Odisha govt presses pause on order doing away with ‘deemed forest’ tag

After the Parliament passed the bill to amend the Forest Conservation Act, 2023, it was published in the Gazette of India on August 4. Based on the gazette notification, the additional chief secretary of the Odisha forest department wrote a letter to all collectors stating that the amended act clearly specifies and defines forest, and the concept of “deemed forest” is now removed.

Deemed forest is land which appears to be a forest but is not notified as forest land by the Centre or the state government. The concept came into existence following a Supreme Court order in the TN Godavarman case in 1996, which directed the state government to record such land.

In 1998, Odisha had recorded 2,838.87 square km of deemed forest land, said official sources in the state forest department.

While the total forest cover area of Odisha is estimated at 52,156 square km according to Odisha Forestry Sector highlights, 2023, tree cover (outside notified forest area) is estimated at 5,004 square km.

Sahu, in the letter, also stated that all forest land diverted for non-forest purposes by an authority/agency of the government before December 12, 1996 will not attract provision of the FC Act.

On August 14, the forest department of Odisha issued another letter stating that the contents of the August 11 letter are to be followed only after receipt of detailed rules and guidelines from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

“When the Parliament passed a bill and gazette notification was issued, it became the law of the land. We have to implement it today or tomorrow. We had issued an order accordingly. Since we have not received any guidelines from the MoEF&CC, we have asked the district collectors to wait for now,” said a senior forest department officer, requesting anonymity.

Sources also said the state government put its order on hold anticipating criticism from environmentalists on its negative impact on ecology.