Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 16: In pursuance of the Supreme Court order, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has constituted an Expert Committee to for preparation of comprehensive records of forest lands in the Union Territory.
The committee, headed by the Principal Chief Conservator of forests (HoFF), J&K, shall identify the areas, which are ‘forests’, irrespective of whether they are so notified, recognized or classified under any law, and irrespective of the ownership of such forest land(s).
Further, it shall identify the areas, which were earlier forests but stand degraded, denuded or cleared and the area covered by plantation tree belonging to the Government as also areas belonging to private persons.
The expert committee shall prepare an exhaustive report detailing all categories of forest, for its onward submission to the Ministry of Environment, forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
The committee has been constituted in pursuance of the Supreme Court order, dated 12-12-1996 in a writ petition, read with order dated 10-02-2024 passed in writ petition titled Ashok Kumar Sharma (IFS-Retd) and others Vs Union of India.
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