Apart from 5-km-long concrete barrier, protection huts, round-the-clock foot patrolling planned
Tribals residing in the colony use the land to grow crops. Pic/Satej Shinde
In light of the threat that encroachment poses to the 812-acre patch in Aarey Milk Colony that has been designated as a forest, the area will be surrounded by a cement concrete wall. The forest department will also set up the protection huts and ensure vigorous, round-the-clock foot patrolling takes place.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) Range Forest Officer Narendra Muthe stated, “We will be constructing around five-kilometre-long cement concrete protection wall in order to better preserve the 812 acres of forest patch in the colony from encroachment. Along with this, our staff will also be patrolling the area on foot and will be present 24/7 in protection huts that will also be coming up in the area.”
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When the then Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government announced, in 2020, its intention to declare the patch a reserve forest, city-based nature lovers and environmentalists praised the move. However, at the same time, they said that in order to prevent encroachment, the forest department should increase patrolling in the area.
Time and again, this newspaper has also been highlighting how illegal encroachments pose a threat to the forest cover.
To settle claims on the reserve forest, the forest department had begun a survey in the area.
In total, the department has received about 550 claims from people who are utilising different parts of the forest for various purposes. The majority of them, who are tribals residing in the colony, use the land to grow crops or cut down trees for wood.
Some of the land may be excluded from the final notice of the declaration of reserve forest under Section 20 of the Forest Act once these claims are resolved. Those whose claims were denied may appeal to the Mumbai Suburban collector.
The procedure for designating a specific area as a reserve forest begins with a notification under Section 4 of the Act, which is followed by the procedure for settling the claims that other parties may have to the property under Sections 6 to 19 of the Act.
550
No. of claims received by forest dept
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