Industry can’t be installed within 8 kms from reserved forest boundary
No wood-based industry can be installed or operated within eight kilometres (aerial distance) from the boundary of nearby reserved forests, unless located within the boundaries of “Municipal area” or “Industrial Estate” notified by the government. However, existing saw mills installed and operated by the Forest department or by Jammu and Kashmir Forest Development Corporation Limited (JKFDCL) will continue to be exceptions.
Similarly, no furniture unit can be installed or operated within 3 kilometres (aerial distance) from the boundary of nearby reserved forests, unless located within the boundaries of “Municipal area” or “Industrial Estate.” These rules and provisos form part of “Jammu and Kashmir Wood-based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Rules, 2022” notified by Commissioner/ Secretary Forest, Environment and Ecology Department Sanjeev Verma.
As per rules, no new wood-based industry can be installed or operated without consent to establish or operate from Jammu and Kashmir Pollution Control Committee or Board. The Rules also specify that no furniture unit can be installed or operated within 3 kilometres (aerial distance) from the boundary of nearby reserved forests, unless located within the boundaries of “Municipal Area” and/or “Industrial Estate” notified by the government irrespective of distance from the nearby reserved forests.
However, the government may, on the recommendations of a broad-based committee constituted for the purpose, restrict the maximum number of wood-based industries that may be installed in any given locality. Rules have been made by J&K government in exercise of powers conferred by clause (d) of section 76, and section 76-A of the Indian Forest Act 1927 (Act 16 of 1927) in conformity with the Wood Based Industries (Establishment and Regulation) Guidelines, 2016 issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.