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/LOK SABHA/
There has
been some delay in upgradation of MiG-21 Bison, NavWASS Jaguar and MiG-27 aircraft
due to delays in design and developments phase. The projects are closely monitored
to mitigate the delay.
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a
written reply to Shri Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi in Lok Sabha today. FIELD FIRING RANGES FOR MILITARY EXERCISE
At present, 40 notified and 12 acquired Field Firing Ranges (FFRs) are
available to the Army for training and field firing.
There are 52 FFRs which are non-operational since they have not been re-notified
by the State Governments. With the enactment of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,
as amended in 1989 and the Supreme Court Order dated Oct 30, 2002, the State Governments
are insisting on payment of cost of Compensatory Afforestation (CA) and Net Present
Value (NPV) for re-notifying the FFRs since use of forest land as FFR has been
classified as a non-forestry activity by the Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MoEF).
The Ministry of Defence had requested the MoEF in August, 2005 to take
up the matter with the concerned authorities in the various states for immediate
re-notification of 19 FFRs without pre-payment of CA and NPV so that the Army
could conduct its necessary training and field firing. MoEF had stated in October,
2005 that for the purpose of compensating or restricting possible adverse impact
on environment, CA was being insisted upon according to the guidelines and the
rules framed under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 and the said Act would
be applicable only on the actual impact area of the FFR and not the entire area.
MoEF had advised the Army authorities to place the case of FFRs for exemption
from payment of NPV before the Expert Committee constituted by the Supreme Court.
This has been done and is being followed up.
This information was given by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a
written reply to Shri Dalpat Singh Parste in Lok Sabha today. samir / raj
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Upgradation of IAF Aircraft
