In a yet another effort to speed up forest clearances, the Environment Ministry is in the process of identifying ‘deemed forest’ areas, across the country to ensure fewer litigations to projects that may be cleared in such areas. These are basically non recorded forest areas as per Government documents.
According to sources in Environment Ministry, Director General (Forests) recently convened a meeting of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) of all the States to take stock of the situation. The States have been asked to identify and come up with suggestions on a priority basis on the issue. The sources informed that about 15 States have already identified deemed forest areas and submitted it to the Ministry.
According to sources, the “deemed forest” status does not fall in the category of notified or recorded forest in the State revenue records. However, it has the characteristics of forest and has also been included by the Supreme Court in the definition of “forest” for consideration under Forest Conservation Act.