Jaipur: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the Rajasthan forest department to initiate departmental action against officials who were posted during the period when the alleged encroachment on reserved forest land linked to the Jaipur ropeway project near Khole Ke Hanuman Ji Temple took place.The directions came during the hearing of an application registered suo motu by the NGT Central Zone Bench, Bhopal, based on a TOI report titled “Illegal commercial activities found at ropeway station on forest land in Jaipur,” published on July 17, 2025.TOI, in its report, mentioned that fish spa and body massage shops were among several commercial operations run illegally at the ropeway station, a site located on diverted forest land.The tribunal directed that an action taken report in accordance with Section 34A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, be submitted within 30 days. “Why was action not initiated earlier, and why was the encroachment permitted by concerned officials?” asked the tribunal.Hearing the matter Tuesday, the bench comprising Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Dr. Afroz Ahmad took note of an affidavit filed by the forest department. According to the affidavit, irregularities regarding the possible use of forest land beyond the 0.8735 hectares diverted for the ropeway project were raised by the department through a letter dated July 7, 2025.The affidavit submitted before the tribunal stated that the survey found the ropeway was not constructed on the proposed and officially diverted 0.8735 hectares of forest land. Instead, the upper station, lower station and ropeway corridor were allegedly constructed on separate reserved forest land that had not been diverted for the project.The forest department further informed the tribunal that the land identified in the in-principle approval issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Nov 29, 2019, was different from the site where the actual construction was carried out. It stated that the user agency was earlier informed by the Range Forest Officer that the proposed area had to be demarcated on the ground before execution of the project.Referring to Section 34A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the tribunal observed that officers not below the rank of Assistant Conservator of Forests have powers to evict encroachers and remove unauthorised structures from sanctuaries and national parks after giving an opportunity of hearing to affected parties. “The matter has now been listed for further hearing on July 6, 2026,” an official said.
