IDENTIFICATION OF FOREST LAND IN JABALPUR
DIVISION AS PER DEFINITION OF FORESTS
KAMALIKA MOHANTA
Conservator of Forests, Working Plan Jabalpur
Madhya Pradesh
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
As per the definition of forest given by the Supreme Court and the guidelines given by the
State Government of Madhya Pradesh, all the recorded and notified forest lands and areas
more than 10 hectare having a tree cover of more than 200 trees per hectare is legally a forest
land. In Jabalpur Forest Division, though a vast area is being managed by the forest
department under two working plans, there are still left out areas, excluded areas and undemarcated orange areas which are not managed by the forest department. Such areas are
prone to encroachment and thus needs recognition as forest areas legally so that they can also
be managed administratively.
Key words: Excluded area, Forest land, Reserve forest, Orange area, Protected forest,
Working Plan
Introduction
Jabalpur district lies between the latitudes 220 37‟ N to 220 50‟ N and longitudes of 790 20‟ to
800 34‟ East in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (M.P.). It is one of the four main
cities of the state and can also be termed as the head quarter of Mahakaushal region of M.P.
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With real estate business in its most booming stage, the land prices continuously increasing,
the cost of forest land going by the compensatory price fixed for forest land that of 10.43 lakh
per hectare (ha.), seems paltry compared to land price ranging from one crore rupees per acre
in the outskirts of the city to two crore rupees per acre in the city. Moreover many mineral
deposits like iron ore, marble, limestone, sandstone and granite etc. are found in and around
the forest areas where if mining is allowed it will cause severe honeycombing of the existing
forest blocks.
In this context, it is essential to identify and record what are the different types of forests in
the division and what is the actual forest area which should be with the forest department
according to the definition of forests..
The study area
Study area is Jabalpur Forest Division of Madhya Pradesh which corresponds to the territorial
boundaries of the revenue district of Jabalpur. The district is bounded by Damoh and
Narsinghpur districts in West, Seoni district in South, Mandla and Dindori districts in East
and Katni and Umaria district in North. Jabalpur Division is managed by seven ranges within
two sub divisions. The location map is shown in figure 1 below.
Fig1. Location map Jabalpur in M.P. and map of Jabalbur district
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Background
In Erstwhile Central provinces (C.P.) and the princely states, now comprising the state of
Madhya Pradesh land always belonged to the government. During British rule in India, the
forest land in C.P. was demarcated and notified as reserved forests under the various forest
acts of 1865, 1878 and finally the Indian forest act of 1927. These princely States either
adopted the Indian Forest Act (IFA) or had similar Act to declare their land as reserved or
protected forests. The lands in the villages were given to the tenants of the State as individual
tenant or as a community resource, constituting the abaadi land or occupied land. The waste
lands comprised of forest land and nistaar land often given to a landlord (Jamindar or
Malguzar ) to manage and collect revenue on behalf of the Government.
After independence the forests of the state of Madhya Pradesh were brought
holistically under the purview of the amended Indian Forest Act in 1948. Large lands having
good forests still continued to be in the possessions of the individual Maalgujars or
Jamindaars. After enactment of the Jamindari and Malguzari Abolition Statutes in 1950s, the
forest
lands
of
ex-princely
States,
malguzara
and
Jamindars
(Nistaar
forest,Devstan,Panchayat and village forest, Charnoi etc.) were taken over by the Revenue
department.
These large chunks of forest land which were taken over by the revenue department
and were found fit to be kept as forests were transferred to the forest department which
subsequently surveyed the area transferred to them. Forest blocks were demarcated out of
this surveyed areas and notified as protected forests. Areas left out of these surveyed areas
which were not included in the demarcated blocks were given an orange colour wash and
were later termed as orange areas.
There still remained areas having forest cover with the revenue department which was
initially not found fit (for various reasons) to be transferred to the forest department. These
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areas retained with the Revenue department were classified in the revenue records as Bade
jhad ka jungle,Chote jhad ka Jungle,Pahad Chattan, nadi nala Charnoi/Charokhar and
Nistaar.
Objective
The objective of this paper is to identify the land recorded as forests in Jabalpur Forest
Division which has been transferred to the forest department and to identify whether such
areas fulfil the criteria given under the various definitions of forests.
