Mumbai case revives debate on what constitutes a forest
NEWDELHI: The outcry against tree felling in the Aarey Milk Colony has reopened the debate on what constitutes a forest?
The Supreme Court on Monday said the identity of the Aarey colony will have to be established. Some of the Aarey colony area was “un-classed forests” in Maharashtra government records. The Forest Survey of India defines un-classed forests as recorded forests but not classified as reserve or protected forests; the ownership of such forests varies across states.
SC’s forest bench will now hear the Aarey matter on October 21 while hearing the TN Godavarman case. In the same case, the SC on 12 December 1996 observed the word “forest must be understood according to its dictionary meaning”. SC also directed states to identify areas which are “forests”, irrespective of whether they are so notified, recognised or classified under any law, and irrespective of the ownership of the land. But this order hasn’t been complied with in many states and there is confusion over which areas will get the same protection as a forest.
Aarey, a biodiversity-rich zone, contiguous with the Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a case in point. Citizens are demanding that the land be given legal protection by recognising it either as deemed forest or as a biodiversity reserve. The fate of several stretches of Aravalis in Haryana is also undecided because they are yet to be recognised as forests.
For example, the Haryana government permitted the felling of over 7,000 trees for a group housing project in June, 2017. Despite the state forest department acknowledging that the area was a ‘forest’ on various occasions, the government permitted the project arguing that the area was not recorded as forest in revenue records. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) later overturned the government’s stand and said it misinterpreted the law and declared it a “deemed forest.”
Siddhanta Das, director general, forests, ministry of environment, said: “There should be no confusion on what are forests. There are three categories —notified forests, recorded forests, which means they are not notified but are listed as forest in government records, and deemed forests, where land with characteristics of a forest is notified. States were asked to develop criteria to declare deemed forests. Some have done it, many haven’t. We are not party to the Aarey case but, if asked, we will submit this.”
“Land use change of urban green spaces is being seen either through a legalistic or materialistic lens... areas or building “urbanisable” around cities needs to be designed beyond the land value...,” said Kanchi Kohli, legal researcher, Centre for Policy Research.
And there is a clear protocol on how this needs to be done
“The 2011 Lafarge judgement of the SC, is quite clear -- if there is a dispute -- then the site should be inspected by the state forest department and a MoEF representative and that there should be a standing committee in each regional office of the MoEF for this purpose,” said Chetan Agarwal, Gurgaon based activist who is part of the movement to save Aravalis.