70,000 illegal occupation cases in notice of authorities
Retrieval drive often faces pressure, resistance
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 28: Even more than five and a half years after explicit directions from the High Court to remove illegal occupants from forest land in Jammu and Kashmir, nearly 20,000 hectares of forests continue to remain under encroachment across the Union Territory with pulls and pressures from different quarters, coupled with the necessity of cross-verifying records with the Revenue Department, rendering the retrieval of such a vast area of forest land an extremely challenging task for the authorities.
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A Division Bench of the High Court of J&K, vide order dated September 3, 2020 in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) No. 25/2017 titled SAVE Vs J&K & Others, had categorically directed the Forest Department to remove encroachments from forest land in a time-bound manner and also ordered the constitution of high-level committees to achieve the desired objectives.
The High Court had further directed all Government departments not to make any change in the revenue records or physical status of the land identified by the Forest Department as under encroachment.
However, even more than five and a half years after these directives, around 20,000 hectares of forest land continue to remain under illegal occupation across the Union Territory.
As per official figures, nearly 70,000 cases of forest land encroachment involving about 20,000 hectares are scattered across the length and breadth of Jammu and Kashmir. The problem spans a large number of forest divisions, affecting forest compartments and green belts originally protected under law.
“Even after identification of these cases of encroachment, the authorities are finding it difficult to retrieve the land because of multiple factors, including the need to cross-verify records with the Revenue Department and pulls and pressures from different quarters,” sources said.
There are nearly 2,200 forests across the Union Territory and the last major updation of boundary records was carried out in the 1960s. During that period, approximately three lakh boundary pillars were installed to demarcate forest land and prevent encroachments.
However, over the decades, a massive number of these pillars either disappeared, were damaged due to natural causes, or were allegedly uprooted intentionally to facilitate illegal occupation of forest land, sources said.
According to official data, the Forest Department has managed to reinstall nearly two lakh boundary pillars during the past few years as part of a major restoration exercise aimed at reclaiming and safeguarding forest areas. However, around one lakh boundary pillars are yet to be reinstalled.
“The remaining work has become extraordinarily difficult because in many places original records are unavailable, while in several locations forest land is already under illegal occupation, making physical demarcation contentious and risky,” sources said, adding that attempts to reinstall pillars in some areas have faced stiff resistance from encroachers and local pressure groups.
They informed that the Forest Department has planned to reinstall nearly 35,000 boundary pillars during the current year as part of an intensified campaign to secure forest land. However, achieving the target may prove difficult as pressure starts mounting from different quarters whenever enforcement agencies move for demarcation or eviction drives.
“Without uninterrupted administrative backing, the task will remain incomplete,” sources added.
According to environmental experts, continued encroachment is not only destroying fragile ecosystems but also increasing vulnerability to landslides, soil erosion and climate-related disasters. Moreover, the continuing encroachment despite repeated High Court directions has raised serious questions about accountability within the system.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Government has already constituted a Union Territory-Level Monitoring Committee and District-Level Committees to monitor the progress of demarcation of forest boundaries and installation of boundary pillars.
“Unless these committees are allowed to function freely in accordance with their mandate, retrieval of encroached forest land will remain a distant dream,” sources said.
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