The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has granted an extension of three months to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to compile data on forest land encroachment across the country.
The NGT had taken suo motu cognizance of a news item highlighting the large-scale encroachment on forest land.
The Tribunal had earlier directed the states and union territories to furnish detailed information in a prescribed format.
The MoEF&CC filed an interim affidavit stating that it had received replies from 23 states and union territories, out of which 16 had provided data in the prescribed format.
The counsel for the MoEF&CC informed the Tribunal that some more responses had been received, and the ministry had now received information from 24 states and union territories.
The MoEF&CC requested an extension of three months to collect, analyze, and compile the replies in compliance with the Tribunal’s earlier direction.
The Principal Bench, comprising Justice Prakash Shrivastava as the Chairperson, Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi as Judicial Members, and Dr Afroz Ahmad as an Expert Member, allowed the prayer and granted the extension, assuring that the exercise would be completed within the extended time.
The matter has been listed for hearing on March 3, 2025.