Govt to move court to seek regularisation of 2,183 roads

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today said that the Forest Department would file a review petition in court before May 10 to seek the regularisation of 2,183 roads constructed in violation of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980.

Sukhu, while chairing a high-level meeting of the Forest Department here, stressed the need for taking the legal recourse for the regularisation of these roads in larger public interest. He directed the department to take appropriate steps in this regard at the earliest.

A total of 2,183 such roads (613 in Shimla zone, 821 in Mandi, 254 in Hamirpur zone and 495 in Kangra zone) have been identified in the state. “These roads were built prior to the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, in Himachal Pradesh, which came into effect in 2016,” he added.

The Chief Minister said that the aim of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980, was to recognise and vest rights in forest dwelling communities, who had been residing there and had been dependent on forestland for at least three generations.

Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary KK Pant, Secretary Law Sharad Kumar Lagwal and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Sanjay Sood attended the meeting.