AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat High Court on Thursday said in an important order that the state government should ask the industry to provide double the area. non forest land in compensation of Forest area allotted for it.
It called on the government not to settle for an equal area of land, saying the government should facilitate development but also ensure that forest conservation is never sacrificed.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and VD Nanavati stressed for strict implementation of the state government’s decision to ensure adequate compensation for the allocated amount. forest land to the industry. “The user agency should be asked to provide double the land area to compensate for the loss of forest land instead of an equal area of land,” the court ordered.
The court’s remarks came in connection with a PIL that quashed the state government’s decision to allot 20.76 hectares of forest land in Hazira to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AMNS). The land allotment was proposed by Essar Steel Limited, which was later taken over by AM/NS.
Petitioner Biren Padhya had objected to the land allotment on the ground that the company was earlier allotted two parcels of forest land at Hazira but it did not fulfill certain conditions imposed on it. The Forest Department had also lodged an FIR for construction and improper use of forest land. Despite not fulfilling the conditions in the earlier cases, the government once again agreed to allot the forest land. petitioner’s lawyer ahist thaker It also objected to several other proposals for allotment of forest land, saying that some of them were made by real estate developers.
Taking serious note of the matter, a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice VD Nanavati asked the state government to ensure that forest land should be allotted strictly as per the policy and should be allotted to industries only with authenticity and not indiscriminately. .
‘Development, but not at the cost of forests’
Only genuine proposals from existing port based industries for industrial/ port infrastructure of Hazira Industrial Area, i.e. environment friendly storage and transportation of gaseous, liquid and solid raw materials and products should be given priority as per the policy. State,” the Gujarat High Court said.
In this case, in compensation for the allotment of 20.78 hectares of forest land, the company was required to undertake afforestation on an equal parcel of land in a non-forest area at Palitana in Bhavnagar, which is a lion corridor.
The land was to be transferred and mutated in favor of the Forest Department.
Other conditions also include that the company will have to provide 110 hectares of non-forest land in Sanada village of Palitana, which also falls in the Lion Corridor area.
As part of its CSR, it will have to deposit 2.5 times the market value for the area with the Lion Conservation Society.
In addition, the company was to undertake punitive compensatory afforestation on over 41.52 hectares of degraded forests at Songadh in Tapi district.
It called on the government not to settle for an equal area of land, saying the government should facilitate development but also ensure that forest conservation is never sacrificed.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and VD Nanavati stressed for strict implementation of the state government’s decision to ensure adequate compensation for the allocated amount. forest land to the industry. “The user agency should be asked to provide double the land area to compensate for the loss of forest land instead of an equal area of land,” the court ordered.
The court’s remarks came in connection with a PIL that quashed the state government’s decision to allot 20.76 hectares of forest land in Hazira to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AMNS). The land allotment was proposed by Essar Steel Limited, which was later taken over by AM/NS.
Petitioner Biren Padhya had objected to the land allotment on the ground that the company was earlier allotted two parcels of forest land at Hazira but it did not fulfill certain conditions imposed on it. The Forest Department had also lodged an FIR for construction and improper use of forest land. Despite not fulfilling the conditions in the earlier cases, the government once again agreed to allot the forest land. petitioner’s lawyer ahist thaker It also objected to several other proposals for allotment of forest land, saying that some of them were made by real estate developers.
Taking serious note of the matter, a bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice VD Nanavati asked the state government to ensure that forest land should be allotted strictly as per the policy and should be allotted to industries only with authenticity and not indiscriminately. .
‘Development, but not at the cost of forests’
Only genuine proposals from existing port based industries for industrial/ port infrastructure of Hazira Industrial Area, i.e. environment friendly storage and transportation of gaseous, liquid and solid raw materials and products should be given priority as per the policy. State,” the Gujarat High Court said.
In this case, in compensation for the allotment of 20.78 hectares of forest land, the company was required to undertake afforestation on an equal parcel of land in a non-forest area at Palitana in Bhavnagar, which is a lion corridor.
The land was to be transferred and mutated in favor of the Forest Department.
Other conditions also include that the company will have to provide 110 hectares of non-forest land in Sanada village of Palitana, which also falls in the Lion Corridor area.
As part of its CSR, it will have to deposit 2.5 times the market value for the area with the Lion Conservation Society.
In addition, the company was to undertake punitive compensatory afforestation on over 41.52 hectares of degraded forests at Songadh in Tapi district.
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