Regularising forest land: State gets time to file reply

In a move that smacks of government apathy in providing relief to five lakh homeowners living on “illegal” forest land, the state has sought more time from the Supreme Court to make changes to an affidavit.

In a move that smacks of government apathy in providing relief to five lakh homeowners living on “illegal” forest land, the state has sought more time from the Supreme Court to make changes to an affidavit.

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On Tuesday, when government pleader Sharad Kharde asked for more time, the SC granted a month’s time to submit the proposal.

The state, in its application to the SC submitted in August, sought that the land deemed forest land be declared as “outside Forest Area”.

Lakhs of houses in Thane, Mulund, Borivli and Kandivli were under threat of being demolished after the Bombay High Court, in March 2008, had deemed their flats illegal for being built on forest land.

Residents affected by the order moved the SC, which asked the Central Empowered Committee to give its recommendations on the issue.

The committee submitted its recommendations in June 2009 asking for regularisation of land after paying a nominal afforestation fee, ranging from Rs 6 to Rs 600 per sq ft depending on when the flat was built. The fees were to be paid before January 25.