Methodology
The task of categorization of the forests in Jabalpur is being restricted to the area transferred
to the forest department at some point of time or other by the revenue department because the
data and record of all areas mentioned in revenue records, are not available with the forest
department and creating such records as such will become a herculean task.
Methodology adopted for the current study includes comparing all the definitions given for
describing forest and identifying all such lands in the Jabalpur division by studying the
working plans for the reserved and protected forests by R.B.Sinha (duration 2005-06 to 201415) and the plan for orange area by R.K. Srivastav (duration 2008-09 to 2017-18)
Definition of forests
The word forest is derived from the latin word “foris” meaning literally-outside.
The dictionary* meaning defines forest as:
1. a thick growth of trees and bushes that covers a large area
*(Merriam Webster dictionary)
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Definition given in various court orders
1. In 1953 in Laxman Icharam Vs. DFO, the Madhya Pradesh High Court dealt with the
definition of forest and expressly said “the term forest has not been defined anywhere in the
forest act. In the absence of such a definition the meaning of the term must be taken in its
ordinary dictionary sense”.
2. The most significant definition of forest was given by the Supreme Court in its order dated
12.12.1996 in a Civil Writ Petition titled T N Godavarman Thirumulpad Vs. Union of India
and Others in which the Supreme Court defined „forest‟ for the first time wherein it explained
that the word „forest‟ must be understood according to its dictionary meaning.
This description covers all statutorily recognized forests, whether
designated as reserved, protected or otherwise for the purpose of the Forest Conservation Act.
The Court further explained the term „forest land‟, and stated that the word forest land
occurring in section 2, will not only include „forest‟ as understood in the dictionary sense, but
also any area recorded as forest in any Government record irrespective of the ownership.
3. In a significant order the Supreme Court held that as per the State Empowered
Committee‟s expressed view,the Bade Jhad Ka Jungle and Chhote Jhad Ka Jungle
constitutes forest and such lands are forests within the definition of „forest‟.
The Supreme Court further directed the State Government to constitute an expert
committee to identify forests as per the directions of the Hon‟ble Supreme Court. The criteria
decided by the expert committee of the State in 1996 stated:“ Taking a particular approach in view of the judgement as well as dictionary meaning of the
term „forest‟ areas admeasuring 10 ha or more and having an average number of 200 trees per
ha. has to be treated as „Forest‟.”
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Further in Madhya Pradesh the Indian Forest Act was further amended in 1965 and section
20- A was inserted which stated that:Any forest land or waste land in the merged territories where any land was recorded as forest
under any law shall be a reserved forest and the lands recorded as village forest or any forest
other than reserved forest in any record shall be deemed to be known as protected forests.
Thus from the above definitions the forests can be broadly categorized as
(i)Reserved and all protected forests
(ii) all orange areas and areas once defined as forest in any government record irrespective of
ownership and irrespective of whether it has forest cover or not
(iii)All areas which according to the dictionary meaning and as given by the criteria of the
expert committee can be categorized as forests.
Forests of Jabalpur Division
In Jabalpur division, Reserved and protected forests are being managed as per the provisions
given in the working plan of R.B. Sinha duration 2004-5 to 2013-14. This plan is a revision
of previous working plan which covers an area of 71142 ha as notified forest area out of
which 32989 ha is reserved forest having 38 blocks and 163 full and 2 partial blocks of
protected forest having a total area of 38153 ha. The working plan covers eight ranges and
two sub divisions which is shown in the following table (Table no.1).
Table no.1
Type of forests
No. of blocks
Area in hectare
RF
38
32988.90
PF
163+2p
38153.33
Total
201+2p
71142.23
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Reserved forests
These reserved forests were notified from time to time under the Indian Forest Act in 1879,
1921 and 1929 and since the rights was settled prior to 1929 and as such there is no dispute
about the area or boundary of the reserve forests constituting these 38 blocks.
The forests transferred to the forest department by the revenue department after enactment of
Jamindari and Malguzari abolition statute were un- surveyed and un-demarcated forests. To
bring the vast un-demarcated land under legal control of the IFA, a blanket notification was
issued in July 1958, which made the provisions of Chapter IV of the Indian Forest Act 1927
applicable to forest land specified in the schedule below
Schedule
“All such forest land which has vested in the state by virtue of the provisions contained in
that behalf in Madhya Pradesh Abolition of Proprietary Rights(Estates, Mahals, Alienated
lands) Act 1950(1 of 1951), and has been transferred to the Forest Department for
management but has not so far been declared as Reserved Forest or Protected Forests,.”
