The worst fears of environmentalists regarding the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act seem to have come true, with the rampant destruction of the forest in Gadchiroli.Villagers living close to the forest or within it have gone about felling trees and clearing huge patches of the woods with the intention of encroaching upon the area. The provocation, admittedly, is the Act they believe can help them finally own the land. And while this happens, the Forest Department remains in deep slumber.For over a month, villagers of Kudakwahi, about 18 km from Gadchiroli city, attacked the adjacent forest with axes and cleared 50 acres of the area. The forest guards and Range Forest Officers though aware of this, did nothing to stop it. Some of the Forest Department staff rued, “We pleaded with them, but no one listened.”The Forest Department had removed encroachments six years ago. Only those who are qualified for the Maharashtra Government decision to regularise the pre-1978 encroachments were spared. That regularisation process had not been completed. With the new Act coming into effect this year, the process was scrapped and a new one is on for the pre-December 12, 2005 claims.“Thus, even people who were evicted before 2005 can become eligible under the new Act, if proved that they were tilling the land before 2005. However, if presuming this they are cutting trees, it is an offence,” Gadchiroli Collector Sudhanshu Ranjan said.The Forest Department, however, claimed to be in complete dark. Divisional Forest Officer P S Thakre initially said that he had no reports of fresh encroachments. After some time, however, he called up to say, “There are some reports, and we have filed offences against the villagers. In any case, we are not going to regularise anything after the deadline.”Gadchiroli has the maximum number of claim cases — over 40,000 — in Vidarbha. “That is more than the cases of all the other 10 districts put together,” Ranjan said. However, Gadchiroli isn’t the only place where fresh encroachments are being attempted. Forest officials said it is happening in Dhule, Thane and Nashik districts.
