Forest ministry’s relief for Mussoorie residents

Mussoorie, February 2
The residents of the hill town of Mussoorie, who have been agitating against the existing guidelines under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, for the diversion of private forest land for construction of residential building, got relief from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Government of India, which announced easing of norms for constructing residential houses in Mussoorie.

The MOEF had issued the new guidelines about modifying the paragraph no 4.5 of the Forest Conservation Act on the basis of recommendation of forest advisory committee on February 24, 2011, but the departments here had been sitting on it for some time now due to unknown reasons.

The Tribune, after accessing the letter issued by MOEF, found that the ministry by relaxing the norms had allowed the construction of residential or dwelling houses in private forest land in Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in Uttarakhand, subject to fulfillment of conditions laid down by the concerned departments.

The MOEF in its letter further stated that the construction activity for residential purpose in private forest area shall be allowed only for domestic purpose and shall not be extended to any institutional building or commercial development. In addition to that the constructional activity shall be restricted to a maximum of 250 Sq.m of built up area in this case plinth level.

The letter issued by MOEF further states that the new guidelines have been issued to alleviate the hardships of homestead owners for constructing and completing their bonafide residential buildings.

The permission has been provided, subject to the fact that tree felling should be minimal and sufficient soil conservation measures should be taken.

The ministry also cleared that the clearance from MDDA and other agencies should be obtained while constructing their dwellings.

Earlier guidelines issued by the MOEF that stated “the Central Government will not entertain any proposal for diversion of forest land for construction of residential or dwelling house” had stalled construction activity and created a housing problem in the town.

With these new guidelines residents of the town have heaved a sigh of relief and said that they have waited for a long time for such relaxation and with this relaxation in construction, they will be able to extend their dwelling areas considering the increase in the number of their family members in the past several years.