Forest officials agree to the demands of the Sahakar Nagar Residents who had planned a Taljai Bachao Abhiyan which would begin on May 15.
Following a meeting called hastily between the Sahakar Nagar Residents and the Deputy Conservator of Forests, the residents put forth nine demands to the forest department and also stressed that the Taljai Bachao Abhiyan would continue until the Forest department acted upon the demands.
The deputy registrar of forests, Rahul Patil said, “We will work together with citizens to improve the development of biodiversity project on Taljai Hill and work together to prepare a plan. The forest department will not undertake any kind of cement and concrete work and will concentrate on planting trees, including Miyawaki forest, medicinal plants, bamboo forest, etc. Also as per the instructions given by the Minister of State (Forest), Pune, forest department, tree planting will be done in the Taljai hill area the during the rainy season, with the participation of citizens.”
The demands put forth were very straightforward and asked for citizen participation in any work on Taljai hill. “We want all the relevant documents regarding the proposed development plan on the Taljai Tekdi should be made public within 24 hours,” said Indraneel Sadalge, heading the campaign.
The other demands are that all the machinery, JCB etc must be removed from the forest area within 24 hours, other dumped material, cement blocks, and construction-related concrete lying in and around forest land must be cleared within 24 hours, Paver blocks cemented walkways, walls, any other cement construction and other such structures should be removed from the Tekdi within 7 days.
The residents also pointed out that it is illegal to erect fences and barricades in forests. All such fencing, gates, arches, and doors erected under the pretext of ‘gardens’ should be removed within 7 days.
For restoration of the biodiversity that’s already been harmed, a committee should be put up comprising of forest officers, environment experts, political leaders with an understanding of environmental issues and members of the Sahakarnagar Citizens’ Forum as representatives of the citizens.
This committee should make an action plan within a month, which should be implemented promptly. The residents also demanded that if any such project is proposed on the forest land, a notice must be displayed at the entry point of Taljai Forest Area in such a manner that it is easily visible to the maximum number of people, for at least 21 days in advance of the commencement of the said work. The public information must include the nature of work, timeline, total expenditure, contractor, and other such details.
