Land sharks are eying the forest land of urban areas specially in the posh –pockets like Chuna Bhatti, adjacent to Char Imli where ministers, bureaucrats and VIPs reside. Most of the VIPs own their duplex in Chuna Bhatti.
There are many cases where builders have grabbed forestland falling on the backside of their covered campus as it is hardly noticeable, besides it does not pose any problem to other builders. But ultimately, it makes dent to forestland monitored by the Capital Project Authority (CPA)’s forest wing.
In fact, such kind of things generally go unnoticed and only come to fore when there is clash of interests between builders and subsequently these issues land up at police station. Forestland upto 10-20 feet is being grabbed by these builders. Illegally extending their project’s campus boundary areas, these builders are showing the forest area in their proposed project as their own, which they intend to use for parking or other purpose. While encroaching upon this forest land, the builders allegedly cleared the land by felling the forest trees.
In one such case, a complaint has been lodged against Khialdas Constructions company with Chuna Bhatti police station. The company’s proprietor Chandrabhan Lalchandani, while admitting about police complaint against them, claimed that it is baseless and false. There was no such case of forest land being grabbed by us, he added. He said that his son Ratanlal Chandani, who is handling Chuna Bhatti project But complaint is looking into the matter and they will hol;d talks with the concerned officials.
Forest SDO Ravi Khude said, “In urban areas, forest land is looked after by the Capital Project’s forest wing. So CPA has all records and it is their duty to look into the matter. We are responsible for the forest in general in the state. But CPA looks after forest land in urban areas.”
Chief Conservator of Forests (CPA-forest wing) Sudeep Singh accepted that it becomes difficult to detect any encroachment if a builder grabs the forest land from rear side of covered campus. “It is only when a complaint regarding the encroachment is filed that we come to known about it. However, we keep an eye on such development and ensure to strict monitoring of the forest area and also to ensure conservation of forest greenery. We will look into matter if Khialdas Construction has encroached the forest land and constructed the boundary.”
