Telangana constitutes the Expert Committee to identify woodlands in compliance with the 1996 SC Order

Farmers are busy with agricultural operations in Dulapuram village in Wazeedu Mandal, Mulugu area. |Picture source: Representative Purpose

Nearly 30 years after the delivery of the landmark TN Godavarman Thirumumulpad judgment, the judgment required the state government to take stock of their respective forests, ultimately forming a committee to enumerate land outside the forest reserves and beyond the protected areas notified.

The 1996 judgment extended the definition of forest to its dictionary meaning rather than based on legal boundaries or ownership. Therefore, all income and even private land of forests are considered “deemed as forests” and are given the same treatment as the forest defined in the Forest Protection Act of 1980.

The Supreme Court also directed the state government to form a committee of experts to determine such forests considered to be forests, but only a few states have complied with the order for years.

The question of being considered forests has resurfaced as the central government has ruled out unclassified forests through a recent amendment to the Football Club Act. The Supreme Court responded to a PIL that the amendment undermined Godard Valman’s ruling, directed the state government and trade union territory in February 2024 to forward records of their respective expert committees, which recorded data from their respective expert committees, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 31, on March 3, on March 3, on March 3, on March 3, on March 3, on March 3, on March 3, on forests and climate change.

In response to the direction, the Telangana government also submitted a report that was hastily stitched together by the Director of the Land Administration, which placed the total forest area in “various categories including notification forest blocks” of revenue records, covering 4.3 million acres. The report was sent to the central government through the forest department in April last year.

However, this figure is an understatement compared to the 2023 Indian Forest Report, which brings Telangana’s total forest coverage to 6.6 million acres. Aware of this anomaly, the government withdrew the report in less than two months, which should be submitted in the Supreme Court as part of the affidavit.

After the fiasco, the government issued an order on March 15 this year that constitutes a committee to identify forest land and prepare for consolidated land records. The committee serves as its member, CCLA, Commissioner, Panchayat Raj & Rural Development, GHMC Specialist, Commissioner and Director of the Municipal Administration, Industry Specialist, Agriculture Specialist, Agriculture Specialist, Specialist/Tribal Welfare, Tribal Welfare, Specialist, Horticulture Specialist, Horticulture and Metropolitan Specialist, HMDA, HMDA, Commissioner, Forestry Director and Forestry Director. The committee was asked to submit a report within one month.