The Government’s decision to denotify nearly 6.34 lakh hectares of deemed forest and reduce its quantum from 9.94 lakh hectares to 3.3 lakh hectares has been described as a questionable move that goes against the grain of conservation.
Experts and conservationists who have studied the GO on the denotification have also questioned the basis on which the Forest Department arrived at the figure of 6.34 lakh hectares for denotification. It has also been critiqued on the grounds that the Government was legalising large-scale encroachment.
For instance, the GO has argued that totaling and conversion error had led to wrong estimation and this was pegged at 82,089.96 hectares. Seeking details of the survey on the basis of which the figures were arrived, the conservationists pointed out that 27,604.61 hectares had been written off and denotified on the grounds that there was repetition of the survey numbers.
