Guwahati: The Assam government’s recent decision to denotify three Proposed Reserve Forests, (PRFs) without prior approval from the Union Environment Ministry under Forest (Conservation) Act, has fueled a debate about the legality of the move and its potential environmental impact.
The decision, announced by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on January 31, 2025, aims to grant land rights to over 20,000 residents in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district.
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The three PRFs—Talpathar (170 hectares), Mohongpathar (466 hectares), and the First Addition to Duarmarah (113 hectares)—are slated to be denotified to convert them into revenue villages.
Chief Minister Sarma stated that this decision was necessary because residents were unable to obtain land rights due to the PRF status. He framed the move as a “significant decision” aimed at providing relief to people in distress.
However, this move raises crucial questions about the future of Assam’s forests, particularly that of 105 PRFs among 135 PRFs, and its implications for national forest policy.
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The historical context of Reserve Forests and Proposed Reserve Forests in Assam is crucial for understanding the current situation. Following the Simon Commission’s recommendation in 1930 and the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1935, the subject of “forest” was transferred to the provinces.
In the aftermath, Assam chose to go with its own legislation, the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891, which mirrored the Indian Forest Act, 1927. This legislation established two primary forest categories: Reserve Forests (RFs), exclusively managed by the government with no public rights, and Proposed Reserve Forests (PRFs) where notification as RFs remained pending due to unsettled public rights. Unsurveyed forested areas not falling in either of these categories were designated as Unclassified State Forests (USFs).
The process of establishing RFs and PRFs in Assam began in 1868 with the arrival of Gustav Mann, the Assistant Conservator of Forests from Bengal Province, as documented by Dr. Arup Jyoti Saikia in his book, “Forests & Ecological History of Assam.” Over time, Assam accumulated approximately 328 RFs and 135 PRFs.
However, the rights in these 135 PRFs have remained largely unsettled for the past 30 years, primarily due to the inaction of Forest Settlement Officers. This lack of progress, coupled with periods of instability in Assam, has led to significant encroachment on some PRFs, fuelled by demographic changes and vested interests.
While the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 allowed for the notification and denotification of both PRFs and RFs, the arrival of the Forest (Conservation) Act of 1980 significantly altered this landscape. Section 2 of this Act mandated prior approval from the Central Government for any state government order that diverts forest land for non-forest purposes.
The Supreme Court, in the Godavarman Thirumulpad vs. Union of India case (1996) further clarified the Act’s applicability, stating that the provisions apply to areas meeting the dictionary definition of “forest,” areas recorded as forests in government records irrespective of ownership and statute, and areas identified as forests by expert committees.
The Supreme Court reiterated this interpretation time and again, most recent being in February 2024 while hearing a petition concerning amendments made to the Forest (Conservation) Act in 2023. In a separate order, the apex court affirmed that the provisions of its Godavarman order apply even to the lands covered by special acts like the Punjab Land Preservation Act.
In the backdrop of these legal pronouncements, on July 8, 2024, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced a plan to convert 30 PRFs into RFs, leaving the fate of the remaining 105 PRF unclear. “We are working on a comprehensive plan to enhance the green cover in Assam and earmark more areas as Reserve Forests. We plan to modify 30 PRFs as Reserve Forests,” Sarma had said.
This uncertainty was resolved, at least partially, on January 31, 2025, when the Cabinet decided to denotify three PRFs in Tinsukia district: Talpathar (170 hectares), Mohongpathar (466 hectares), and the First Addition to Duarmarah (113 hectares). The Chief Minister explained that this decision would grant land rights to over 20,000 residents who had been unable to obtain the same due to PRF restrictions. He termed the decision as a “significant’ step to alleviate the hardships.
The denotification, however, has triggered widespread concern among experts and conservationists. They point out that what is really happening is the regularization of encroachments through granting land pattas to those who were ineligible to secure the same under the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. “To grant land rights to such encroachers, three Proposed Reserve Forests are being denotified,” they said.
They also point out a 2001 order by the Supreme Court, which prohibited further regularization of encroachments on forest land, and state that the Assam Government’s move directly contravenes the Supreme Court’s rulings in the Godavarman case. Given that Assam has 3,407.48 square kilometers of encroached forest land (45% of India’s total), conservationists fear that this denotification could set a dangerous precedent, prompting similar demands across the state.
Political observers speculate that this move is a populist strategy aimed at gaining support in the run-up to the 2026 Assam Assembly elections. The long-term consequences of this decision for Assam’s forest cover and the legal challenges it might face remain to be seen.