Latest news with #Forest(Conservation)AmendmentAct
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Union minister points to man-animal conflict as a key challenge
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav has flagged man-animal conflict and tigers outside tiger reserves as two of the most critical challenges faced by the conservation sector. Bhupender Yadav Speaking at the Indian Conservation Conference hosted by Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Yadav said: 'Just two days ago, I went to Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. There are two kinds of issues there. First, there is man-animal conflict. Second, tigers outside tiger reserves. This is also a big challenging problem. This problem is also seen in Tadoba... in Kabini... in Ranthambore...,' he said. 'We have also made a decision at the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in the last few days. We will have to revisit our forest management. And, this review will have to be done in the prospect of TN Godavarman judgment. What were the practices of pre-Godavarman judgment? Because we will have to see this problem due to the new pressures on wildlife areas. This is also a problem from Kerala,' Yadav said in his address in Hindi. A Supreme Court verdict in the TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India & Others case on December 12, 1996, directed that 'forests' would not only include those understood in the dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in government records irrespective of the ownership. However, the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023, exempts 'unrecorded deemed forests' from being recognised under the modified law on forest conservation. 'Tigers in Dudhwa are being seen in sugarcane fields. Or our elephants in Karnataka are entering coffee plantations. Wild boars are destroying crops in other states,' he said. 'The solution is not just wire fencing. Its solution is not just electronic fencing... There is no such solution. We have to go with co-existence, new approaches, with our traditional knowledge. For a long time, documentation and codification of traditional conservation knowledge did not happen,' Yadav added. Yadav gave examples of Soligas in Karnataka, the Meena tribe in Sariska, Maldharis in Gir who have co-existed with wildlife for a long time. 'The tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, have coexisted with elephants for a long time. If you go to the area of Amarkantak, there are people from the Baiga tribe who have extensive knowledge of herbs,' Yadav said. Yadav said that for the first time, on June 30, MoEFCC has organised a conference in Kolkata, on documenting traditional knowledge. Along with a new assessment for wildlife management intervention, the Centre has decided that Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History in Coimbatore will focus on human-wildlife conflict. 'For the future, we have decided to develop it as an institute of human wildlife conflict management. Now we are moving ahead in dolphin conservation, but the way the sand is being excavated from the rivers, or the cutting of the river banks... because of that, the gharial is also likely to face a new problem. And for the conservation of gharial, We have started a new project,' Yadav said. Yadav said that the new conservation policy must have a humanitarian approach. 'I want to say one thing, I am a forest minister, but I am saying this very seriously. If you remove all the locals, is the forest safe? And then If you bring 10,000 tourists later, then is the forest safe? If the forest is safe with the arrival of 10,000 tourists, then how is it bad to have the one living in these forests for thounsands of years?' 'So, we have to add a humanitarian approach to and economy are together. Ecology is the most important. But, the economy is also important,' he added. As per the 5th cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 (usually done in cycles of four years) summary report, India has a minimum of 3,167 tigers and is now home to more than 70% of the world's wild tiger population. HT had reported in 2020 that one in every three tigers in India lives outside reserves, according to a report, Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India (2018). Yadav said that in the last 50 years, India has shown that 70% of the tigers in the world are safe in their habitats. 'They are safe in their habitats in India. From 2014 to 2025, we have moved from 47 to 58 tiger reserves,' Yadav said, adding that every year, despite all the development pressures, India has declared a new area as tiger reserve. 'When we came in 2014, there were only 25 Ramsar wetlands in the country. Today, their number has increased to 91,' he said.
