Slow progress in clearing forest land of slums: Panel

NEW DELHI: An oversight committee formed to monitor the removal of encroachments from Delhi’s southern ridge in accordance with a National Green Tribunal order has said that the process has been slow since February.

The forest department has been carrying out an anti-encroachment drive in the southern ridge since 2018, following a 2015 NGT order, in which petitioner Sonya Ghosh called for the removal of illegal encroachments in the southern ridge.

The oversight committee held a meeting on October 3 to assess the progress in clearing the forest land, and as per a copy of the minutes of the meeting, dated November 11, progress since February has been extremely slow, and only 6.28 hectares of forest land was cleared till October. In comparison, 17.4 hectares of forest land was cleared between April 1, 2021 and February 18, when the last meeting was held.

Officials aware of matter said the process has slowed down largely on account of a delay in the rehabilitation of people located in JJ colonies forming a part of the southern ridge.

They said of the 757 JJ clusters and colonies that come under the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), 103 are currently on forest land or the morphological ridge.

“DGF&SS (director general forest and special secretary, who heads the panel) has remarked on the slow pace of removal of encroachment. The DCF (South) and DCF (West) were directed to hold a meeting with the district commissioners having jurisdiction over the areas encroached and to submit an actionable plan for removal of these encroachments along with timelines,” said the Minutes of the meeting, a copy of which HT has seen.

“DUSIB has submitted that they are not in any position to rehabilitate inhabitants of any identified area after eviction... A clarification has been sought from the law department on whether the JJ cluster rehabilitation policy, 2017 overrides the direction of Hon’ble courts for removal of encroachments,” said the minutes of the meeting.

OFFICIALS SAID THE PROCESS HAS SLOWED DOWN LARGELY ON ACCOUNT OF A DELAY IN THE REHABILITATION OF PEOPLE IN JJ COLONIES