The court held that land recorded as 'Sabik Kisam Jungle' is protected under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, and any diversion for non-forest use requires prior approval from the Central Government.

ORDER

1. The allegation in the Original Application is that the Project Proponent i.e., Respondent No.6 is cutting trees in land which is otherwise forest land by illegal diversion of forest land for the purposes of industrialization. It is stated that 7.5 acres of Sabik Kisam Forest Land is being usurped by Respondent No.6 for the benefit of Respondent No.7 i.e., M/s Western Integrated Waste Management Facility Private Limited which is projected to set up Common Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (CHWTSDF) at Village- Patamrapada, Teshil-Parjang, District-Dhenkanal, Odisha.

2. The contention of the Applicant is that the land in question is forest land recorded as Forest Land (Sabik Jungle) in the Revenue Records and no Forest Clearance has been obtained.

3. Mr. Sankar Prasad Pani, learned Counsel for the Applicant has referred to the Bhulekh Record at page 40 of the Original Application and submits that in respect of the land in dispute i.e. Khatian No.1023, Plot No.5 though under the head “Kisam” it is mentioned “Taila-2” but under the ‘remark’ column the nature of the land has been described as “Sabik Kisam Jungle”. Learned Counsel further referred to the document at page No.43 of the paper book and submitted that Alienation Case No.1/2021 was conducted and by order dated 06.09.2022 Khata No.1023 upon alienation to the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) the plot of the land was shown as Khatian 985/532 Mouza Patarpada, Dist.-Dhenkanal and the Kisam of the land was shown as ‘Patita’ for Plot No.5.

4. Learned Counsel submitted that these records have been published on 31.05.1983 i.e. after the cut-off date of 25.10.1980 as mentioned in the Forest (Conservations) Act 1980 and therefore the nature of the land could not have been changed from “Sabik Kisam Jungle” to “Taila-2” or “Patita” in the Bhulekh Records at page 40 and page 43 of the paper book (Annexures 4 and 5 to the Original Application).

5. Similarly, for Plot No.3 learned Counsel has submitted that same was also shown as “Kisam Patita” in Annexure 5 after the Alienation Case No.1/2021 vide order dated 06.09.2022. Learned Counsel submitted that large tracks of forest land are being illegally diverted for industrialisation by IDCO, the Respondent No.6 without following the due process laid down in Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980. It is stated that about 93 acres of land have been brought under the Land Bank Scheme (LBS) as per the Land Schedule Map (LSM) of IDCO including 12 acres of “Gochar” land and 7.5 acres of “Sabik Kisam Land” and out of these 93 acres of land, about 70 acres of land have been proposed to be allocated to the Respondent No.7 for the Western Integrated Waste Management Facility Pvt. Ltd. for establishment of Common Hazardous Waste Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facility (CHWTSDF) at village Patarapara, Tahasil – Parajang, Dist. – Dhenkanal, Odisha.

6. It is stated that the Respondent No.7 Unit is to continue land fill at the site in question for burying a total of 7,00,000 MT of hazardous waste; subsequently the capacity of the waste treatment was reduced to 20,000 tons per annum and the land area also has been reduced from 70 acres to 27 acres for which Environmental Clearance was granted on 18.02.2022. It is stated that IDCO has acquired 12 acres of land including 6 acres of “Sabik Kisam” forest land on which construction has been started towards the Integrated Waste Management Facility.

7. Reliance has also been placed on the Government of Orissa, Revenue and Disaster Management department Circular No.GE(GL)-S-76/2010-43968/R&DM dated 24.10.2011 which provides as under :-

“…… Government have been pleased to clarify that the provisions of Forest (Conservation) Act , 1980 would be applicable to any type of forest land including the land recorded as non-forest land in Hal records published after 25.10.1980 which was of “Jungle” kisam in its respective Sabik record as on 25.10.1980 irres