In response to this requirement of preparing a forest clearance plan for the implementation of the project, WII took upon itself the task of preparing the Forest Clearance Plan to fulfill its last and final commitment under the MoU offer of NVDA.

The preparatory task included conducting field survey for the first hand knowledge of ground situation and updating the earlier records and information with respect to details of forest area required and the status of the forests earmarked for clearance under the project. WII sought the technical support and resource inputs of experienced forest officials.

These included Shri J.J Dutta Retired PCCF, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department who had both, the first hand knowledge of the area and the long drawn experience of management of these forests, and as Member of the Friends of Nature Society, Bhopal, also had the experience of preparing the Felling Plan for Indira Sagar Project and Shri. R.C. Sharma Retired Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department who had extensive experience of management of the forests in the project area. The WII team jointly surveyed (Plate 2) the project area with these forest officials during 9th -16th July 2003 and interacted with senior officials of NVDA and the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, forest managers of the various forest divisions involved and the representatives of the Narmada Hydropower Cooperation Ltd., to update the information on relevant aspects relevant for visualizing the plan for forest scheduling.

The WII documentation on Forest Clearance Plan is structured to cover the following aspects:

1. Break up of the forest area required for clear felling under different design and structural components of the project.
2. Detailed information on the forest compartments of different forest divisions falling under clearing zones for the project.
3. Basic premises on which the forest scheduling plan is drawn.
4. Identification of future islands to serve as wildlife habitats.
5. Sequence of felling in respective phases
6. Spatial representation of the suggested phasing for forest clearance indicating the details of forest compartments to be cleared and the specific phase of their clearing.
7. General guidelines for felling.
8. Guidelines for minimizing the impacts of forest clearing