CM can’t convert forests into revenue land: petitioner

SHC sought BoR member's comments on a petition filed against the destruction of forestland.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) reissued notice to a provincial Board of Revenue (BoR) senior member on Tuesday, seeking his comments on a constitutional petition filed against the destruction of forestland and tree-felling in the province.

The counsel for Indus Development Organisation submitted that the chief minister was not authorised to convert forests into revenue land.

He said Pakistan’s forests cover only 2.5 per cent of the country’s total area, whereas the minimum international requirement is 25 per cent. “Had there been enough forestland in Sindh, the devastation caused by the floods in the province could have been averted to some extent, as trees strengthen the embankments of rivers,” he contended.

The counsel told the court that during a meeting held last year, President Asif Ali Zardari had ordered the formation of a team comprising members of the provincial assembly and revenue officials so that it could prepare a report about the land available in the kachcha and forest areas.

This land was to be distributed among women haris. It was decided at the meeting that trees would not be harmed in this process, and only areas with scanty bush growth would be used for this purpose. It was also decided that each hari would be given 25 acres and encouraged to plant Neem trees.

However, the forests secretary opposed this summary and argued that the revenue department was not authorised to make decisions about forestland. The court issued notice to the BoR member, but the department did not respond.

In his petition, Indus Development Organisation Executive Director Abdul Razzak submitted that a summary was forwarded to the forests secretary to allot 3,549 acres of forestland along the banks of Indus River to women haris. However, this was an attempt to take over forestland, as the nominations made for this purpose were not transparent and DPO Thatta Fareed Jan Sarhandi, Haji Sher Nazim and others used their influence in this process.

The petitioner also stated that the Sindh government and his organisation had a reached a pact for the protection of forests and were working on a five-year plan for their expansion. However, the Sindh government later terminated the agreement using the Agro Forest Policy 2004. Maintaining that 95,000 trees have been cut down in the province since May 13 this year, he claimed that a committee formed for the removal of encroachments from forests, headed by provincial assembly member Sharjeel Memon, is actually involved in a tree-cutting campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2010.