Around 409 hectares (ha) of mangrove forests in Raigad’s Alibag (Alibaug) Taluka were declared as ‘reserved forest’ through a gazette notification issued on March 5. This is part of the forest department’s campaign to bring all mangrove forests in Maharashtra under Section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (IFA).
The Bombay High Court had previously directed the State to hand over the mangrove areas on state land to the forest department so as to protect them better. Granting a region the ‘reserved forest’ status offers legal protections while also criminalizing hunting, foraging or harvesting natural resources within its boundaries.
Official estimates suggest that around 17,090 ha of mangrove forests currently exist on government lands. Around 10,632 ha of these forests have been brought under IFA in 2019, 2020, and 2021 respectively.
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However, 2,066 ha of mangrove forests have been excluded from the IFA given the fact that members of the community depend on the land. Meanwhile, around 4,392 hectares of mangroves are said to be “under process for declaration”.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Mangrove Cell), Virendra Tiwari said, “This whole process starts by first declaring the mangrove site as a reserved forest under Section 4 of the Forest Act, which we had done even earlier, starting 2015. What follows, as per Sections 6 to 19 of the Forest Act, is the process of settlement of any rights that other parties may claim over the land. Following this, some portion of the land may be excluded from the final notification under Section 20.”
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“In Alibag, we have settled all such claims and now 409 hectares are declared under Section 20, bringing the process to its final conclusion. There can now be no further accrual of rights to the land by any party,” he added.
Another hurdle in handing over the land to the forest department is transferring possession of the land to the mangrove cell. Several government bodies are yet to conclude this process, as per reports.
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