Haryana chief secy asked to take action over police construction on forest land; IRB agrees to pay ₹31 crore compensation

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the chief secretary of Haryana to take appropriate action against the state police department for constructing a training

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the chief secretary of Haryana to take appropriate action against the state police department for constructing a training and research centre on Aravalli forest land in Bhondsi, without getting the necessary approval. The NGT has also upheld the state police’s request seeking retroactive diversion of the forest land for the project, for which the police has agreed to pay a penalty of ₹31 crore.

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The chief secretary has been asked to file an action taken report by March 13, when the tribunal will continue to hear the case.

On August 9, 2019, the NGT had ruled that a police training centre of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), in Bhondsi, had been built on protected Aravalli land (notified under special sections 4 and 5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act,1900) without obtaining required clearances under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. According to previous Supreme Court orders, PLPA lands are allotted legal ‘forest’ status.

The tribunal arrived at its ruling after considering a May 2019 report from the state forest department (a copy of which is with HT), which stated, “The forest department has not granted any permission to the IRB for felling trees. Building and roads have been constructed in the centre without prior approval of the government of India under provisions of the FCA.”

The IRB currently occupies close to 400 acres of PLPA-notified land in Bhondsi. Houses, offices and a research centre were constructed on 60 acres in 2004. A 480-metre-long check dam in Kadarpur has also been subsumed by the project which, according to a 2019 petition filed by Ram Avtar Yadav, resulted in the felling of over 62,000 trees.

The NGT’s latest order in the matter, dated February 4, also states that “a proposal has now been moved on 23.01.2020 to the Government of India for diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes.”

A senior forest department official, requesting anonymity, said, “The state police has applied to the environment ministry, retroactively seeking diversion of forest land for the project. They have also agreed to pay ₹31 crore as penalty, and to fund compensatory afforestation, after the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) gives in-principle approval for the same.”

A report containing these details had been submitted to the NGT on January 23 by the chief conservator of forests, Panchkula. Responding to it, the NGT noted, “While the above action may have been now taken, the fact remains that law has been blatantly violated for which accountability needs to be fixed.”

Hanif Qureshi, inspector general, IRB, said on Friday, “We will comply with the NGT’s orders. About 60 acres was transferred to the police department in 2011, but it is still recorded as forest land. Our new request for diversion of the whole 390-odd acres is pending with the Central government. If they approve it, we will ensure that adequate compensatory afforestation is done to restore the green cover.”

Qureshi added that for the 60 acres already transferred to the IRB, compensatory afforestation has been carried out in Karnal.

Ram Avtar Yadav, whose petition in the NGT resulted in these developments, said, “I am happy that the NGT has upheld the law, but also disappointed that it has allowed such a large-scale violation to be regularised. The Supreme Court in 2018 ordered the demolition of Kant Enclave for the same violations.”