Social activist Guddu Baba has alleged vast areas of forest land have been encroached in the state at a time the government is aiming to raise Bihar's green cover to 17 per cent.

The case has been filed in the high court. Hearing the case on Monday, the division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay ordered the government to file a showcause stating the exact number of forest land encroached in Bihar.

Activist Vikash Chandra, better known as Guddu Baba, said in his PIL that around 352 acres of forest land have been encroached upon in Kaimur district while another 1.36 hectares are encroached at Biharsharif and Nalanda districts by locals and land mafia.

The court was told that the encroachments in most places started for agricultural purposes, eventually leading to human hutments and felling of trees for fuel and fodder. The petitioner told the court that various laws including the Indian Forest Act, 1927, Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, have been enacted which give right to state governments to evict encroachers but still land mafia have been successful in grabbing forest land.

The Telegraph in its May 22 edition had reported that Bihar aims to cover 17 per cent of its entire area with trees by the end of 2022, planting saplings and roping in landowners and farmers.

Guddu Baba requested the bench to order a high-powered committee to go through all such cases where land has been encroached upon, and requested the judges for an inquiry into the forest land currently encroached upon in Bihar and pass necessary orders to remove them.

The bench has directed the government to file a reply within four weeks, giving all details, including the nature of encroachment, how much forest land has been encroached and what the government is doing to remove them.

According to figures of the Union ministry of environment and forests, 2,634 hectares of forest land was encroached in 2009, while it was "nil" in 2010. Bihar's green cover area currently stands at 12.88 per cent, with forests spread in the districts of West Champaran, Kaimur, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada, Nalanda, Munger, Banka and Jamui.