The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday passed a Bill to further amend the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882, to expedite the process of allotting compensatory afforestation lands as reserved forests.
The Bill, moved by Forest Minister K. Ponmudy, said the procedures prescribed in Section 4 to 16 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1882) for declaring any land as reserved forest (same as protected forest) were elaborate and time consuming and the government has decided to make a special provision on the lines of Section 16A of the Act.
He explained that whenever any forest land was used for non-forest purposes, the user agency should provide specific extent of land for the purpose of compensatory afforestation. “Further, as per the guidelines issued on January 24, 2023, by the Government of India on the accredited compensatory afforestation, the said compensatory afforestation land should be declared as protected within the time frame,” he said.
The Bill also seeks to delegate powers of the government to issue notification under Section 16 of the said Act to an officer of the Revenue department not below the rank of District Collector by amending Section 65 of the Act.
Published – January 11, 2025 11:28 pm IST