Pantangrao Kadam, Forest Minister, Maharashtra laid foundation stone of administrative building of Forest offices in Pune, on a plot reserved for Burrial ground, crematorium, Play ground and High school. Further, the said plot comes under Hilltop/Hill slope and part in residential zone, thus office cum rest house complex can not be constructed on such plot legally & authorisedly …

08.03.2011 · Posted in All

In a very great embarrassment to State Forest Minister, Pantangrao Kadam recently, the senior Forest officers of the Maharashtra Government had got Foundation stone ceremony of Forest Administrative complex and rest houses in Pune, done by the Forest Minister, on a plot reserved for Crematorium, burial ground, high school & Play ground situated in S.No. 97, of Bhamurda, Pune. Not only this, the said plot  partly comes under Hilltop-hillslope zone and part comes under residential. Meaning thereby that there would not be sufficient FSI (.04 FSI) in HT/HL zone and residential zone would not allow construction of Offices as it comes under the commercial zone. Thus, finally there would not be any construction of administrative building this year otherwise Government has to face many PIL in the court.

  1. For construction of administrative office building and rest houses for forest department in 2.08 ha Reserved forest in Village Bhamurda, S. No. 97 ,  Compartment no. 173,  Bhamurda Forest Range, Government of Maharashtra has accorded administrative approval on 28-3-2011 vide its GR No. EST-2011/CR 50/F-9. This administrative approval has been given for Rs 24,29,33,000/- .
  2. As it is statutory  requirement of FC Act 1980 that even for construction of any building required by Forest department for residence or office or rest house, prior approval of Government of India is required under the provision of section 2 of Forest Conservation Act 1980, hence State Government has submitted a proposal for clearance of this above said construction to Government of India vide Nodal officer letter no. Desk-17/NC/II/2488/10-11 dated 11-11-2010 and further on 09/12/2010.
  3. Government of India has accorded in principle approval vide it’s letter dated 15-12-2010 with certain conditions , one amongst them was that

OTHER SANCTIONS REQUIRED:

  1. Pune Municipal Corporation has informed  vide its letter no. DPO/2010/822 dated 24-Sept 2010 that said area of S.No. 97 of Bhamurda falls under two zones: some part in Hilltop-hillslop and some part in residential.  Further, the said plot has been reserved for  High school, play ground, cremation and burial ground. Thus one thing is for sure that on this plot neither any office nor rest house can be constructed legally without getting the zone  changed to commercial and reservation made on the plot  be removed.

Important questions arise here:

  1. What will happend to already sanctioned amount of funds by the legislature for the said project in tune of crores of Rupees. Further if it is not utilised who would all be held responsible for the same ?
  2. Why CCF Pune, Mr ASK Sinha did not get the status of land verified before getting foundation stone laid and funds be sanctioned ?
  3. Change of zone is a difficult process and final authority for it is Chief Minister in capacity of Minister in-charge of Urban development department.
  4. Change of reservation is a very tedious process , which is done by Municipal corporation after taking into consideration views of public after public hearing.
  5. Now , it requires fresh plot, fresh clearance under FC Act. Fresh NOCs from Municipal authorities. Who is responsible for these ?

Thus, it becomes very clear that even for Forest department, its officers and buildings, provisions of FC Act and other municipal laws are applicable.

 

27 Responses to “Pantangrao Kadam, Forest Minister, Maharashtra laid foundation stone of administrative building of Forest offices in Pune, on a plot reserved for Burrial ground, crematorium, Play ground and High school. Further, the said plot comes under Hilltop/Hill slope and part in residential zone, thus office cum rest house complex can not be constructed on such plot legally & authorisedly …”

  1. Retd PCCF says:

    What more can you expect from a person who is interested only in money making. Good that he got promoted and leaving the place. We would get embarrassed like this always.

  2. APCCF at Nagpur says:

    Why you only fix Sinha for this faux pass. His CF Jadhav is equally to be blamed for it. Good that our office would be on a burrial place. Otherwise also we are as good as dead men for all practical purposes and morally.

  3. Another APCCF at Nagpur says:

    My dear friends…truth is that Sinha or for that matter, most of us would not know that such are the requirements of the constructions . Unfortunately, this time department is pitted against a brilliant brain. Otherwise these things would have gone unnoticed and building work would have been on.

