Explained: Chhattisgarh’s forest ‘by mistake’

Subject : Environment

Section : Biodiversity

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has objected to the transfer of thousands of hectares of land without following due process by Chhattisgarh from its Forest to the Revenue Department for setting up industries and for building road, rail, and other infrastructure.

Forests in law

Broadly, state Forest Departments have jurisdiction over two types of forests notified under the Indian Forest (IF) Act, 1927:
- Reserve Forests (RF), where no rights are allowed unless specified; and
- Protected Forests (PF), where no rights are barred unless specified.
- Certain forests, such as village or nagarpalika forests, are managed by state Revenue Departments.
The FC Act, 1980, applies to all kinds of forests, whether under the control of the Forest or the Revenue Department, and it requires statutory clearance before forests can be used for any non-forest purpose such as industry, mining, or construction.

T.N. Godavarman Thirumulkpad vs the Union of India judgment

In the judgement, the Supreme Court interpreted that the word “forest” must be understood according to its “dictionary meaning”.
This description covers all statutorily recognised forests, whether designated as reserved, protected or otherwise.
According to India State of Forest Report, 2019(a biennial publication of Forest Survey of India (FSI)), tree and forest cover together made up 24.56% (8,07,276 sq km) of India’s area.
The country is pursuing a long-term goal of having 33 percent of its land under forest cover.

Constitutional Provisions:

Forests are included in the Concurrent List in the (Seventh Schedule) of the Constitution of India.
Through the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 Forests and Protection of Wild Animals and Birds were transferred from State to Concurrent List.
Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution states that it shall be the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests and Wildlife.
Article 48 A in the Directive Principles of State policy, mandates that the State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

Chhattisgarh case

The recorded forest area in Chhattisgarh covers 44.21% of its geography.
Largest forest cover in India: Madhya Pradesh > Arunachal Pradesh > Chhattisgarh > Odisha > Maharashtra (India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021)
Therefore, in May 2021, the state Revenue Department sought a field survey to identify non-forest land — parcels smaller than 10 hectares with less than 200 trees per hectare — “that had been included by mistake” in “Orange Areas” under the Forest Department.

Orange, a grey area

Under the zamindari system, villagers used local malguzari (livelihood concessions) forests for firewood, grazing, etc. When zamindari was abolished in 1951, malguzari forests came under the Revenue Department.
In 1958, the government of undivided Madhya Pradesh notified all these areas as PFs under the Forest Department.
Madhya Pradesh amended the IF Act, 1927, in 1965 — when forests figured in the State List — to allow denotification of PFs. The areas yet to be surveyed — undemarcated PFs — were marked in orange on the map.
Since 2003, a case has been pending in the Supreme Court on rationalising these orange areas that have remained a bone of contention between the two Departments.