Thousands of acres of land could be denotified (declared as non-forest land) in the Queen of Hills soon, leading to a slew of construction activities in the next few years. The denotification pertains to 218 private estates in Mussoorie which had been partially or completely notified (land being declared as forest area) by the then-UP government in 1966. Although construction activities in these estates continued, the SC in 1996 put restrictions on construction and directed that notified forest land in these estates could not be diverted for non-forest purposes without the permission of the ministry of environment and forest. The SC also said that construction could be permitted only after a survey was done for demarcation. The survey, which started around 15 years back, hasn’t been completed all these years although it is now in its last leg.
The survey was initiated jointly by Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), forest department and Mussoorie Municipal Council (MMC) in 2008-09 and is being conducted by Survey of India.
According to forest department officials, the survey has been completed in about 200 out of the 218 estates. “It is in its last phase and in three to four months, the draft report would be ready following which it would be forwarded to the government for necessary action,” said Vaibhav Kumar Singh, divisional forest officer (DFO), Mussoorie.
Although the exact area that could be denotified is not available, sources indicated that after the survey, as much as 3,000-acre of land could be denotified. Since almost all the estates date to colonial times and are situated in premier areas of the town, the land bank that is likely to be made available would be a highly-valued one, the sources added.
Meanwhile, the move has led to concern among environmental activists who say that large-scale construction activities would unsettle the fragile hill town and hit its ecology. “Mussoorie is already over-constructed and further construction activity on a large area could be detrimental. More construction could result in destabilising the limestone rocks and underground aquifers, affect the drainage of rainwater, lead to more landslides and affect the micro-climate,” said Vipin Gupta, a resident, who was involved in preparing a report on the carrying capacity of Mussoorie in 1998.
Gupta added that an environmental impact assessment must be conducted before construction is permitted. A retired official of MDDA further said that before any denotification, a master plan must be drafted to regulate the construction activities in the town and ensure adequate environmental safeguards.
Earlier this year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had raised concerns over the “excessive unplanned constructions beyond carrying capacity” in Mussoorie. The green body had also constituted a panel to study the carrying capacity of the hill town.
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Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Anmol Jain is an MBA who was drawn into journalism due to his fla...
Read MoreAnmol Jain is an MBA who was drawn into journalism due to his flair for writing and a keen desire to raise issues of public interest. He loves to write on ecology and environment and also about his home town Mussoorie.
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