Delhi asks if certain deemed forests can be used for works

The move comes after the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, which exempts unrecorded “deemed forests” from it ambit, came into force

The Delhi government has asked the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) if “deemed forest” areas in the Capital that do not meet the tree density criteria can be utilised for developmental projects.

In compliance with the Supreme Court order, and other similar directives, the Delhi government declared that deemed forests were areas about 2.5 acres large that have a density of 100 trees per acre; 1km stretches of land along roads and drains where trees have been planted; and those already marked as forests in revenue records. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The move comes after the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, which exempts unrecorded “deemed forests” from it ambit, came into force on December 1.

The Delhi government move was met with scepticism by experts, who said that the removal of deemed forests from the Capital will be violative of Supreme Court orders.

Before the amended Act came into force, forest governance in India was largely influenced by a 1996 Supreme Court judgment in the TN Godavarman vs Union of India case, in which the court interpreted the meaning of the word “forest as its dictionary definition”.

In compliance with the Supreme Court order, and other similar directives, the Delhi government declared that deemed forests were areas about 2.5 acres large that have a density of 100 trees per acre; 1km stretches of land along roads and drains where trees have been planted; and those already marked as forests in revenue records.

However, the Delhi forest department, in its December 12 letter to the MoEFCC inspector general of forests, has sought a clarification on whether deemed forest areas that no longer meet the criteria will continue to be considered forests.

“Over time these stretches of roads have lost the density of trees and do not meet the criteria conveyed in the affidavit filed by conservator of forests, government of NCT... in Supreme Court of India. Now, for various developmental activities such as road expansion, metro corridor and other developmental projects, agencies submit their application for tree felling on such stretches of roads which are listed in the aforementioned affidavit as deemed forests but on ground these stretches have lost their tree density for qualifying as deemed forest,” the letter states.

“Considering the facts mentioned above, amendments in the Van (Sanrakshan evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 2023 and recent orders of SC, it is requested to kindly clarify whether the criteria of deemed forests and areas mentioned in the said affidavit filed in Supreme Court by GNCTD still qualify the status of deemed forests or not, so that future land diversion cases can be processed accordingly,” the letter states.

The Delhi forest department said that the letter was only to seek clarification on the status of deemed forests in the Capital. “We are only seeking a clarification from MoEFCC on whether deemed forests that do not meet the criteria anymore will be considered forests. It’s a clarification on the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act. Development agencies have approached us on whether these lands can be utilised for projects. We are awaiting a response from MoEFCC,” a senior official said.

The environment ministry officials did not respond to HT’s requests for comment.

Activists, meanwhile, said any removal of deemed forests will be violative of law.

“The new amendment act clearly states that any land recorded as forest in any government record will be considered forest. Moreover, for roadside amenities, the new amendment act has already made a provision for exemption of up to 0.10 hectare. So, there is no confusion on what should be considered forests. If these areas are now removed from the deemed forest category, it will be a violation of forest conservation act and the Supreme Court order of 1996,” said Debadityo Sinha, lead, climate & ecosystems, at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

To be sure, provisions of the new amendment act have been challenged in the Supreme Court by 11 retired civil servants and two environmental experts, who have alleged that the new provisions will radically undermine India’s decades-old forest governance regime built around the implementation of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.