Forest dept files offence reports against ashram

Nearly four years after the Supreme Court-appointed Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) deemed Sadanand Maharaj Ashram inside the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) illegal, the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) has registered preliminary offence reports (PORs) against trustees of the ashram for illegal construction and widening of road activities banned inside the sanctuary in Vasai. “Gross violations in […]

Sadanand Maharaj Ashram allegedly carried out illegal construction inside Tungareshwar sanctuary.

Nearly four years after the Supreme Court-appointed Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) deemed Sadanand Maharaj Ashram inside the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) illegal, the Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) has registered preliminary offence reports (PORs) against trustees of the ashram for illegal construction and widening of road activities banned inside the sanctuary in Vasai.

“Gross violations in Tungareshwar sanctuary such as habitat destruction, widening of road and illegal construction have been noticed. Offences under the Indian Wildlife Act, Forest Conservation Act and Indian Forest Act have been registered against the trustees of the Sadanand Maharaj Ashram Trust,” said Vikas Gupta, chief conservator of forests, Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

The CEC had in its September 2009 report recommended to the apex court to direct the state to clear all the encroachments within six months. But, no demolition work has been undertaken by the MFD yet.

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City-based NGO Bombay Environmental Action Group had in 2004 filed an application before the CEC against the ashram sanstha. “Not only road widening, a new mutli-storey building is at present under construction on the ashram premises. It seems like the forest department has been unable to take concrete action because of political pressure,” alleged Debi Goenka, an environmentalist.

According to the forest department, the trustees had earlier tried to get the central government’s permission to construct the ashram. However, their applications were rejected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. (MoEF), but the construction continued. “We will not permit any new construction or road widening as Tungareshwar was notified as a wildlife sanctuary [in 2005], and have initiated legal action to stop any infringement of the Forest Conservation Act,” said Praveen Pardeshi, Principal Secretary, Revenue and Forests Department (Forests).

The MFD had issued eviction notices in 2006, 2007 and 2008 – all of which were ignored by the trust. Moreover, in 2008, six forest department officials were allegedly assaulted by trustees and the followers of Sadanand baba when they tried to confiscate four peacocks illegally domesticated in the ashram.

The ashram’s chairman had also filed an application before the committee, directing the state government to accept land in Thane for the purpose of compensatory afforestation. Senior officials from the forest department said even if the state accepted the ‘compensation’, which it legally had not accepted yet, it would compensate only the ashram structure that pre-existed the notification.

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The trustees informed the CEC during its visit in 2009 that the ashram pre-existed the notification. The forest department, however, maintains that only the ashram structure pre-dates the notification, and road widening and construction were carried out after the notification. Although the ashram predates the notification, the application for its construction was rejected by the MoEF, making the ashram illegal, the CEC observed.

anjali.lukose@expressindia.com

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