FCA ACT 2023 (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Env & Eco)

Context: Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 to Offer Gains to Real Estate Firms Holding 'Deemed Forest' Land in Haryana's Aravallis.

• The amendment removes the protection of forest land such as this derived from a 1996 Supreme Court judgment that dealt with forests identified as per the dictionary meaning of the word deemed forests.

Forest Conservation Amendment Act 2023

• Exempted Categories of Land: The Act exempts some types of land from the Act, including forest land along a railway line or a public road maintained by the government.
• Assignment/Leasing of Foreign Land: The Act extends the prior approval requirement for assigning forest land to all entities, including government-owned ones. The approval must be subject to the terms and conditions prescribed by the central government.
• Land Under the Purview of the Act: It defines forest land as either land that is notified as a forest under the IFA, 1927 or any other law, or land that is notified as a forest on or after Oct 25, 1980, in a government record.
• Permitted Activities in Forest Land: The Act restricts the de-reservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purposes, but the central government may approve such use with conditions.

Aravalli Ranges

• Location: They stretch for a distance of about 720 km from Himmatnagar in Gujarat to Delhi, spanning Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Delhi.
• Formation: The Aravallis date back to millions of years when a pre-Indian subcontinent collided with the mainland Eurasian Plate.
• Highest Peak: Guru Shikhar Peak on Mount Abu
• Mineral Resources: Copper, zinc, lead, and marble.
• Two Sections of Aravalli: Sambhar-Sirohi ranges, and the Sambhar-Khetri ranges.