Himachal Pradesh

Diversion" means an order issued by the State Government or Union Territory Administration or any authority thereof for the use of any forest land for non-forest purposes or assignment of a lease of any forest land for non-forest purposes.

Online submission of applications would be sufficient. There is no need to submit hard copies of the proposal.

There are multiple bodies and approving authorities in FC clearance. I.e. State level (Competent State Officials), Central level (Officials at MoEFCC ), and Regional level (Competent Regional Officials).

"Project Life" means the life of the project, including phases of, (i) construction or installation or establishment or commissioning; (ii) operation; and (iii) redundancy or closure or dismantling.

"Project" means a project or activity.

"The survey" means any activity to be taken up before initiating the commissioning of a project or any activity undertaken to explore, locate, or prove mineral deposits, including coal, petroleum, and natural gas, before carrying out actual mining in the forest land. That includes survey,  investigation, prospecting, exploration, including drilling, therefore, etc.

Linear project" means a project involving linear diversion of forest land for purposes such as roads, pipelines, railways, transmission lines, etc.

Land bank" means the lands identified or earmarked, as the case may be, by the State Government and Union Territory Administration for raising compensatory afforestation instead of forest land proposed for diversion or diverted under the Act.

Yes, the applicant can track the status of his application online at various levels.

A one-time payment that a user agent must pay for the non-forestry use of forest and.

The project involves the violation of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 and the rules made therein.

"Protected Areas" means areas as notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (53 of 1972) and its subsequent amendments, from time to time.

FAC is the "Forest Advisory Committee" which is constituted by the Central Government under section 3 of the Forest Conservation Act 1980.

Central Processing Centre (CPC) will assist the consultants in using the portal and make them aware of the Ministry's guidelines and policy decisions.

"De-reservation" means an order issued by the State Government or Union Territory Administration or any authority thereof, for a change in the legal status of a land statutorily or otherwise recognized as forest to any other category of land.

A proposal seeking ex-post facto approval from the Central Government is

normally not to be entertained. Only under exceptional circumstances, with proper justification for condonation, does, Central Government impose a penalty from the User Agency/State

"Expansion" means any increase in mine lease area or project area Culturable Command Area or built-up area or length or number or generation capacity or production capacity or throughput or handling capacity, etc., as applicable to the project, entailing the capacity addition beyond the limits specified for the concerned project in the schedule to the EIA Notification, 2006 or prior-EC obtained. In the case of mining projects or activity, any increase in the mine lease area and or production capacity shall be considered as expansion.

There are five forms in FC:-

• Form -A (Part I):- Diversion of forest land.
• Form-B (Part I):- Renewal of lease on forest land.
• Form-C (Part I):- For seeking prior approval for exploration and survey.
• Form-D (Part I):- Signing of lease (section2(iii)) on forest land.
• Form-E(Part I):-Re-diversion i) land use change ii) laying of overhead /Under ground

There are 3 approving authority in the Forest clearence :-

• State Government.
• Ministry.
• IRO.

Pro-Active Responsive Facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single- window Hub.

The steps involved in PARIVESH are as follows:

Step-1: Know Your Approval (KYA)-Optional

Step-2: Know Your Customer (e-KYC) – Mandatory

Step-3: Common Application Form (CAF)-Mandatory

Step-4: Clearance Specific Form-Mandatory

Four types of clearances can be obtained using PARIVESH, i.e., Environmental Clearance (EC), Forest Clearance (FC), Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance, and Wildlife (WL) clearance.

Yes, multiple people can make an application on behalf of the same entity depending on the rights mapped by the super user.

Yes, the user can change their password by following the following steps:

Step 1: Log into the PARIVESH portal.

Step 2: The user will be directed to their dashboard.

Step 3: The user can find the "Change Password" option after clicking on the drop-down list icon on the left-hand side of their dashboard.

In case, the user forgets their login id or password, they can click on the "Forget Password" option after logging in.

Yes. PARIVESH registration requires Aadhar authentication.

Four types of clearances can be obtained using PARIVESH, i.e., Environmental

Clearance (EC), Forest Clearance (FC), Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance, and Wildlife (WL) clearance.

The steps involved in PARIVESH are as follows:

Step-1: Know Your Approval (KYA)-Optional

Step-2: Know Your Customer (e-KYC) – Mandatory

Step-3: Common Application Form (CAF)-Mandatory

Step-4: Clearance Specific Form-Mandatory

Pro-Active Responsive Facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single- window Hub.

