NEW DELHI, Dec 13 (UNI)
Concerned with the rapid depletion of forest cover throught the country, the Supreme Court today directed that all ''ongoing activities in any forest in any state`` should be stopped forthwith.
It said no activity should be carried out without the prior permission of the Centre under Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act.
The Court made it clear that the running of saw mills of any kind including veneer and plywood mills will be covered under the definition of ''non-forest purposes`` as contained in the Act.
The direction along with many other similar directions were issued by a division bench comprising Mr Justice J S Verma and Mr Justice B N Kirpal on two public interest petitions - one by Mr T N Godavarman Thirumulkpad and the other by the Environment Awareness Forum.
The Court said carrying of any such activities in the forests without the prior permission of the government will be in violation of the Act and will invite ''action.`` Every state will ensure immediate compliance of the direction and report to the Court within two months.
As regards tropical rain forests in Arunachal Pradesh in the districts of Tirap and Changlang, there will be complete ban on felling of trees, the Court said.
There will also be a complete ban on the movement of trees and timber from any North East states to any other state, the Court said.
The ban order, the Court said, will however, not apply to the movement of certified timber required for defence and other government purposes.
The first petitioner is the trustee of the Nilambur Kovilokom which owned about 56,000 acres of forest land in Gudalpur taluk of Nilgiri division in Tamil Nadu. His family has been closely associated with the forests in the region for more than 400 years. The petitioner, therefore, was concerned with the state of the forests in the region.
The petitioner contended that despite the Act and the Tamil Nadu Hill
Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955, the forests in the Nilgiri
Hills were being destroyed at an alarming speed.
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