CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the Haryana government to submit a status report containing the steps taken by the state authorities to ensure protection of forest and wildlife of Morni Hills area.
The state has also been asked to come up with a report mentioning the steps taken by the forest and the revenue department for demarcation and settlement of the boundary of the forest and settlement of the rights of the people in the area.
Making it clear that any encroachment on forest land and non-forest activities in the Morni Hills will be taken strictly, the HC has also directed the forest department of the state to mention the details of encroachment in the Morni Hills and the steps taken by the forest department in imposing restrictions and prohibitions in the hill area of Morni.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli of the HC made these queries from the state while hearing a petition filed by Vijay Bansal, an activist from Panchkula. The petitioner has been seeking directions to the state authorities to conduct the settlement of Morni Hills area under the Punjab Land Revenue Act and Punjab Settlement Manual in a time-bound manner and for implementation of the July 1997 report on the issue.
Earlier, a short affidavit was filed by Amrinder Kaur, the then principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Haryana, on August 17, 2020, informing the HC that the department had opted to get the work of demarcation of forest area/mapping of the area by the survey of India. It was further informed that the two major tasks regarding the demarcation of the boundary of the forest land and settlement of the rights of the people in the forests was in process. The department had also informed the office of the advocate general (AG), Haryana, through a letter dated August 13, 2020, that the process of boundary demarcation of forest will be completed by March 31, 2021.
When the matter came up for hearing before the HC on October 7, 2020, the case adjourned for filling of the status report and also the progress report of the work done by the department of the Morni Hills. The court had also asked the AG office to submit the timeline of various activities in the hill areas, considering it on top priority as per the mandate under the Forest Act.
However, when the matter came up for hearing before the HC recently after the physical hearing of the courts resumed after a long gap due to Covid-19 pandemic, the state again failed to submit the status report. Taking a serious view of the state’s dilly-delaying attitude on the issue, the HC has now asked the state authorities to submit a detailed status report on the issue by September 6.
