Encroachment of forest: National Green Tribunal impleads PCCF and Kamrup (M) District Commissioner

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has impleaded the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Assam, and the Kamrup (Metro) District Commissioner on the alleged encroachment of large areas of forest lands in the Kamrup (M) district. The original application (1304/2024) is registered suo motu based on a media report published on November 6, 2024.

The bench led by NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Srivastava said that ‘the matter relates to the issue of forest encroachment in the Kamrup (Metro) district of Assam. As per the report, Kamrup (Metro) has 16 reserved forests covering more than 35,329 hectares of land, but a substantial portion of these forests has been encroached upon. The encroachment includes ecologically important hills like Fatasil, South Kalapahar, Jalukbari, Gotanagar, Hengrabari, Sarania, and Garbhanga. The news item highlights that though the government launches eviction drives from time to time, that is not enough to deal with the problem. Due to the encroachment of the forests, the man-animal conflict is increasing in several parts of the state, which has become a major cause of concern. Forest encroachments have also increased air temperature, and this year, Assam faced the hottest September month ever. The report states that in the last couple of years, over 113 eviction drives were launched, clearing 402.32 hectares in 2022-23 and 564.58 hectares in 2023-24.”

The bench further said, “It is asserted that in some forests, people are staying for years, and it may be difficult to evict them. Forests along the interstate boundaries are also under encroachment by the neighbouring states, and those can be cleared only after the boundary disputes are completely settled. The matter indicates violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Environment Protection Act, 1986.”

The bench said that NGT’s power to take up the matter suo motu has been recognized by the Supreme Court in the matter of “Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai vs. Ankita Sinha & Ors.” reported in 2021 SCC Online SC 897.

The bench ordered the issuance of notices to the two respondents for filing their response/reply by way of affidavit before the Eastern Zonal Bench of the Tribunal at least one week before the next date of hearing. If any respondent directly files the reply without routing it through his advocate, then the said respondent will remain virtually present to assist the Tribunal. Since the matter relates to the Eastern Zonal Bench, Kolkata, therefore, the original application has been transferred to the Eastern Zonal Bench for appropriate further action, the bench said. The bench has asked NGT’s Eastern Zonal Bench at Kolkata to list the case on January 21, 2025.

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