Compensatory Levies "include all money and funds specified in clauses (iii) and (iv) of sub-section (3) of section 4 of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 (38 of 2016).

"Compensatory Afforestation" means afforestation done instead of the diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980).

"user agency" means any person, organization, or legal entity or company or Department of the Central Government or State Government or Union Territory Administration requesting a de-reservation, diversion, or assignment of a lease of forest land under the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder.

After submission of compliance with conditions stipulated in Stage I/In-Principal approval, Stage II/Final approval is issued.

Stage I approval means in-Principal Approval, which is accorded by the State/Regional Office/ MoEFCC

Regional Empowered Committee" means the Regional Empowered Committee constituted under sub-rule (1) of rule 6

PSC 1 is the 1st Round of the PSC. It examines the proposal for its completeness and correctness and ensures deficiency in the proposal if any. PSC 2 is the 2nd round of PSC. The user agency shall re-submit the proposal if returned and the same shall be re-examined by the 2nd Round of the PSC, an incomplete proposal re-submitted shall stand deregistered.

Project Screening Committee (PSC) functions as a collective committee consisting of DFO, DFO of Nodal Officer’s Office, State Nodal Officer, Chief Conservator Officer (CCF), and District Collector, and considers and verifies the suitability of a project.

There are 8 scenario’s available in the FC proposal submission . Detail given below:-

Stage I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Recommendation by DFO in Part-II
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
5. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
6. Grant of In-Principal (Stage-1) clearance

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2.  
3. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
5. Recommendation by PCCF
6. Compliance forwarded to State Secretary by Nodal Officer
7. State Secretary verifies the compliance
8. State Secretary generates Final (Stage II) clearance letter

 Forest Clearance Schematic Flow:

Approval

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Recommendation by DFO in Part -II
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III, and provide the required approval (if State Government authorized NO to grant approval)
5. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV and grant his approval.

Stage I                                                 

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Acceptance of proposal by PSC
4. Recommendation by DFO in Part-III
5. CF will submit his SIR in case the area is > 40 ha
6. Nodal Officer will submit his SIR in case the area is > 100 ha
7. Appraisal and Recommendation by PSC
8. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
9. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV.
10. Appraisal of proposal by REC
11. Grant of In-Principal (Stage 1) clearance by IRO Head

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to IRO
6. technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IRO Head.

Stage I

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to IRO
6. technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage I) clearance by IRO Head

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to IRO
6. Technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IRO Head

Stage I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Recommendation by DFO in Part -II
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
5. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
6. Grant of In-Principal (Stage I) clearance by IRO Head

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to IRO
6. technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IRO Head.

State I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Acceptance of the proposal by PSC
4. Recommendation by DFO in Part-III
5. CF will submit his SIR in case the area is > 40 ha
6. Nodal Officer will submit his SIR in case the area is > 100 ha
7. Appraisal and Recommendation by PSC
8. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
9. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
10. Submission of SIR by IRO
11. Appraisal of the proposal by FAC
12. Grant of In-Principal (Stage I) clearance by Minister

Stage II

8. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
9. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
10. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
11. Recommendation by PCCF
12. State Government forward the Compliance to Ministry (HQ)
13. Technical Officer verifies the compliance
14. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IGF

State I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Acceptance of the proposal by PSC
4. Recommendation by DFO in Part-III
5. CF will submit his SIR in case the area is >40 ha
6. Nodal Officer will submit his SIR in case the area is >100 ha
7. Appraisal and Recommendation by PSC
8. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
9. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
10. Appraisal of the proposal by FAC
11. Grant of In-Principal (Stage I) clearance by Minister

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to Ministry (HQ)
6. Technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IGF

State I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Recommendation by DFO in Part-II
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
5. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
6. Submission of SIR by IRO
7. Appraisal of the proposal by FAC
8. Grant of In-Principal (Stage I) clearance by Minister

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to Ministry (HQ)
6. Technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IGF.

State I

1. Registration by User Agency
2. Application in FC-specific Forms in Part-I
3. Scrutiny & Recommendation by DFO in Part-II
4. Recommendation by Nodal Officer in Part-III
5. Recommendation by State Secretary in Part-IV
6. Appraisal of the proposal by FAC
7. Grant of In-Principal (Stage I) clearance by Minister

Stage II

1. Submission of compliance to Stage-I conditions including CA by User Agency
2. Scrutiny and recommendation by CF/CCF
3. Recommendation by Nodal Officer
4. Recommendation by PCCF
5. State Government forward the Compliance to Ministry (HQ)
6. Technical Officer verifies the compliance
7. Grant of Final (Stage II) clearance by IGF.