  4. Poor Patangrao Kadam saheb. I have read that he has been made incharge of Pune for congress after departure of Kalmadi to Tihar a couple of days ago.

    • Boss of Bosses says:

      What Poor Patang Rao kadam, this is the result of his ‘laukar pahije’ attitude. He wants everything immediately. This is the result of that. Hope he takes over Pune from kalmadi and does not take over Tihar.

  5. It is really unfortunate that in case of such favourable Minister, who took so much interest in getting us, the so called dead men, as referred in one of the post above, promotion after 8 to 10 years; has to face such embarrassment because of incompetence of Sinha and Jadhav. I do not know how could they come in IFS ? Shame on them. Poor, spineless HOFF will not take any action in this matter also. Why this time your report does not mention culpability of AK Joshi HOFF in this case ? Are you going mild on him ?

  6. It is true that this forum has become slow and mild on top brasses of the department. Dr Nand Kishore has been allowed to go even after such a great corruption charges only because he was a known holycow. Can Mr AK Joshi explain , why such serious discrimination? Mr Joshi are you going to initiate any action in such great wrong …..an office complex and rest house on burial ground for already dead….for permanent rest ?

  7. IFS group says:

    Waah kya baat kahi hai……. Rest houses for IFS officers on burial ground/crematorium in Pune. How true it is…..

    • hemant chhajed says:

      i f s peoples wants to awaken the murdas buried in that ground. these ghosts will never allow to sleep them in future.

  8. It was Mr DC pant, who was head of Finance wing. He should have checked all these before sending it to government.

  9. Just Anonymous says:

    Have I read it right that the land in question is indeed a notified Reserved Forest? If that be so, where is the problem? That it has been reserved for burial, residential purposes etc. by the local townplanner? Can Reserved Forest be reserved for purposes other than forestry? There are umpteen numbers of forest land survey nos. in Pune which are notified as Reserved Forests but used on the sly for non forestry purposes! Kondwa Bk. case is still fresh in the memory! Get real people. The permission under the FCA is genuine and the land can be safely used for the purpose for which the diversion has been approved. MAY I ADVISE THE WEBSITE TO BE LITTLE MORE UPDATED ABOUT FOREST LAWS?

  10. Dear Readers,
    One of our reader has adviced this website to be more updated about Forest laws.
    According to him, if an approval under section 2 of FC Act has been accorded for using forestry land for non-forestry purpose; then why any other permission is required for construction in said land. This kind of poor knowledge of comprehensive law is very common amongst forest officers owing to poor training. In simple term he says that if FC Act permission is granted to Western coal field to mine coal in a reserved forest then there are no requirements of any permission , whether under mining laws or environmental laws etc for such mining.

    Let us explain it here. Every part of land in Maharashtra is covered under Maharashtra land revenue code. It may be classified to be agriculture land, gaothan, forest, nalah, river etc. Its use is governed as per MLRC and Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act.

    We are reproducing the relevant sections of both MLRC and MRTP Act for your reference:

    THE MAHARASHTRA REGIONAL AND TOWN PLANNING ACT, 1966

    Restriction on change of user of land or development hereof.

    18. (1) No person shall on after the publication of the notice that the draft of Regional plan has been prepared or the draft Regional plan has been approved, institute or change the use of any land for any purpose other than agriculture, or carry out any development, in respect of any land without the previous permission of the Municipal Corporation or Municipal Council, within whose area the land is situate, and elsewhere, of the Collector.

    Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966

    22.Lands may be assigned for special purposes, and when assigned, shall not be otherwise used without sanction of Collector. Subject to the general orders of the State Government, it shall be lawful for a survey officer during the course of survey operations under this Code, and at any other time for the Collector, to set apart unoccupied lands (not in the lawful occupations of any person), in village or parts thereof for forest or fuel reserve, for free pasturage of village cattle or for grass or fodder reserve, for burial or cremation ground, for gaothan, for camping ground, for threshing floor, for bazaar, for skinning ground, for public purposes such as roads, lanes, parks, drains or for any other public purpose; and, the lands assigned shall not be otherwise used without the sanction of the Collector and in the disposal of lands under section 20 due regard shall be had to all such special assignments.

