The proposed amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 have attracted objections on various grounds:

• ‘Dilution’ of the Supreme Court’s 1996 judgment in the Godavarman case that extended protection to wide tracts of forests, even if they were not recorded as forests

• In geographically sensitive areas within 100 km of the International Borders or the Line of Control, no forest clearance required to construct highways, hydel power projects and so on

• No Central protection for vast tracts of so-called ‘deemed forest’ (forests not officially recorded as forests) and permitting activities such as tourism, compromising their integrity