No, depending on the scenario it will process through the specified work flow.

"FCA" means the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (69 of 1980).

The National Authority for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning (CAMPA) is an organization that promotes afforestation and regeneration to compensate for forest land that has been diverted to non-forest uses. 

CAMPA Stands for Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) is meant to promote afforestation and regeneration activities as a way of compensating for forest land diverted to non-forest uses.

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) notified the Compensatory AfforestationFund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) in April, 2004 for the management of the compensatory afforestation fund.

In 2009, State CAMPA was constituted vide Notification No. FFE-B-F (2)/200 –Pt-II dated 3^rd August, 2009.

After enactment of CAF Act 2016 and CAF Rules 2018 it became the Himachal Pradesh State Authority vide notification No. FFE-B.F(2)8/2017 dated 04/02/2019.

The Major components of the CAT Plan as per the notified by the State of Himachal Pradesh vide notification FFE-B-F-(2)-72/2004-Pt-II dated 30.09.20209 are as under:

1. Afforestation
2. Soil & Water Conservation
3. PES & Eco tourism
4. Research training and Capacity Building
5. Infrastructure Development
6. Forest Protection
7. Wildlife Management
8. M&E
9. Site -specific work plan

Main sectors under CAMPA are as under:

1. Compensatory Afforestation (CA)
2. Catchment Area Treatment Plans (CAT)
3. Integrated Wildlife Management Plans (IWMP)
4. Net Present Value (NPV)
5. Interest
6. Others

1. Plantations
2. Assisted Natural Regeneration
3. Nursery Development
4. Soil and Water Conservation
5. Forest Infrastructure Development
6. Wildlife Activities
7. Awareness and Training
8. Field Studies

1. Governing Body (Chairperson – Chief Ministers)
2. Steering Committee (Chairperson- Chief Secretary)
3. Executive Committee (Chairperson- PCCF-cum-HoFF)

The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF Act), 2016 and Rules, 2018 provide elaborate guidelines and activities for utilization of CAMPA Fund.

CAMPA implements schemes through the field units of HP Forest Department by providing funds as approved in the APOs & monitoring thereof.

The State CAMPA receive 90% of the total share of its funds from the National Authority CAMPA against the funds deposited by the User Agencies.

Adhoc CAMPA was a temporary arrangement to run the CAMPA’s. On May 5, 2006 Hon’ble Supreme Court Constituted an Adhoc Committee till State, CAMPAs become operational.

The State CAMPA administers the amount received from the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund and utilizes the monies collected for undertaking compensatory afforestation, assisted natural regeneration, conservation and protection of forests, infrastructure development, wildlife conservation and protection and other related activities and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Catchment Area Treatment Plan.

The CAT Plans are aimed to treat the degraded and potential areas with severe soil erosion. The planprovides benefits through biological and engineering measures and its utility inmaintaining the ecosystem health. The plan with objectives addresses issues such asprevention of gully erosion, enhancing the forest cover for increasing soil holdingcapacity; and arresting total sediment flow in the reservoir and flowing waters.

The main Objective of the CAT is to rejuvenate various potential and degraded ecosystemsin the catchment area. The action plans for each catchment areas have been prepared for this purpose with thefollowing objectives.

• To facilitate the hydrological functioning of the catchment and to augment the quality of water of the river and its tributaries.
• Conservation of soil cover and to arrest the soil erosion, floods and siltation of the river and its tributaries and consequent reduction of siltation in the reservoir of the project.
• Demarcation of the priority of sub watersheds of treatment based on soil erosion intensity in the catchment area.
• Rehabilitation of degraded forest through afforestation.
• Mitigation of landslide, landslip and rock falls.
• Soil conservation through biological and engineering measures to reduce sediment load in river and tributaries, thus improving the quality of water.
• Ecosystem conservation resulting from increased vegetative cover and water retaining properties of soil.
• Employment generation through community participation and conservation

Treatment measures classified into two categories.

• Biological Measures
• Engineering Measures

Yes, CAMPA funds are auditable by the AGHP at the State level.

The cost of CAT Plans calculated @ 1.5% of the total cost of Project having capacity of 10MW and above.

