No lessons learnt! U’khand gives away forest land for ‘non-forest’ uses
13 Oct 2013 11:10 PM GMT
Around 4 lakh hectares (4768.703 sq. km.) of civil soyam land in Uttarakhand - all under thick forest cover – constituting 8.93 percent of the total geographical area of state, is reportedly lying unattended and is continuously being ‘cleared’ for non-forest uses.
Owned by the revenue department, the civil soyam land is part of the unsurveyed waste land, spread across Garhwal, Almora and Haldwani districts in Uttarakhand. Though the land was notified as Protected Forests in 1893 under the Indian Forest Act 1878, it was denotified by the state government in 2011.
According to the environment ministry officials, the civil soyam forests have witnessed increasing number of encroachments over the last few years and are constantly leased out to private individuals, organisations and authorities by the district administrations without considerations of the eco-sensitivity of the area.
In the absence of ownership of the forest department, the district administrative officers have been liberally allowing the diversion of the forested civil soyam lands for non-forest purposes, as they have been exempted from seeking prior approval of the centre as mandated by the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1981, the environment ministry officials said.
The ministry has asked the state government to create a land bank of 50,000 hectares of civil soyam land for compensatory afforestation in lieu of the diversion of the forest lands of the reserved or protected forests, as allowed under the FCA guidelines and clarification issued in June 2004.
‘We have been writing to them since 2009 asking for civil soyam land for compensatory afforestation. Although they have expressed their agreement with us, nothing has been given to us so far,’ said Azam Zaidi, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Zone, Ministry of Environment and Forests.
‘We wanted the civil soyam land as already the state has lost much of its reserved forest cover and we wanted to make up for its loss by declaring the civil soyam as reserved or protected forests so that FCA rules apply on it. Also, in that case, the ownership of land would be transferred to forest department. But the state has not treaded an inch,’ he told Millennium Post.
The Supreme Court had, on 12 December, 1996, ordered that any forest land, irrespective of its status and ownership, cannot be diverted or transferred to any organisation, agency, authority or individual without approval of the centre. ‘Uttarakhand is an eco-sensitive Himalayan state, and any clearance of its forest cover will not only cause ecological imbalance there but will also affect the climate and ecology of the whole country,’ Zaidi said.
About 46.07 percent of the total geographical area of 53483 sq. km. is covered with reserved forests (24637.32 sq. km.), while protected forests occupy 0.0028 percent, at 151.627 sq. km. The village panchayat land occupies 9.28 percent area and is situated in 4961.85 sq. km.
Owned by the revenue department, the civil soyam land is part of the unsurveyed waste land, spread across Garhwal, Almora and Haldwani districts in Uttarakhand. Though the land was notified as Protected Forests in 1893 under the Indian Forest Act 1878, it was denotified by the state government in 2011.
According to the environment ministry officials, the civil soyam forests have witnessed increasing number of encroachments over the last few years and are constantly leased out to private individuals, organisations and authorities by the district administrations without considerations of the eco-sensitivity of the area.
In the absence of ownership of the forest department, the district administrative officers have been liberally allowing the diversion of the forested civil soyam lands for non-forest purposes, as they have been exempted from seeking prior approval of the centre as mandated by the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1981, the environment ministry officials said.
The ministry has asked the state government to create a land bank of 50,000 hectares of civil soyam land for compensatory afforestation in lieu of the diversion of the forest lands of the reserved or protected forests, as allowed under the FCA guidelines and clarification issued in June 2004.
‘We have been writing to them since 2009 asking for civil soyam land for compensatory afforestation. Although they have expressed their agreement with us, nothing has been given to us so far,’ said Azam Zaidi, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Zone, Ministry of Environment and Forests.
‘We wanted the civil soyam land as already the state has lost much of its reserved forest cover and we wanted to make up for its loss by declaring the civil soyam as reserved or protected forests so that FCA rules apply on it. Also, in that case, the ownership of land would be transferred to forest department. But the state has not treaded an inch,’ he told Millennium Post.
The Supreme Court had, on 12 December, 1996, ordered that any forest land, irrespective of its status and ownership, cannot be diverted or transferred to any organisation, agency, authority or individual without approval of the centre. ‘Uttarakhand is an eco-sensitive Himalayan state, and any clearance of its forest cover will not only cause ecological imbalance there but will also affect the climate and ecology of the whole country,’ Zaidi said.
About 46.07 percent of the total geographical area of 53483 sq. km. is covered with reserved forests (24637.32 sq. km.), while protected forests occupy 0.0028 percent, at 151.627 sq. km. The village panchayat land occupies 9.28 percent area and is situated in 4961.85 sq. km.
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