    One Example for clear understanding:

    Further to explain to our good friend and anonymous pseudo-legal expert, we are placing here one verifiable example of Automobile Research Institute, Kothrud, Pune , who had applied for 52 acres of Reserve forest land in Pune Municipal limit in year 2005 . Government of India has accorded sanction under FC Act in the year 2007. After sanction, 52 acres reserve forest land was handed over by Pune forest division to ARI in 2007. But the same could not be used by ARI till today (2011) since only permission under FC Act was provided to use forest land for non-forestry purpose. But other provisions under other applicable laws are yet to be given. Since Forest zone could not be converted by Municipal corporation , no permission to construct any thing has been granted, no plans were sanctioned by Municipal corporation. It is only in last week, PMC has accorded its recommendation to use the area for commercial/ residential/educational purpose and now proposal is being sent to UDD in mantralaya for its sanction. I hope it will make situation clear to our dear good friend.

    • Absolutely true. Correct interpretation. Action is required against guilty.

    • Boss of Forest officers says:

      There was no need to give such long interpretation. There is also no fault with our training. This could be be view of one of the forest officer. You can not make one group of all forest officers. Your interpretation is very logical.

    • APCCF nagpur says:

      Why do we think that this comment was made by a forest officer, he writes “Just anonymous”. He may be a common man. Why website feels that this comment was made by a forest officer. No forest officer would make such foolish comment.

    • Just Anonymous says:

      Thanks for exposing my lack of knowledge to the readers at large. I just pray that the readers also go into the provisions of IFA ( 1927 ) relating to the constitution of Reserved Forests. Once a Reserved Forest is constituted it is free of any rights and burdons. I certainly can not be the intention of MLRC to set apart Reserved forest ( already constituted ) for burial ground! In the city of Pune, many Reserved Forest areas were just usurped by the Revenue Authorities and allotted for various purposes. Does the said setting apart of RF by the Surveyor for residential purposes also mean that it can no longer be used for forestry purposes! And that you simply need a formal permission under FCA to go ahead with residential use! Under the circumstances, what happens to lands notified as forests in city areas in the State way back in th 19th / 20th century? A central Act can be superceded by a State Act in this manner? The bottomline, therefore, – LEAVE ASIDE THE FCA PERMISSION, COULD THE RF HAVE BEEN SET APART FOR ANY OTHER USAGE BY THE SURVEYOR SPECIALLY AFTER IT’S NOTIFICATION AS RF? IF SO, I AM SORRY FOR MY COMMENTS!

      • Just Anonymous says:

        Please also consider your reproduction of Section 22 of MLRC as regards land to be set apart – UNOCCUPIED LAND ( NOT IN LAWFUL OCCUPATION OF ANY PERSON)! Now, do you consider a duly constituted RF as unoccupied land?

      • Gentleman, May I know from you, if a reserve forest has been granted permission to be used as not forestry purpose under FC Act, then whether it loses its status of being reserve forest ? I am sure you would understand it. The reserve forest would be declared as non-reserve under IFA after following due process of law. Till this thing has been done, every thing which is prohibited under section 26 of IFA is applicable. Hence you can not breakup the land even.
        CIM has no intention of challenging its readers on non-issues.

        • Just Anonymous says:

          Sir, you are evading the core issue! The land in question was already a RF when some Revenue authorities classified it under Section 22 as land reserved for burial ground / residential purpose, taking it to a piece of unoccupied land! Coulld the Collector have done it knowing fully well that it was RF? So the Collector’s order was BAD IN LAW! Hence once permission has been granted under the FCA for diversion of this land, it is indeed final and needs no other permission. Hope it meets with your approval!

          • Dear Readers,,

            It is very important to understand that in this case of s.no.97, reserve forest inside a municipal corporation limit comes under Hill top/hill slope zone. State is authorised and well within it’s mandate to put even a reserve forest in Hill top/hill slope zone, as is the case here. Even if permission under FC act has been granted for this reserve forest to be used for non-forestry activities, still it’s zone is to be converted to a zone, which would apply for the non-forestry work, one is going to do on it.

