MP HC rejects PIL seeking 'city forest' tag for Hukumchand Mill plot in Indore

Indore, Sep 12 (PTI) The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to declare 42 acres of the defunct Hukumchand Mill here as "city forest".

There is no such concept of city forest under the Indian Forest Act, a division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Jai Kumar Pillai said while rejecting a petition filed by environmental activist Omprakash Joshi and others on Wednesday.

The petitioners sought that the plot, lying vacant since the mill's shutdown in 1992, be declared as a "naturally generated forest" and urged the court to quash a tender issued for tree cutting.

In its order, the HC bench said Madhya Pradesh Housing and Infrastructure Development Board (MPHIDB) has deposited Rs 421 crore with the official liquidator, and most of the amount has been distributed to creditors and ex-workers of the mill, after which it decided to use 60 per cent of the area for commercial purposes and 40 per cent for residential purposes.

The HC said MPHIDB has issued a tender for the removal of shrubs, bushes and uprooted trees on 17.5 hectares, adding these had grown with the passage of time since the area has been lying vacant since 1992.

The contention of the petitioners that there is a city forest with hundreds of fully grown trees in Hukumchand Mill has no basis, the bench said.

Refusing to intervene in the matter, the division bench said the MPHIDB had not invested a huge amount of money to keep the land vacant for greenery purposes.

"Therefore, once the MPHIDB has invested the amount and purchased the land for development, without removing all these shrubs, bushes and uprooted trees, the construction cannot be started," it said.

The MP government has already taken the decision to develop city forest by planting 1 lakh trees in the Kanadia area of Indore, the bench said.

"According to the petitioners, in the interest of the residents of Indore city, this green area should be protected by the government by declaring it as a city forest. However, there is no such concept of city forest under the Indian Forest Act. Admittedly this is not a declared forest on government land," the HC said. PTI HWP LAL BNM