State forms panels to prepare district-wise forest land reports and GIS maps

Time of India

12 hours ago

Pune: State govt on Tuesday constituted three committees to form a comprehensive and detailed district-wise report of Maharashtra's forest land, alongside the creation of GIS-based digital maps utilised in mining clearances.
The decision follows the Supreme Court's March order mandating all states and Union Territories to form an expert committee to constitute the report as directed under Rule 16 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023. The SC had also emphasised adherence to a 2011 order, mandating state govts to create and regularly update GIS-based district-wise forest land maps, including wildlife corridors and protected areas, for use in cases involving forest land diversion.
As per Rule 16 of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, state govts, within one year, were to prepare a consolidated record of such lands, on which the provisions of the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, applied. It encompassed forest-like areas identified by expert committees, unclassified forest lands and community forest lands.
The state-level expert committee constituted the principal chief conservator of forests, principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), principal chief conservator of forests (social forestry), additional principal chief conservator of forests (conservation), settlement commissioner and director of land records, chief conservator of forests (land records), and additional principal chief conservator of forests and central officer of Maharashtra.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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This committee will take action as per the Supreme Court orders dated March 4, ensuring compliance with the definition of 'forest' as defined by the court in an order dated Dec 12, 1996. "The committee will also verify the records of the area prepared by the district committee, providing guidance to the district committee regarding its functioning and guiding the committee constituted for creating the GIS-based map for forest clearances and compiling the reports received and submitting them to govt by July 15, 2025," the govt resolution stated.
The second committee formed to create the map for forest clearances included the additional principal chief conservator of forests (information technology policy), additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife east/west), chief conservator of forests (conservation), director, MSRAC, conservator of forests (working plan) and former conservator of forests (working plan).
"This committee will overlook the creation of GIS-based digital maps and submit a compliance report to the expert committee," the resolution stated.
The district-wise committee included district collector, superintendent of land records, all deputy conservators of forests (regional in the district) and deputy conservators of forests at district headquarters. This committee will prepare a record of forest areas at the district level and submit a compliance report to the expert committee.
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The orders were passed in a case where petitioner Ashok Sharma contested that state govts would dilute the forest land in the country in lieu of compensatory afforestation. This led to the Supreme Court order of Feb 3, 2025, in which the bench directed that no steps would be taken by the states or UTs to reduce forest land till further orders
The SC, on March 4, ordered state govts to expedite the process with a report of the formation of committees for land reports before the next hearing scheduled on Sept 9, 2025
In the 2011 order, the committee was to create the GIS map with each plot of land that may be defined as forest for the purpose of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the core, buffer and eco-sensitive zone of the protected areas constituted as per the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the important migratory corridors for wildlife and the forest land diverted for non-forest purposes in the past in the district
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