Once again, govt misses forest land deadline

The woes of residents in buildings on private forest lands in and around the city just do not seem to end. The state forest department has failed to keep its promise to submit a full list of such buildings to the Supreme Court by November 1.

Representatives of the Hillside Residents Welfare Association (Hirwa) had met chief secretary Johny Joseph and additional chief secretary (forests) BP Pandey on October 7 and were promised by the bureaucrats that the list would be prepared as per the directives of the central empowered committee (CEC) and submitted before November 1.

But four days after the deadline, the promise remains unfulfilled. “It is a violation of their commitment,” said Hirwa president Prakash Padikkal. “We will agitate if it is not submitted before the next hearing, scheduled on December 8.”

A senior official claimed that the forest department was working hard to get the list ready. “The Supreme Court has asked for detailed information of flats in over 1,300 buildings,” the official said. “The list will be ready before the next hearing.” Congress MLC Charansingh Sapra said he would taken the matter up with the chief minister soon.