Not in favour of felling fruit-laden trees, but HC not ready to listen to us: Himachal CM Sukhu

He was answering media queries on the eviction drive launched by the forest department following a high court order last week, which expressed concern over the re-emergence of encroachments in forest land where encroachers were removed from earlier. The high court had directed the forest department to remove apple trees and orchards from the encroached forest land and plant forest species instead.

Sukhu said he will speak to the Horticulture Minister on this matter. “I am calling a special meeting to decide how we should proceed. Even if there is encroachment on forest land, we must follow a due process,” he said Sukhu nfurther said that the state is planning to approach the Supreme Court, but only after evaluating all legal aspects. “We will take a legal opinion and then proceed. We will go to the Supreme Court on this matter,” he added.

The Forest Department, through an affidavit, has informed the high court that “3,659 apple and other fruit-bearing trees had been felled on encroached forest land till July 15; of these, 2,456 trees were aggregated from the encroached forest land in Chaithla village, 713 trees were removed from the Rohru Forest Division and 490 trees from Kotgarh”.

On Wednesday, state Education Minister Rohit Thakur had expressed anguish over the uprooting of apple trees on the encroached forest areas, stating that the interests of small and marginal farmers with less than five bighas of land should be protected. Questioning the timing of evictions, Thakur, who represents Jubbal and Kotkhai Assembly constituency in the heart of the apple belt, told the media that he would apprise the CM the concerns of small and marginal farmers and plead for a relief measure.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Thursday, the Apple Farmers Federation of India (AFFI) reiterated that a massive rally will be held at the state secretariat in Shimla on July 29 against the large-scale felling of apple trees. “While the deforestation is still underway, it is being reported that 4,000 apple trees on 300 bighas of allegedly encroached land in the Shimla-Rohru apple belt will be cut just two months before the harvest season. Trees have already been cut and even houses sealed in Chaithla, Sarahan and other villages,” said AFFI co-convener and CPI(M) leader Rakesh Singha.