The Haryana government has laid out specific conditions to define what it deems as forests, sparking concerns among experts who suspect that it could expose the Aravalis to the “ravages” of rampant urbanisation.
Defining the the expression "forest as per dictionary meaning," the Environment, Forest, and Wildlife Department of Haryana said that a patch of land shall be deemed "forest" if the areas have a minimum canopy density of 40 per cent and cover at least five hectares if isolated, or two hectares in contiguity to government-notified forests, states the notification.
However, all linear/compact/agro-forestry plantations and orchards situated outside the government-notified forests shall not be treated as forests under the definition, the department said in its August 18 notification.
"A patch of land shall be deemed to be 'forest as per dictionary meaning' if it fulfils following conditions: It has a minimum area of five hectares, if it is in isolation; and a minimum area of two hectares, if it is in contiguity with the government notified forests.
"It has a canopy density of 0.4 or more. Provided that, all linear/compact/agro-forestry plantations and orchards situated outside the government notified forests shall not be treated as forests under the above definition," as per the notification.
Notably, linear plantations are frequently found along roads, canals and railway tracks, where they can serve multiple purposes.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had reiterated its December 1996 order asking the states and UTs to act as per the definition of "forest" as laid down by the top court in the 1996 judgment in the case of TN Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union of India.
The top court, earlier this year, also directed all the states and Union Territories to constitute an expert committee for preparing a consolidated record of lands, including forest-like areas, unclassed (deemed forests) and community forest lands.
The court had said the Centre shall consolidate the state-wise position and place the same before the court.
The state government's definition of forest would pave the way for its identification "as per the dictionary meaning," and this will facilitate the preparation of a consolidated record.
Officials said the land which falls under the 'definition' will be identified. Two committees already formed for the purpose by the state government include one at the district level and another at the state level.
The report will be submitted to the Centre, which will place it before the apex court.
Meanwhile, noted forest analyst Chetan Agarwal on Wednesday said, "It is a pity that Haryana has blindly followed the lead of states like Goa in choosing a minimum threshold of 40 per cent forest canopy cover to identify an area as a deemed forest.
"At least in the Aravalli hills, the open forest (10-40 per cent) and scrub (0-10 per cent) categories should have been treated as forest as per dictionary meaning, and 10 per cent should have been the threshold in the rest of the state.
"The decision to keep such a high threshold of forest cover of 40 per cent will further exclude much of the potential deemed forest of the Aravallis from the protective embrace of the Forest Conservation Act and open them up to the ravages of the licences of Town and Country Planning and Mining departments and their clients," Agarwal claimed.
Agarwal said that if such a high threshold of 40 per cent was applied to the notified Aravalli forests under special orders of Section 4 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, most of these notified forests would also not meet this threshold, being mostly in the scrub or open forest cover.
"While the Shiwaliks in the north get 1,000 to 1,200 mm rainfall, the Aravallis in the south and west get just 300 to 600 mm rainfall annually.
"This low rainfall and the rocky terrain create tough conditions for growth of the Aravallis forests, and therefore the Aravalli vegetation has adapted over millions of years into a stunted growth of thorny and dry deciduous species and scrub forest conditions," he pointed out.
"Even much of the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, which is in the Delhi Aravallis and contiguous to Gurugram and Faridabad Aravallis, would not meet this high threshold," he said.
Agarwal said the minimum area threshold of two and five hectares is also "unreasonably high for such a dry state" and should have been kept at one and 2 hectares, respectively.
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