Minister for Forests B. Ramanath Rai on Monday said measures would be taken to remove the “non-forest-oriented” land in the “deemed forest” areas from the classification of “forest” and free such lands for the use of general public within six months.
Replying to the debate in the Assembly on the demand for grants for the Forest Department, the Minister said the government would also file a revised affidavit in the Supreme Court on this. He said the decision was taken in the wake of demand from a number of affected people.
Already village, district and State-level committees have been formed to examine the issue, he said, and assured the members of freeing such revenue land to the Revenue Department itself so that such lands could be used for other purposes. He pointed out that such a demand had cropped up ever since the State filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court in 1997 regarding the deemed forests. He also said the Forest Department was in the process of procuring 176 hi-tech rifles from the U.S.
