Thane, Palghar and Raigad land identified for Mumbai afforestation

Mumbai city and its suburbs have no land available for compensatory afforestation, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said. The state has identified sites in Thane, Palghar and Raigad instead.

Thane has 279 hectares of degraded forest land in the new land bank, Bawankule said. Palghar has 358 hectares and Raigad has 75 hectares. The state has also listed around 408 hectares of non-forest land for the exercise.

Statewide, the revenue department has earmarked 82,640 acres of degraded forest land and 18,865 acres of revenue land. Bawankule said officials add parcels to the bank only after checking that they are free of encroachments and disputes.

The land bank is intended to help district collectors identify land when projects require compensatory afforestation. Selected alternative sites must be transferred to the forest department and complete processes under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 before they can be notified as reserved forest.