New Delhi, April 6 The Assam government on Monday sought the vacation of the National Green Tribunal's stay on the deployment of around 1,600 Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) personnel for the April 9 assembly polls in the northeastern state.
A reply submitted before the NGT's eastern zonal bench in Kolkata said the plea against the state government's March 19 order directing the mobilization of the forest force personnel to assist the Assam Police for the upcoming polls had wrongly "stretched" the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act, making it applicable to manpower deployment.
Earlier on April 2, the green body had stayed the order on a plea filed by advocate Gaurav Bansal, claiming that by diverting the AFPF personnel from their primary duties of protection and conservation of biological resources for election and allied purposes, authorities have failed to discharge their statutory obligations under the Biological Diversity Act.
According to the response by the state government's environment department dated April 4, a member of the AFPF battalion, instead of being a forest officer or forest staff, is an armed personnel such as constable, lance naik, naik, havilder, sub-inspector and inspector.
"The biodiversity of the state is largely managed by the Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) under the Biological Diversity Act. Assam has got 2,549 BMCs to look after and manage the biological resources and biodiversity of the state under the act," the reply said, adding that there was no question of any negligence by the state.
It said that biological diversity is not confined to forests and protected areas only, and while notified forests occupy 27.24 per cent of the state's total area, biodiversity is equally abundant in the rest of the area as well.
"Furthermore, most of these new additions of forces and forest staff have happened only in the last three years," it said.
"Therefore, the petitioner is completely wrong to say that the respondents (state of Assam and others) have not only failed to discharge their statutory obligations under the Biological Diversity Act, but also have severely compromised the protection and conservation of forests, wildlife and ecological systems," the reply said.
It said that the Biological Diversity Act has no jurisdiction over the temporary issue of deployment of forces from one duty to another.
"This is an act that covers every shade of biodiversity including rice, maize, sugarcane, vegetables, cattle, poultry, piggery and all other plant and biological resources."
"AFPF personnel are not responsible for the protection of any such biological resources unless they are found to occur in a notified forest, etc.," the reply said.
It said that the plea tried to stretch provisions of the act beyond its realm of applicability.
"There are earlier occasions wherein deployments of AFPF personnel have been made without compromising the need for maintaining biodiversity to assist the Assam Police. It is completely wrong on the part of the petitioner to say that protection of biological diversity is dependent only on these 1,600 AFPF personnel," the reply said.
It said, "Thus, it is crystal clear that the petitioner has stretched the provisions of the Biological Diversity Act too far in making the same applicable to the manpower deployment.”
"Therefore, the petitioner has failed to make any case. Hence, the order of the tribunal dated April 2 may please be vacated."
The matter has been posted to Tuesday for further proceedings.