The forest department had asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to cross check records and not to regularise unauthorised colonies under the Centre’s PM-UDAY scheme in unidentified or protected forests without approval from competent authority.
The Delhi Forest Department in a letter which accessed through and RTI application told the DDA on November 24 that there are khasras which are recorded against the forest department in revenue records for forestry purposes but are yet to be declared as the forest area under the Indian Forest Act 1927 or a protected area under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. In such cases any regularisation of unauthorised colonies will be regarded as division of forest and land for non-forestry purposes and will be a violation of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 as per the Supreme Court Order date December 12, 1996 in the TN Godavaman case.
Hence the revenue records are to be cross checked by the DDA before any regularisation of unauthorised colonies is allowed in such areas/khasras it said. While the DDA has started the process of regularising unauthorised colonies in the unidentified forests and protected forests it is yet to seek approval of competent authority for the diversion of forest land a forest department told.
The Central Governement launched the Prime Minister Unauthorised Colonies in Delhi Awas Adhikar Yogna (PM-Uday) in December 2019 to give ownership rights to the residents of 1,731 unauthorised colonies in the national capital after Parliament passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Act 2019.
The objective of the rehabilitation project is to provide a better and healthy living environment to the residents of slums. The Delhi Forest Department also told the DDA that the central land-owning agency is yet to demarcate 2,86, 14 hectares of the around 1,189 of protected forest land under DDA’s management.
A protected forest is the forest with some amount of legal and constitutional protection. The state government has proprietary rights and the power to issue rules about the use of such forests but local people are allowed to collect wood and graze cattle without causing any serious damage.
Some of the unauthorised colonies may fall in these unidentified protected forests. The DDA should ensure that there is no regularisation of unauthorised colonies failing in unidentified protected forests in violation of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 because of the lack of the demarcation on the ground ,
There may be unauthorised colonies which might have come over land having the status of deemed forest to ridge which are protected by various order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Hence the DDA should do necessary due diligence to avoid such areas during regularisation or seek approval of competent authority such as Ridge Management Board, The Supreme Court and the Ministry of Environment, Forest, Climate Change it said.
Forest Department Officials said they had written to the DDA in this regard in July last year. Some of the unauthorised colonies in the protected forests in the national capital include Bhim Basti, Shanti Camp, Biru Camp, Sambhav Camp, Bapu Camp and Sanjay Colony Bhatti Mines in Chattarpur; jhuggies at Kewal Kishan Chowk Post in Rajakari and in some parts of the Sangam Vihar.
Analysis of all the above cases reveal that the permission of competent authority is required before diverting any land by way of granting ownership in the area which is non-forestry purposes, the forest department wrote to the DDA.
