Bhopal: National Green Tribunal (NGT), Monday, asked the authorities about compliance of its previous order in connection of forest land issue in Dhamkheda.
Rashid Noor Khan had filed a petition stating that Sagar Construction company was undertaking construction work in forest land in Dhamkheda. NGT had ordered the authorities to verify whether the land where the construction was underway was forest land. The petitioner had raised the issue of forest land conservation in the vicinity of Kerwa Dam and Kaliasot River.
Advocate Sachin Verma, who appeared from the government side said, “NGT has ordered to submit compliance report in the Rashid Noor Khan case. Khan had filed a complaint regarding land use in Damkheda, Kolar and Kaliasot river belt. The NGT on Monday only asked to submit a compliance report.”
NGT also asked about compliance of Supreme Court order on Godavarman case; Madhya Pradesh government has already submitted it, informed Verma.
The Supreme Court order was on Godavarman (1995-1996) to protect the Nilgiris forest land from deforestation by illegal timber operations.
According to this new broader definition, any forest is thus defined, regardless of ownership. The Supreme Court completely banned, with minor exceptions, tree felling in three whole states and parts of four other states in the forest-rich North East; it ordered saw mills to close down where a complete ban was directed; and it banned any transportation of timber out of the North East states.
The order required state governments to constitute expert committees to map forest land, conduct a detailed survey of the timber industry, and measure the sustainability of forests with respect to the number of saw mills. In 1998, the Supreme Court suspended all licenses to all wood-based industries in the seven North East states and ordered the re-location of those industries to state-specified industries.
