In Mumbai and Thane, several ongoing and existing residential projects spread over 1,200 hectares were declared as illegal after a PIL, by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), brought to the Bombay High Court’s notice the state government’s failure to protect the designated forest land. While the case is currently being heard in the Supreme Court, the Forest Department officials state that they want to prevent any further cases by canceling the NA permission itself.

“We have asked for all NA permissions on private forest land in Maharashtra to be cancelled after a recent incident in Pune where in about four to five cases, the collector has issued NA permission on private forest land,” said an official from the PCCF’s office.

BEAG’s Debi Goenka terms the move as a “long overdue step”. “This is something they should have done three years ago and not when they know that the case is slated for hearing in the Supreme Court on March 23. Since the time the PIL was filed, action was taken against construction projects in Mumbai, but in Pune and elsewhere in the state there was no such attempt,” Goenka said.