            Now let us examine about FSI and available are to be constructed. Since only 2.08 ha (208000 sq feet) area has been permitted under FC Act and only 0.04 FSI is available in Hilltop/hillslope , hence maximum construction which is allowed can be only 8320 sq feet. Which is far too less than the required plan.

            Now your question of reservation. Your presumption is that once any land is declared as reserve forest, all the rights on such land are either extinguished or settled. But in fact these are rights of individual or community such as right to grazing, right to way, water, forest produce or any other rights. But reservation has nothing to do with rights. It is done under different acts and rules. It is every thing to do with land-use. You are of the opinion that once S.No. 97 was a reserved forest it means neither it can be put to any other zone or reserved for any specific purpose since there are no right of such type after settlement.

            You should understand that it is only reservation. e.g. if any survey no. in heart of a town is reserve forest, then state government has every power to put reservation of playground on that. But this reservation does not allow them to use the land for play ground. If government wants to use this reserved forest for play ground as shown in reservation, then Government has to declared the reserve forest as deserve under section 27 of Indian Forest Act 1927 and seek prior approval under section 2 of FC Act. But once this land is declared non-reserved and disforested or FC Act permission is taken, it can not be use for any other purpose but playground until and unless reservation is changed from playground by state government.

            We hope it would make our stand clear.

  11. Dear Readers, this is in reference to the latest post of “Just Anonymous”

    It is very important to understand that in this case of s.no.97, reserve forest inside a municipal corporation limit comes under Hill top/hill slope zone. State is authorised and well within it’s mandate to put even a reserve forest in Hill top/hill slope zone, as is the case here. Even if permission under FC act has been granted for this reserve forest to be used for non-forestry activities, still it’s zone is to be converted to a zone, which would apply for the non-forestry work, one is going to do on it.

    Now let us examine about FSI and available area to be constructed. Since only 2.08 ha (208000 sq feet) area has been permitted under FC Act and only 0.04 FSI is available in Hilltop/hillslope , hence maximum construction which is allowed can be only 8320 sq feet. Which is far too less than the required plan.

    Now your question of reservation. Your presumption is that once any land is declared as reserve forest, all the rights on such land are either extinguished or settled. But in fact these are rights of individual or community such as right to grazing, right to way, water, forest produce or any other rights. But reservation has nothing to do with rights. It is done under different acts and rules. It is every thing to do with land-use. You are of the opinion that once S.No. 97 was a reserved forest it means neither it can be put to any other zone or reserved for any specific purpose since there are no right of such type after settlement.

    You should understand that it is only reservation. e.g. if any survey no. in heart of a town is reserve forest, then state government has every power to put reservation of playground on that. But this reservation does not allow them to use the land for play ground. If government wants to use this reserved forest for play ground as shown in reservation, then Government has to declared the reserve forest as deserve under section 27 of Indian Forest Act 1927 and seek prior approval under section 2 of FC Act. But once this land is declared non-reserved and disforested or FC Act permission is taken, it can not be use for any other purpose but playground until and unless reservation is changed from playground by state government.

      AN IMPORTANT POINT FOR DISCUSSION AND UNDERSTANDING:

    Even after FC Act clearance of this 2.08ha reserve forest to be used for non-forestry purpose, whether this plot has been notified to be desereved under section 27 of IFA 1927 ? Until and unless area is deserved all provisions of section 26 would be applicable on it, irrespective of permission under FC Act. Hence any fresh clearing of soil, trespass, kindeling of fire , clearing & breaking of soil etc. are offences & punishable. Tell me how any construction can be done on it ? These are cognisable and non-bailable offences. Lets see what HOCC, and other PCCFs say on it. CIM will pursue it to its logical end.

    We hope it would make our stand clear.

    • Just Anonymous says:

      Dear CIM,

      Thanks! At last you have exposed your own underbelly to the world at large! May I point out, once again to you and all other readers that provisions of Section 22 of the MLRC are absolutely clear and without any savings. It refers to UNOCCUPIED LANDS! I believe that Reserved Forest in charge of Forest Department is NOT AN UNOCCUPIED territory! Now, citing provisions of Section 27 IFA in defence is taking the arguement to the extreme! Please admit your mistake of facts!

      • CIM is not wrong. You check all what has been reported . If you do not know how to read in totality, then keep writing them. hahahaha

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