On August 11, our colleagues, writing fellow Sukriti Vats and legal research fellow Priyansha Chouhan, were in Nuh. Haryana’s Nuh has been on the brink since a religious rally ended up in communal violence, and the following punitive demolitions by the state. They were on the ground to investigate the demolitions and find out about lawful ownership and possession. 

Despite being accosted by policemen in plainclothes, threatened for speaking to the victims and eventually getting escorted out of the town, our researchers came back with stories of legitimate claims and questionable actions of the state.

At a time when the Haryana government told the High Court that its demolition drive — targeting mostly Muslim establishments — was merely routine measures against unauthorised construction, their story in Frontline questions this claim. They went through details for over 50 properties, hundreds of ownership documents and affidavits to conclude that the demolitions were arbitrary and went against court orders, title deeds, and the rule of law.

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Read the detailed story of what they found in Nuh, or a quick take they wrote as a thread. 

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We apologise for this August newsletter landing in your inbox this late but we really wanted to include an update about this important story our colleagues did. Write back to us on what you think about the story!

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New in our Database

We currently have 730 ongoing conflicts documented in the LCW database. Last month, our team of researchers added 13 new conflicts. We list a few:

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1. In Assam, our researcher Sarup Sinha documented six case studies. In Golaghat, he documented railway-driven evictions that resulted in the demolition of nearly 100 local shops. This trend is part of the broader state-wide eviction efforts spearheaded by the Assam government. He documented another case in Guwahati where shops were demolished to make way for a flyover in the city.  
2. Authorities in Karnataka used bulldozers to destroy crops across 17 villages for a real estate project, triggering protests from farmers. The action was tied to a real estate project, documents researcher Bhanu Sridharan.
3. In Meghalaya, the authorities carried out demolitions despite appeals from shop-owners in Shillong. Except for eight shops, other proprietors were given no prior notice about the eviction, writes researcher Sarup Sinha.
4. A tribal village in South Goa has opposed mining operations in and around their area. Residents voiced concerns over the detrimental impact of the mining activities. Researcher Malavika Neurekar brings more details.

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Controversial Amendments

By Priyansha Chouhan

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The legal landscape which oversees the delicate balance between development and conservation has seen significant changes this month. These changes will have unprecedented implications on forest conservation efforts and land utilisation for developmental projects.

Despite objections from conservationists and stakeholders, the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 1980, was passed on August 2. This amendment weakens the original intent of the 1980 Act, which intended to prohibit use of forest land for non-forest purposes (such as mining, infrastructure projects, or agriculture) without prior permission from the government. 

The amendment’s definition of forests will now include only forests notified under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and government records, post-1980. This further weakens the definition of forests given by the Supreme Court’s landmark Godavarman judgement in 1996, wherein it said that ‘forest land’ will also include forest as understood from the dictionary. It excludes and exempts vast stretches of land such as 100km of India’s border for ‘national security’. The amendments also cancel the rights of a large section of forest dwellers as many areas that earlier fell within the purview of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, would be exempted now.

Amending the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Act, 2023, simplified procedures for domestic companies and revised benefits sharing with forest dwellers. The 2002 Act was brought into effect to conserve biological diversity and promote equitable sharing of the benefits that arise out of the biological resources.The Act also decriminalises all the offences.

The parliament also passed the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Act, 2023, promoting industrial growth over environmental protection. The earlier Act was enacted in 2005 with the intent to regulate activities in coastal areas; now the amendment Act seeks to allow certain coastal aquaculture activities, such as nucleus breeding centres, seaweed cultures, in previously prohibited areas.

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Editors,

Mrinali, Climate Change Research Lead
Nayla Khwaja, Communication Officer
Furquan Ameen, Associate Editor