Tree-felling in Aarey colony 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 in its order 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 state governments 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 the pristine 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 Haryana forest department acknowledging that the area was a ‘forest’ on various occasions in the past, Haryana 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 had misinterpreted the law and declared the land to be “deemed forest.”
Siddhanta Das, director general, forests, ministry of environment said : “There should be no confusion on what are forests. There are three categories of forests—notified forests, recorded forests, which means they are not notified but are listed as forest in government records, and deemed forests, where land which has characteristics of a forest is notified. State governments have been asked to develop criteria to declare deemed forests. Some states have done it, many haven’t. We are not party to the Aarey case but if we are asked we will submit this.”
The Aarey protests are also reminiscent of other urban movements to save trees and green spaces in metros. Thousands of citizens in Delhi protested for months against the proposal to fell more than 16,000 trees to make way for redevelopment of seven general pool residential accommodation projects. National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) which along with Central Public Works Department was developing these projects was forced to revisit the plan to minimise the impact on trees. The case against environmental clearance issued to the projects is still being heard in the Delhi High Court. There were similar protests in Bangalore against a steel flyover project when thousands of Bangaloreans took to streets in 2016 to protect around 800 trees.
“Land use change of urban green spaces is being seen either through a legalistic or materialistic lens. Whether or not tree cover is in legally recorded forest, it plays an ecological and social function in cities and towns. Redevelopment of existing urban areas or building “urbanisable” around cities needs to be designed beyond the land value. The Aravalli Biodiversity Park (in Gurugram) or Aarey may be urbanisable in city or municipal master plans, but that should not be the only criteria to determine what is the best use the area should be under. Environmental parametres are more important than ever before in urban planning,” s a i d Kanchi Kohl i , legal researcher, Centre for Policy Research.
“We need to consider alternatives seriously while evaluating the trade-offs involved in forest diversions. The first step in that process is to identify the forests - even if they are not notified or recorded as a forest”.
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.