhiniyam.
12. No permanent change in the land use of the forest land shall be allowed. The Survey activities shall be carried
out by the user agency temporarily and after completing the survey, the forest land will be reclaimed and
restored to its original state.
13. The user agency shall use the existing forest roads for the transportation of machineries and materials and no
new or fresh road will be constructed by the user agency in the forest area for unde rtaking surveys in the forest
areas. The user agency shall also ensure the transport of machineries and materials manually in case of
non-availability of roads.
14. The user agency shall submit a detailed plan of operation for prospecting or exploration or seismic survey in the
entire forest area prior to the start of work to the Nodal officer of the State Government or the Union territory
Administration.
15. The user agency shall commence and complete the surveys within a period of two years. In case, no
comme ncement or completion of surveys work is undertaken by the user agency within a period of two years,
the approval granted by the State or Union territory Administration shall stand rejected and the possession of the
forest land will be taken over by the lo cal Forest Department. However, the State Government or the Union
territory Administration subject to submission of valid and cogent reasons for delay in commencement or
completion of the project beyond two years by the user agency, can extend the period b y another year.
16. Surveys proposals, involving violation of the Adhiniyam shall be dealt with in the following manner, namely: -
(i) Surveys in the forest land involving violation of the Adhiniyam shall not be covered under the
provisions of sub - section (2) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam and such proposals shall be submitted for
ex-post facto approval of the Central Government under the Adhiniyam:
Provided that proposals, where approval under sub -section (2) of section 2 of the Adhiniyam is
under consideration o f the State Government or Union territory Administration and a violation is
committed by the user agency by commencing the project work, shall be subjected to the penal
provisions by the State or Union territory Administration, as per the relevant provisio ns made by the
Central Government in this regard;
(ii) Regional Office or their Sub -Offices, State Governments or the Union territory Administrations,
under whose jurisdiction, the proposal involving violation of the Adhiniyam falls, shall take legal
action a gainst the offenders in accordance with the provisions of Section 3A and 3B of the Adhiniyam
and the relevant guidelines issued by the Central Government in this regard;
17. The State Government or Union territory Administration prior to considering permissi on for surveys in the
forest areas, shall ensure fulfilment and compliance of the provisions of all other Acts and rules made
thereunder, as applicable to such surveys.
18. Detail of proceedings of the various authorities such as minutes of the meetings , copi es of approvals granted,
monitoring reports submitted by the user agency, pertaining to permissions granted for conducting survey in the
forest areas, shall be uploaded on the PARIVESH portal by the State Governments or the Union territory
Administration.
19. The State Government or Union territory Administration and the user agency shall monitor, at least once in
every year, the compliance of conditions imposed while allowing the non -forestry use of forest land and a copy
of such monitoring report shall be up loaded on PARIVESH portal for future references. Non -compliances, if
any, observed during such monitoring, should be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities for
undertaking remedial measures as per the relevant guidelines issued by the Central G overnment in this regard.
20. The proposals on forest land under litigation or sub-judice on account of an issue pertaining to the Indian Forest
Act, 1927 (16 of 1927), Local Forest Act or said Adhiniyam shall be dealt as per the judgements or orders of the
Courts or Tribunals in such cases and the date of applicability of the Adhiniyam in such lands shall be in
accordance with the direction, if so, passed by the Courts/Tribunals.
21. The legal status of the forest land proposed to be used for survey shall remain unchanged.
22. The State Government or Union territory Administration shall provide a copy of the approvals given under
sub-section (2) of section 2 of the said Adhiniyam and shall also furnish, the details of proposals and such
orders, as and when sought by the Central Government for information, record and monitoring.
23. The Regional Office of the Ministry, based on the available information provided by the State Government or
Union territory Administration or as available on PARIVESH portal, can carry out mon itoring of such proposals
or works for compliance of relevant provisions of the said Adhiniayam and action taken thereunder.
24. The Central Government under section 3C of the said Adhiniyam may further clarify or issue directions to the
State Government or Un ion territory Administration or to any organisation, as may be necessary with respect to
these guidelines, for the implementation of the provisions of the said Adhiniyam.
[F. No. FC -11/61/2021 -FC]
RAMESH KUMAR PANDEY, Inspector General of Forests
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring R oad, Mayapuri, New Delhi -110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi -110054.
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