PUNE
Considering the urgency of its land safety, the Pune Forest Department has urged the Revenue Department to prioritise the land survey of forest land. Currently, the survey is focused on residential areas in the Pune district, however, the forest department is experiencing a rising incident of encroachment on forest land.
Therefore, the department wants to demarcate forest land as soon as possible, said a senior officer from the Pune Forest Division.
As per the latest forest stock analysis carried out by the forest department between 2020-2022, the total area of the Pune Division is 7,831 sq km area, a recently prepared working plan highlighted that the forest land comprises 775.85 sq km of reserved forest, protected forests, unclassed forest areas, etc.
Despite the identification of these areas, many forest areas in different categories are yet to be demarcated properly. As a result, some parts of these forest areas are being encroached on for commercial, residential, and agricultural purposes in some areas it is also used as a dumping ground for construction debris.
Mahadev Mohite, deputy conservator of forest said, “Pune is the second most populated city of Maharashtra. Here land is highly valuable so frequent attempts are made by locals to encroach on forest lands. During the previous plan period, 438 hectares of encroachment were evicted. Although we have identified the forest land with the help of land records available with both the Revenue Department and our archives, it came to our knowledge that in some places, forest lands have been encroached.”
{{/usCountry}}Mahadev Mohite, deputy conservator of forest said, “Pune is the second most populated city of Maharashtra. Here land is highly valuable so frequent attempts are made by locals to encroach on forest lands. During the previous plan period, 438 hectares of encroachment were evicted. Although we have identified the forest land with the help of land records available with both the Revenue Department and our archives, it came to our knowledge that in some places, forest lands have been encroached.”
{{/usCountry}}To demarcate those areas the Forest Department requires proper survey records from the Revenue Department.
“We are urging them to prioritize a land survey of the forest land in the district. So far land encroachment has been identified largely in the western region. However, in the city areas, the forest department holds lands in some prime locations as well as on hills, said Mohite.
Except for the epidemic time, the forest service has mounted several significant anti-enrichment campaigns in the recent five years, including one at Sinhagad Fort in November 2022, where approximately 50 food stalls encroaching on forest territory were removed.
In the year 2021, another such action was taken in the Mohammadwadi area, where illegal tin sheds on 17 guntha were taken down. Besides this various actions have been taken in Wadgaon Maval, Bhamburda and Daund, Baramati, and Indapur forest ranges.