From the above notification any land transferred by the revenue department to the
forest department after 1950 became a protected forest irrespective of its land use. These
protected forests were further surveyed and areas were demarcated which were later notified
under section 4 of the Indian forest act 1927. In Jabalpur division, 165 blocks were initially
demarcated as protected forest blocks and were notified under section 4 of the IFA. Out of
these 165 blocks, settlement and other procedures was completed for 54 blocks comprising
13413.09 ha from which according to the settlement report 600.24 ha has been left out in the
final notification in 1984 under section 20 of IFA. These 54 blocks (12812.85 ha) were then
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added as reserved forest to the existing 38 blocks. So the reserve forests in the division since
2005-06working plan is 45768.96 ha in 92 blocks in the current working plan.( Table-2)
Table-2
Legal status
Blocks
Area in hectare
1
Reserved Forest
92
45468.96
2
Protected Forest
115+2p
25056.51
Total
70825.47
Protected forests
53 more forest blocks are yet to be finally notified as reserve forests although the FSO has
already submitted the settlement report according to which an area of 2322.99 ha is
recommended to be excluded from these blocks due to various reasons. Furthermore the
revenue department from time to time transferred revenue land to the forest department
against land diverted in FCA cases. These were demarcated and notified under section 29 of
the IFA which constitutes an area of 112.18 ha. in 6 blocks. Remaining 58 forest blocks
having area of 5205.12 hectares, notified in the blanket order of 1958 are yet to be notified
under section 4 of the IFA and still continues as protected forests. (Table -2)
The un-demarcated forests are not included in the above data. The total forest area can be
classified as shown in table .3
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Table . 3
Jabalpur forest division
RF(ha)
PF(ha)
Total area of the division under working plan
45768.96
25056.51 70825.47
Transferred
To forest corporation
4029.65
798.1
4827.75
area
To other government departments
1358.68
234.69
1593.37
-
442.63
2322.99
2322.99
Area of forest village transferred to 442.63
revenue
Department
as
Total(ha)
revenue
village
Left out area by the FSO from the RF which were notified from the protected forests
Area included in the working plan
*Area left out from RF as per FSO report
39938 21700.73
61638.73
600.24
Un-demarcated forests
The Orange areas mentioned earlier which were not included in the demarcated protected
forest block were not included in the plan and neither were being managed by the forest
department. But since these areas were not de-notified nor handed back to the revenue
department, they continued to be forest lands. The state Government in 1996 formed survey
demarcation units to identify such areas which could be further demarcated as forest blocks.
The survey and demarcation unit identified 356 blocks comprising an area of 15602.46
hectares. These orange areas are being managed by a separate working plan( for the orange
area) by Ramesh Kumar Srivastav for the period 2009 to 2017-18.
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Orange areas
Criteria were identified by the State Government to include all the areas left out of the
reserved and protected forests and to constitute forest blocks out of the orange areas which
was a total of 34073.837 ha. The unit thus surveyed all 34073.837ha. and demarcated only
those areas which could be included as per the criteria to constitute forest blocks. So 356
fresh blocks (15602.46 ha) of orange area were identified and demarcated which are yet to be
notified under section 4 of IFA. Their status remains as PF as they were notified as protected
forests in the blanket notification of 1958. Rest of the areas which did not fit the criteria of
constituting a block were not demarcated and as such are not being managed by the forest
department though their status is that of a PF and most of these areas are still in possession of
the forest department and still has forest cover which fits the definition of forests.
Excluded area
Out of the PF notified under section 4 of IFA, the forest settlement officer (FSO)
recommended exclusion of 2322.99 ha due to various reasons. But this area continues to be
with the forest department and most of them still have a good vegetation cover. Other areas
are mostly under cultivation or some other land uses but since these areas were never denotified and transferred back to the revenue department, they are still shown in the forest
maps of the working plan and marked as Excluded Area or E.A.(fig 2)
Some of these areas were excluded as they were used for agriculture and other land
use pattern by private landowners. Most of such areas are still in possession of private
landowners and more areas having good forest cover are being cleared and used for other
land use by the people of the surrounding villages.