As per the Monkey Population Estimation done in 2019, there are 136443 monkeys in H.P.

As per the census done by the staff of HPFD in 2004, the population of leopards came out to 761. Yes, the wildlife wing has the data with respect to the human and livestock loss occurred because of leopards till date. During the last three years relief amount paid to the victims by the Department is as follows:

A National Park is a Protected Area where every activity is prohibited unless permitted. It has two zones namely Core Zone and Buffer Zone. Every activity is strictly prohibited in the core zone. However certain activities like ecotourism are permitted in the Buffer Zone.

A Wildlife Sanctuary is a Protected Area where every activity is permitted unless prohibited.

Himachal Pradesh Forest Department has taken the following steps to tackle the monkey menace:

• Monkey Sterilization Programme: Himachal Pradesh Forest Department is sterilizing male and female monkeys in 7 Monkey Sterilization Centers of the State. These Monkey Sterilization Centers are located in Tutikandi (Shimla), Sastar (Hamirpur), Gopalpur (Kangra), Boul (Una), Bakani (Chamba) and Paonta Sahib (Sirmour). Till date a total of 186448 monkeys have been sterilized.
• Public Awareness Campaign: Campaign through Radio, Television, Posters, Signboards, Pamphelts etc, involving Panchayati Raj Institutions, Mahila Mandals, Yuvak Mandals, educational institutiions, NGOs etc. has been undertaken throughout the state to create awareness among general public in handling the human-monkey conflict.
• Habitat enrichment Plantation: In forest areas, plantations of wild fruit-bearing trees, grasses and berries etc. is being emphasized. A decision has been taken that at least 30% of total planted plants should be fruit-bearing trees in all the plantations raised under CAMPA funds.
• Strategy for towns: Better solid waste management system is practiced in state
• Research and studies:
• Studies by University of California, Davis and National Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru have been conducted in Shimla and Una respectively. It has been found that humans-initiated conflict in majority of cases in Shimla. In rural areas of Una and surrounding areas, the scaring methods utilizing auditory deterrents, olfactory deterrents etc. provided no respite from monkeys in crop raiding.
• A request has been made to wildlife Institute of India to carry out research and study to evaluate various behavioral aspects of both pre and post sterilized monkeys and also to carry out population abundance estimation of entire state.
• Capacity building of Veterinarians across the globe
• Veterinarians from Indian States facing monkey conflict are trained at our sterilization centres to mitigate the conflict.
• Recently veterinarians from Nepal were also trained who are facing massive human wildlife conflict due to Rhesus macaque in urban and rural areas
• Toll free Wildlife Helpline Number: 18004194575

The claimant shall apply for the same to his respective Divisional Forest Officer through the concerned Beat Guard/Range Officer. Relevant documents/Inspection Reports from Forest Department, Police Department, Revenue Department, Health/Veterinary Department, photographs shall be attached with application form.

The wildlife wing does not provide any relief for the damage caused to agriculture crop by wildlife. However, the needful is done by  departments of Agriculture and Horticulture.

The notification can be found at the wildlife tab (Widlife Notifications) of the official website of Himachal Pradesh Forest Department.

A large zoo namely DURGESHARANYA ZOOLOGICAL PARK is to be constructed at Bankhandi, Dehra, District Kangra. The said large zoo will be spread over an area of approximately 172 hectare. Some of the attractions of the zoo include a walk in Aviary, Aquarium, Safaris, Amphitheatre etc which will be constructed in a phased manner. The establishment of large zoo is aimed at leveraging the tourism potential of the region and recognizing the opportunities and positive impact it shall have on the local economy. The said project seeks to achieve the mission of transforming Kangra into a Tourism capital of HP.

The annual bird count data in the Pong Dam Lake WLS for the last 5 years is as follows:

There are 4 Zoos, 3 Pheasantries, 2 Rescue & Rehabilitation Centres (RRCs) and 1 Bird Park in Himachal Pradesh. These are as follows:

The number of animals displayed zoo wise is available at  Link

There are 5 National Parks, 26 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 4 Conservation Reserves in the State of HP.  Click to View List

State Animal-   Snow Leopard

State Bird     -   Western Tragopan

State Flower  -   Pink Rhodhodendron.

The total geographical area coming under the PAN in H.P. (National Parks, Sanctuaries and Conservation Reserves) is 8393.66 sq.km which is more than the 15% of the geographical area of the State.

To view the same please visit the link