Taking serious note of the deteriorating situation of encroachment on forest land by local people in the Dhule forest circle,the state government has decided to take strict measures to prevent it.
In a recent meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and attended by senior forest officials and ministers,the government decided to provide services of a judicial magistrate to the State Reserve Police (SRP) to enable it to give firing orders in situations of extreme exigencies.
Also,a fund of Rs 1.5 crore has been created for securing the areas from fresh encroachments. The funds will be spent towards hiring ex-servicemen and other existing security forces to man the area,Head of Forest Force (HoFF) Alok Joshi told The Indian Express .
Another important decision taken was to get help from the National Remote Sensing Centre,Hyderabad,and the Regional Remote Sensing Application Centre,Nagpur,to get 2.5mX2.5m resolution satellite pictures of these areas to examine where fresh encroachments have happened.
The Dhule circle area comprising parts of Nashik,Jalgaon and Nandurbar has been witnessing encroachments by local people on forest lands for many years now. The implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) has led to the problem aggravating further,to the extent that the local political leaders have also issued letters to the Collector threatening they would take the land in possession “even if it meant trampling upon the chests of the Forest Department officials.”
With the problem assuming alarming proportions,a convinced chief minister was quick to issue directives to control it,Joshi said.
“At times,during emergencies,the SRP can hardly do anything in the absence of judicial orders to use firearms. The provision of judicial magistrate,who will move with the SRP,to issue the orders whenever necessary is being made specifically to tackle the problem,” Joshi said.
The government is also mulling empowering officers of the rank of Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) with judicial powers to issue necessary shoot orders. The chief minister also directed that the ban on recruitment of forest guards and foresters be lifted for these four districts and they be done immediately.
A panel led by the district magistrate will be put in place soon to monitor the problem of people from across the border sneaking into these districts with a view to cut forests and encroach upon the land.
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