On Tuesday, the Mizoram Assembly took a firm stance by adopting an official resolution that opposes the recently passed Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023. “This House unanimously resolves to oppose the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act of 2023 in order to protect the rights and interests of the people of Mizoram,” the resolution stated.
According to a PTI report, Mizoram’s Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, TJ Lalnuntluanga, who introduced the resolution, stated that the state government had been opposing the bill since its inception. He mentioned that they had written to the Centre on 21 October 2021, informing them about the state government’s opposition.
The state forest department had also submitted a letter to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) regarding the proposed legislation on 6 June, he added. As per the minister, despite receiving an overwhelming 1,309 protest letters and communications, the JPC proceeded with the approval of the bill. Subsequently, the bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament — the Lok Sabha on 26 July and the Rajya Sabha on 2 August.
“Even though we have made exhaustive efforts to protect our forests from destruction and to safeguard the rights of the people of the state by conveying our concerns about the proposed Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act through numerous correspondences to the Centre, it has yielded no results. Therefore, we present this resolution today,” PTI quoted Lalnuntluanga as saying.
Highlighting the vulnerability of Mizoram, the minister expressed that the state’s forest cover could face obliteration if Section 2, sub-section (i) of the Amendment Act were to be implemented in the state.
After prolonged discussions involving several MLAs from both the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) and the opposition, all members, except the BJP representative BD Chakma, voted in support of the resolution, the report stated.