Forest Dept. struggling to regain 14,000 hectares of land in Pune

The Pune Forest Department is struggling to take back 14,000 hectares of land which is currently with the Revenue Department. A forest official informed that earlier policies led to the transfer of forest land on a large scale. But over a period of time, large tracts of land were encroached due to negligence and they are now in the process of taking back their land and protecting it from any future encroachments.

According to Forest Department officials, land disputes not only in Pune but in the entire state date back to the British era when the forest and defence departments owned the majority of land. In 1978, the government of India ordered the Forest Department to transfer some of its land to the Revenue Department so that the latter could allocate the same for administration, town planning and agricultural purposes. Accordingly, the Forest Department transferred some of its land but with additional land transfers, the documentation was not carried out properly.

As time passed, neither the forest nor revenue departments paid any attention to this land due to which it was encroached. With decreasing forest cover and increasing land disputes, the central government in the early 2000s once again ordered the Forest Department to identify reserve forest land and hand it over to the Revenue Department and mark it in order to prevent future encroachment/misuse. Accordingly, the Forest Department began identification of reserve forest land in 2008.

Deepak Pawar, assistant conservator of forests, Pune Forest Division, said, “In Pune, over 30,000 hectares of (reserve forest) land was identified and since 2008, we have taken back at least 20,000 hectares from the Revenue Department. Nearly 14,000 hectares of (reserve) forest land is still with the Revenue Department and we are in the process of taking back this land.”

While reserve forest land has already been identified, there are many challenges in taking back this land which include litigation, encroachment and lease proposals, Pawar said.

Pawar went on to explain that court cases are underway over land ownership and no final decision has been reached, providing an opportunity for other encroachment. In some areas, permanent settlements like buildings and slums have come up. In such cases, it is very difficult for them to vacate the land as they need to first relocate the people for which they have to provide the people with alternative land. In some cases, land earlier allocated for agricultural purposes is later utilised for commercial or residential purposes. In other cases, there are lease proposals. If reserve forest land has been given on a 55 years’ lease and the lease period is either over or about to get over, they have to consider whether to extend the lease period or take back the land. All of these issues make it difficult for the Forest Department to reclaim the identified reserve forest land, Pawar said.

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Boundary walls to prevent encroachment

After identification of reserve forest land, the Forest Department also undertakes measures to protect the land from further encroachment. Boundary walls are among the methods that have proved effective in protecting forest land in Pune. “The department constructed about 60 kilometre of boundary wall so far. Every year, we propose at least an eight to 10 km area for the construction of a boundary wall. This year too, we have proposed an 8 km area where a boundary wall will be constructed during the current financial year,” said Mahadev Mohite, deputy conservator of forests, Forest Department. “There are several difficulties like hilly, uneven terrain; disputed land etc. To protect such land, we are thinking about other measures,” Mohite said.