Urgent Action to Deliver Justice to Citizens in Forest-Declared Areas of Jiwati: CM Fadnavis

Mumbai : Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed that immediate action be taken to provide justice to the citizens of Jiwati taluka in Chandrapur district by correcting the erroneous classification of 8,659.8 hectares of land as forest area. He instructed officials to issue necessary orders without delay to resolve this long-standing issue.

During a review meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan, CM Fadnavis assessed the pending land issues in Jiwati taluka. The meeting was attended by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, Additional Chief Secretary Milind Mhaiskar, Principal Secretary Shomita Biswas, Chandrapur District Collector Vinay Gowda, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Naresh Jhiramure, and other senior officials.

The Chief Minister emphasized that the land proposal had already been submitted by the District Collector through the Forest Department to the Revenue Department and urged swift processing. He instructed that proposals for the 6,260 hectares of land identified before 1980 and an additional 2,650 hectares from the 1980-1996 period be prepared in two phases and sent to the Central Government. Upon approval under the Forest Conservation Act, the process of denotifying the land should be completed immediately. This decision is expected to bring relief to thousands of farmers and residents in Jiwati taluka.

CM Fadnavis also noted that in cases where land allocated for housing is deemed unsuitable, proposals should be prepared to provide alternative and fertile land to affected beneficiaries, and a positive decision would be taken accordingly.

MLA Deorao Bhangale highlighted that Jiwati taluka is a remote and aspirational area, where developmental work faces many restrictions due to its forest classification. As a result, farmers are unable to claim land ownership rights and are deprived of government welfare schemes. CM Fadnavis assured that the government is committed to resolving these issues on priority.