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Fig 2
The stock map of
compartment P
224 showing
excluded areas as
shown in E.A. and
corresponding
satellite image of
P 224 showing the
forest cover in the
excluded areas. In
the satellite image
the excluded areas
have been
included in the
boundary of the
compartment.
Source:-DFO
Jabalpur
Un-demarcated orange areas
These are the areas which did not fit the criteria constituted in 1996 for demarcation of new
forest blocks from the orange areas mostly because they were too small and far from the RF
or PF to be considered for forest management. The State government gave clear directions
that such areas are to be de-notified and should be handed over to the revenue department. At
present such un-demarcated orange area measures 18437.38 ha. of which nobody is the
owner since the revenue department maintains it to be the property of the forest department
and the forest department is not able to de-notify the forest land and hand it back.
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The total forest area in Jabalpur division can be classified as various following type whether
they are being managed under working plan or not.(Table-4)
Table -4
Type of forest land
Area
in Working plan under which
hectares
area is being managed
Reserved Forest
39938
R.B. Sinha Plan
Protected forest
21700.7
Reserve
and
protected
forest 9186.74
**
transferred to other departments
Area left out of RF as per settlement 600.24
*
report
Excluded area
2322.29
*
Demarcated Orange area
15602.46
R.K.Srivastav Plan
Un-demarcated orange area
18437.38
*
Total
107787.81
*Not covered in any working plan
** Area left out of working plan as it was transferred to other deptt. for other use.
Total of left out area, excluded area and un-demarcated orange area is 21359.91 hectares
which is not being supervised or protected by the forest department. Even if the NPV (Net
Present Value) for forest land is taken as the correct price (Rs. 10.43 lakhs per ha.) of this
land the value of the land alone comes to be around 2150 crores. As mentioned earlier much
of the forest land which is not under management of the forest department still has good
forest cover and considering the value of the asset, it should be under some sort of
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supervision by the department.The Forest department has issued executive instructions for
denotification of such areas under section 34-a of the IFA( M.P.Amendment )Act which
states that” The State Government may by notification, direct that from a date fixed in that
behalf by such notification, any forest or portion thereof protected under this Act, shall cease
to be a protected forest.” and handing over the areas to the revenue department following
correct procedures.
Conclusion
The working plan of R.B.Sinha for reserved and protected forests of Jabalpur covers an area
of 61638.7 ha. and 9186.74 ha. transferred to other departments for non forestry use. The
areas left out are the excluded areas 2322.29 ha. and the left out area by the FSO which is
600.24 ha. The working plan of Orange areas of Jabalpur by R.K. Srivastav covers an area of
15602.46 ha. of demarcated blocks of orange area while leaving out the un-demarcated
orange area of 18437.38 ha. (Table 3)
If we summarise the various categories of forest in Jabalpur division and their extent
it becomes clear that though a substantial forest area is being managed under the two working
plans of the division, there still exists a great extent of notified and recorded forest land
which is not being managed by the forest department neither it has been returned to the
revenue department following a proper protocol. As per the definition of forest all such land
are forest land and will attract the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act 1980.But since
nobody appears to be the owner of such land, it is quite vulnerable in view of encroachment
by the public as well the land developers. So it is essential that the legal issues are resolved
and the forest department own or transfer these land following the correct protocols.
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Referrences
Buch,M.N. (1991) The Forests of Madhya Pradesh, M.P. Madhyam, Bhopal
Garg, Anil (2005) Orange areas Examining the Origin and Status, National Centre for
Advocacy Studies, Pune
Ramanathan; Usha Dr. (2002) Common land and common property resources: Land reforms
in India Vol.-7 Issues of equity in rural Madhya Pradesh
Saxena, R.N.(2003) ,Forest Conservation Act,1980-Form,Applicability, Procedures &
Sanctions The Handbook of Environment and Forest Legislation, Guidelines and Procedures
in India
Saxena, R.N.(2003) Introduction and background History of Environment & Forests The
Handbook of Environment and Forest Legislation, Guidelines and Procedures in India
Sethi,Kantilal(1990), Madhya Pradesh Forest Manual
Sinha,R.B. (2006) Working Plan of Jabalpur Forest Division (2005-06 to 2014-15)
Srivastav,R.K. (2009) Working Plan for the Orange Areas of Jabalpur Division (2008-09 to
2017-18)
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