<p>About 510 acres of forest land in the arid heartland of north Karnataka have come under focus after the Geological Survey of India (GSI) sought to look for lithium deposits in the area.</p>.<p>The land is part of the Amareshwara block forest, an undulating area, where the GSI will drill 37 bore holes of four-inch diameter.</p>.<p>The survey will involve felling 941 trees, with the GSI agreeing to pay for the subsequent afforestation.</p>.<p>The regional empowered committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which looked into the project, sought to know whether it was possible to avoid felling of the trees during the survey.</p>.<p>State authorities, however, said felling was required for laying roads and other works.</p>.<p>The committee pointed to the guidelines issued under the amended Forest (Conservation) Act and said 110 "tall trees" shall be planted for each borehole. The project will involve raising a plantation of 4,070 tall trees in the degraded forest land.</p>.Citizens to petition GSI to pursue UNESCO heritage tag for Lalbagh.<p>The proposal was deferred in view of the lack of clarity on some points. The committee expressed concern that for a prospecting proposal involving drilling, the inclusion of a large forest area (510 acre) was misleading. It noted that non-forest activities were not being taken up in the entire 510 acres, but only a small fraction of it.</p>.<p>GSI clarified that while the bore holes are spread over approximately 500 acres, the actual area involved in drilling was 10.26 acres. For this, the regional authority suggested that the proposal should be limited to the actual impacted area.</p>.<p>Interestingly, the GSI told the committee that the soil and moisture conservation works may not be insisted upon by the committee.</p>.<p>"It is opined that this prospecting proposal will ultimately lead to mining operations in the future and hence taking soil and moisture conservation works as part of this prospecting proposal may not serve the purpose in the long run," the committee noted.</p>.<p>The committee directed the nodal officer to scrutinise the proposal and resubmit it with correct data regarding the forest area required. It also asked the state authorities to justify the construction of permanent roads at the stage of prospection of minerals and provide a specific time period needed to conduct the works.</p>
<p>About 510 acres of forest land in the arid heartland of north Karnataka have come under focus after the Geological Survey of India (GSI) sought to look for lithium deposits in the area.</p>.<p>The land is part of the Amareshwara block forest, an undulating area, where the GSI will drill 37 bore holes of four-inch diameter.</p>.<p>The survey will involve felling 941 trees, with the GSI agreeing to pay for the subsequent afforestation.</p>.<p>The regional empowered committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which looked into the project, sought to know whether it was possible to avoid felling of the trees during the survey.</p>.<p>State authorities, however, said felling was required for laying roads and other works.</p>.<p>The committee pointed to the guidelines issued under the amended Forest (Conservation) Act and said 110 "tall trees" shall be planted for each borehole. The project will involve raising a plantation of 4,070 tall trees in the degraded forest land.</p>.Citizens to petition GSI to pursue UNESCO heritage tag for Lalbagh.<p>The proposal was deferred in view of the lack of clarity on some points. The committee expressed concern that for a prospecting proposal involving drilling, the inclusion of a large forest area (510 acre) was misleading. It noted that non-forest activities were not being taken up in the entire 510 acres, but only a small fraction of it.</p>.<p>GSI clarified that while the bore holes are spread over approximately 500 acres, the actual area involved in drilling was 10.26 acres. For this, the regional authority suggested that the proposal should be limited to the actual impacted area.</p>.<p>Interestingly, the GSI told the committee that the soil and moisture conservation works may not be insisted upon by the committee.</p>.<p>"It is opined that this prospecting proposal will ultimately lead to mining operations in the future and hence taking soil and moisture conservation works as part of this prospecting proposal may not serve the purpose in the long run," the committee noted.</p>.<p>The committee directed the nodal officer to scrutinise the proposal and resubmit it with correct data regarding the forest area required. It also asked the state authorities to justify the construction of permanent roads at the stage of prospection of minerals and provide a specific time period needed to conduct the works.</p>