The Supreme Court, expressing displeasure over encroachment and illegal occupation of forest land in Uttarakhand, has ordered the taking over of vacant land except residential houses. Uttarakhand, which has 71.05 percent forest land, is facing large-scale encroachment of forest land. Out of the state’s 53.48 lakh hectare area, approximately 38 lakh hectare is forest land. But out of this, 11,900 hectare forest land was illegally occupied till April 2023.
In 2022, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change stated that 10,649 hectares of land in Uttarakhand was under encroachment. According to this, Uttarakhand ranked third among Himalayan states in terms of forest land encroachment. This is largely due to the various obstacles the Forest Department faces in reclaiming its land after leases expire. Additionally, new settlements are also leading to encroachment on forest land. Forest Gujjars are illegally cultivating forest land granted to them for fodder.
2,400 hectares of land lost in six years.
This was revealed in an affidavit filed by the Forest Department with the National Green Tribunal. In January 2025, the Forest Department reported that 2,400 hectares of forest land had been encroached upon in the six years since 2019. This is despite the state government claiming to have freed 2,023 hectares of land from encroachment. It should be noted that in 2017, 9,506 hectares of forest land were encroached upon in the state’s 31 forest divisions.
Encroachments also occurred in Corbett and Rajaji.
Even in the Corbett and Rajaji Tiger Reserves, forest land has been illegally encroached upon. Forest land was not only encroached upon, but it was also sold and sold. Furthermore, religious structures were even illegally constructed within forest land. The government has taken action against this. Recently, the department freed forest land from encroachment in Puchdi, Ramnagar.
