The Madras High Court Bench here has directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State Government to consider permitting a farmer owning a piece of cultivable land atop a hill in the midst of a forest at Vadakadu village in Dindigul district to use an existing pathway for transporting his produce to the plains.
Justice M. Venugopal passed the order while disposing of a writ petition filed by S.M. Jaya Prakash, recent purchaser of the farmland from the widow of its previous owner who had been cultivating the property for long as it was the practice among many hill rangers in and around Ottanchattram to grow vegetables on private lands in forest areas.
“Cultivation of vegetables finds a place in the forest area for more than 100 years and access to the Patta lands is through reserve forest area wherein at several junctures, rights vested in those jungles are highly recognised. Vegetable production is the source of livelihood of several farmers as the lands in between the said forest is ideal for cultivation,” the petitioner said.
He sought for a direction restraining District Forest Officer and his subordinates from obstructing his access to the pathway used for transporting vegetables from his private land. Contesting the case on behalf of the DFO, an Additional Government Pleader claimed that the petitioner has so far not made any written request seeking permission for utilising the existing pathway.
After recording his submission, the judge directed the petitioner to first submit a representation to Dindigul Collector, within four weeks, seeking a certificate that the pathway in question was the only access to his land and that there was no other way to reach the property. On receipt of such a certificate from the Collector, he was ordered to make a representation to the DFO.
The DFO, in turn, was directed to forward the representation, seeking unhindered access to the pathway, to the State Forest Secretary through the Chief Conservator of Forests. The Secretary “is directed to send all the papers to the Central Government for approval. It is open to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment to pass necessary orders expeditiously as possible,” the judge said.
He also restrained the forest officials from preventing the petitioner from using the pathway until the Centre takes a decision on the issue and gave liberty to them to initiate necessary action if the petitioner fails to obtain the certificate required from the Collector.
