150-acre private forest destroyed near Karnala Fort & Sanctuary area

Navi Mumbai: In yet another dubious private forest land diversion, over 60 hectares (150 acres) has been deforested off the Karnala Fort under Bhadbhuvan (previously Sarsai) village, Uran, without prior permission of the Union govt.

The then Panvel sub-divisional officer had passed the order on Aug 22, 2024, wherein four different survey numbers became private land, showed documents accessed by TOI.

Another former Panvel SDO, Pandurang Magdum, had actually rejected a similar exemption application on May 25, 2012. So, questions are being raised as to why his successor SDO allowed the diversion of the private forest in 2024.

Successors of two locals and a Satara resident had applied for the exemption that was granted by the SDO without prior permission of the Union government. Excavation activities have started on parts of the private forest land destroying the ecosystem around the periphery of the Karnala Bird Sanctuary.

After allocation of about 7ha land to the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd, the balance 60 ha of land is in the possession of the private forest land owners. The areas of the four forest land survey numbers are between 11.80ha and 17.12ha.

The deputy conservator of forests, Alibag division, was a respondent to the decision. The area falls under the range forest office-Pen.

The present owners applied for the exemption under section 3 (2) of the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act -1975 and its amendment before the SDO in Panvel. However, section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act-1980 restricts the state govt authorities from diverting forest land for non-forest purposes without prior permission of the Centre.

Advocate Rajendra Madhavi alleged, “In this case, the SDO passed the order without obtaining prior sanction of the Union govt. Further, the SDO passed an order on the same issue that was rejected by one of his predecessors. This is against service conduct rules.”

Madhavi added, “Only his higher authority, the district collector, has the power to hear the appeal. The Alibaug forest division did not go for an appeal before the collector to the best of my knowledge.”

The deputy conservator of forest, Alibaug division, Rahul Patil, said, “Guidance has been sought from our chief conservator of forests office on the next course of action, including going for an appeal.” -- Umesh K Parida