Hazare wants the government to inquire about the instances of forest land being transferred illegally for commercial development.
Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare plans to take up the case of illegal encroachment on forest lands in the state at the culmination of the Jan Lokpal movement. In particular, Hazare wants the government to inquire about the instances of forest land being transferred illegally for commercial development.
Anil Sharma, personal assistant to Hazare, said the issue of illegal encroachment on forest land was taken up by the anti-graft crusader when Hazare was a member of the Planning Commission 5 years ago.
“Anna had pointed out that neither the revenue department, nor the forest department had a complete list of the forest lands in the state. This has led to rampant illegal encroachments on forest lands,” he said, adding that almost 35% of forest lands in the state have changed hand illegally.
Sharma mentioned instances when forest land has illegally changed hand developed commercially by people with political contacts. “Normally, the forest department transfers land to a non-governmental organisation (NGO) interested in developmental activities. Once the land is transferred and deforested, the NGO hands it over to a private builder who develops the land commercially,” he said.
According to Sharma, Jalgaon and Pune top the list of districts in the state where such irregularities have been noticed. “As per our information, in Pune two major educational institutes run by politicians have come up on forest land in such a manner,” he claimed.
Although, Hazare had raised the issue in the tenure of the erstwhile chief ministers over the last 5 years, no concrete action was taken by the government. “When Hazare spoke about this to the chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, he promised swift action and a special committee was constituted three months back to study the matter,” he said.
However, other than the introductory meeting, no action was taken by the government. “Once the Lokpal movement comes to a conclusion, Hazare would be launching a state-wide agitation demanding an in-depth survey to determine the extent of illegal encroachment on forest lands in the state. He would also ask for return of lands that have been taken illegally,” Sharma said.
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