Hindustan Times
26-04-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
New hope of preserving Aravalli forest crops up in form of boards in Faridabad
The first boards appeared last week; then more did. All say the same thing: 'This property, 430 acres of land at village Mangar has been attached by Benami Prohibition Unit, Chandigarh of Income Tax Department.'The boards have given environmentalists hope that at least 430 acres of what once used to be village commons will be recognised as 'deemed forest' and preserved for posterity. After all, this is no ordinary land. Mangar spread over 4262 acres (of which 3810 acres is hill area) is among the most biodiversity rich areas of the Aravallis in the National Capital Region (NCR). Within Mangar village, Mangar Bani (677.12 acres) is NCR's most sacred grove, and possibly the only patch of primary forest in the region. It is also home to around 240 species of birds and 15 species of mammals including leopards and hyenas. Many experts believe the integrity of the Aravallis is intrinsic to the well-being of around 64 million people who live in NCR. Though Mangar meets all criteria for a forest,it has still not been classified as such by the Haryana government. The Supreme Court's December 12, 1996 verdict in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India & Others case directed that 'forests' would not only include those understood in the dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in government records irrespective of the ownership. HT reported on October 3, 2023 that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 will benefit real estate companies that own land in what was to be declared 'deemed forest' in Haryana's Aravallis. One of the contentious provisions of the new law is that it exempts unrecorded deemed forests from the modified law on forest conservation and hence leaves areas such as Mangar Bani vulnerable. Though the notice boards by IT department do not mention the companies involved in benami (shell company- or proxy) transactions, jamabandi papers and IT department orders perused by Hindustan Times point to Kenwood Mercantile Private Limited and Goodfaith Builders Private Limited . One document, from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Benami Prohibition Unit, dated December 31, 2019 states: 'Whereas information was received by the undersigned, after indepth perusal of which a prima-facie satisfaction was arrived at to hold and believe, that the shareholdings of the companies Kenwood Mercantile Private Limited and Goodfaith Builders Private Limited and thereby the rights over the 430 acres of land at Village Mangar, Faridabad owned by these two Companies are Benami Properties.' That document also points to the beneficial owners as M3M India Holdings and six individuals. M3M did not respond to queries from HT. A ministry of finance order dated March 29, 2022, also perused by HT, confirms that these are benami properties that are being attached. However, boards have come up in Mangar demarcating the area only last week. The matter is now in the Punjab Haryana High Court. The revenue record for Mangar from 1963-64 shows that the area is gair mumkin pahar (uncultivable land) and recorded as panchayat deh or owned by panchayat. HT's analysis of jamabandi papers in 2023 had revealed that large parts of land in Mangar and Mangar Bani are owned by companies like M3M, Ireo and the Patanjali group. Around 1973-74, through a mutation (no 155), around 3809.63 acres of land here was mutated from panchayat deh to shamlat deh and further sub-divided for private sale. The mutation was sanctioned on the basis of an order of a sub-judge in Ballabhgarh dated March 14, 1973, according to Chetan Agrawal, a Gurugram based forest analyst. 'Some villagers from Mangar moved the local court to get a judgement in their favour to privatise the common land. That was the beginning of how land started to be sold to private developers in Mangar. Thereafter, several other villages near Mangar also moved court to get an order to privatise. Around 1985-86, the consolidation proceedings were misused to illegally partition the panchayat/shamlat hill area of Mangar,' added Agarwal. Agarwal wrote to Deputy Commissioner, Faridabad on July 12, 2022 asking for a cancellation of Mutation No. 155 in Mangar village and restoration of ownership and control of Mangar Bani sacred grove and other gair mum kin pahar shamlat common lands to the panchayat. The Supreme Court in a judgement dated April, 7, 2022 in Civil Appeal No. 6990 of 2014 State of Haryana v. Jai Singh citing earlier judgements held that shamlat land is to be vested with the Panchayat.. In an earlier judgement dated January 28, 2011 in Jagpal Singh v. State of Punjab, {2011) also, the SC had held that all common lands including shamlat lands must be restored to the Gram Panchayats. A PIL has also been filed in the High Court in 2022 by retired Lt Col Oberoi to implement these judgements in Mangar and to restore the lands to the panchayats. FOREST SECRETARY QUOTE 'I am happy that the IT department has finally put up these boards. They have come up only now but these cases on benami transactions are years old. This will send a message to more real estate companies who bought land here through dubious transactions. It is unfortunate but villagers will always want economic benefit and possibly do not understand the value of commons. This is a paradise for birds, there are several wetlands here and all of Mangar acts as a groundwater recharge site for entire NCR,' said Sunil Harsana, conservationist and resident of Mangar village. 'This attachment of the forests of Mangar Bani provides a wakeup call to both citizens and decision makers on the murky nature of real estate holdings in the Aravalli forests, with hidden benami owners, and fraudulent privatisation of common lands. It exposes the kinds of interests behind the regulatory capture of forest and Aravalli policy-making in the state of Haryana – and why issues like the guidelines for identifying deemed forests as per dictionary meaning, are being stalled. The need of the hour is to conserve the Aravallis common land forests for their regional environmental benefits for the entire NCR, and firmly kept off limits for real estate,' said Agarwal. (The reporter is a recipient of Promise of Commons Media Fellowship, on the significance of Commons and its community stewardship)
