On Sept 23 in Srinagar, the Minister in‑charge of Forest, Ecology and Environment addressed the J&K Legislative Assembly, saying that delays in processing forest land diversion proposals are caused by incomplete applications and the failure of project proponents or user agencies to upload required documents on the centrally managed PARIVESH portal.
The minister clarified that the Kashmir Forest Notice, issued in 1912 to grant forest‑produce concessions, is unrelated to the Forest Rights Act of 2006, and that the Forest Department itself has not delayed issuing No Objection Certificates; any holdup is linked to the proposers’ incomplete submissions, as highlighted in the MLA Altaf Ahmad Wani’s query on FRA implementation and portal performance.
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Regarding concerns about the PARIVESH system’s speed and reliability, the minister noted that the portal is hosted by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and that no reports of dismal performance have been recorded by the government.
