EIA - Introduction

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an assessment of the possible positive or negative impact that a proposed project may have on the environment, together consisting of the environmental, social and economic aspects.

The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the ensuing environmental impacts when deciding whether to proceed with a project. The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact assessment as "the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made. EIAs are unique in that they do not require adherence to a predetermined environmental outcome, but rather they require decision ­makers to account for environmental values in their decisions and to justify those decisions in light of detailed environmental studies and public comments on the potential environmental impacts of the proposal.

EIAs began to be used in the 1960s as part of a rational decision making process. It involved a technical evaluation that would lead to objective decision making. EIA was made legislation in the US in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 1969. It has since evolved as it has been used increasingly in many countries around the world. EIA as it is practiced today is being used as a decision aiding tool rather than decision making tool. There is growing dissent on the use of EIA as its influence on development decisions is limited and there is a view it is falling short of its full potential. There is a need for stronger foundation of EIA practice through training for practitioners, guidance on EIA practice and continuing research.

EIAs have often been criticized for having too narrow spatial and temporal scope. At present no procedure has been specified for determining a system boundary for the assessment. The system boundary refers to ‘the spatial and temporal boundary of the proposal’s effects’. This boundary is determined by the applicant and the lead assessor, but in practice, almost all EIAs address the direct, on-site effects alone.

However, as well as direct effects, developments cause a multitude of indirect effects through consumption of goods and services, production of building materials and machinery, additional land use for activities of various manufacturing and industrial services, mining of resources etc. The indirect effects of developments are often an order of magnitude higher than the direct effects assessed by EIA. Large proposals such as airports or ship yards cause wide ranging national as well as international environmental effects, which should be taken into consideration during the decision-making process.

Broadening the scope of EIA can also benefit threatened species conservation. Instead of concentrating on the direct effects of a proposed project on its local environment some EIAs used a landscape approach which focused on much broader relationships between the entire population of a species in question. As a result, an alternative that would cause least amount of negative effects to the population of that species as a whole, rather than the local subpopulation, can be identified and recommended by EIA.

At the end of the project, an EIA should be followed by an audit. An EIA audit evaluates the performance of an EIA by comparing actual impacts to those that were predicted. The main objective of these audits is to make future EIAs more valid and effective. The two main considerations are:

§  scientific - to check the accuracy of predictions and explain errors.
§  management- to assess the success of mitigation in reducing impacts.

Some people believe that audits be performed as a rigorous scientific testing of the null hypotheses. While some believe in a simpler approach where you compare what actually occurred against the predictions in the EIA document.

After an EIA, the precautionary and polluter pays principles may be applied to prevent, limit, or require strict liability or insurance coverage to a project, based on its likely harms.

India
The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) of India has been in a great effort in Environmental Impact Assessment in India. The main laws in action are the Water Act(1974), the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972), the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1981) and the Environment (Protection) Act (1986). The responsible body for this is the Central Pollution Control Board. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies need a significant amount of primary and secondary environmental data. The primary data are those which need to be collected in the field to define the status of the environment (like air quality data, water quality data etc.). The secondary data are those data which have been collected over the years and can be used to understand the existing environmental scenario of the study area. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies are conducted over a short period of time and therefore the understanding of the environmental trends, based on a few months of primary data, has limitations. Ideally, the primary data has to be considered along with the secondary data for complete understanding of the existing environmental status of the area. In many EIA studies, the secondary data needs could be as high as 80% of the total data requirement. EIC is the repository of one stop secondary data source for environmental impact assessment in India.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) experience in India indicates that the lack of timely availability of reliable and authentic environmental data has been a major bottle neck in achieving the full benefits of EIA. The environment being a multi-disciplinary subject, a multitude of agencies is involved in collection of environmental data. However, there is no single organization in India which tracks the data available amongst these agencies and makes it available in one place, in a form and manner required by practitioners in the field of environmental impact assessment in India. Further, the environmental data is not available in value added forms that can enhance the quality of the EIA. This in turn adversely affects the time and efforts required for conducting the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) by project proponents and also timely environmental clearances by the regulators. With this background, Environmental Information Centre (EIC) has been set up to serve as a professionally managed clearing house of environmental information that can be used by MoEF, project proponents, consultants, NGOs and other stakeholders involved in the process of environmental impact assessment in India. EIC caters to the need of creating and disseminating of organized environmental data for various developmental initiatives all over the country.

EIC stores data in GIS format and makes it available to all environmental impact assessment studies and to EIA stakeholders in a cost effective and timely manner.

Structure
The structure of a generic Environmental Assessment is as follows:
1.      Summary
2.      Introduction
§  Background
§  Purpose and Need for Action
§  Proposed Action
§  Decision Framework
§  Public Involvement
§  Issues
3.      Alternatives, including the Proposed Action
§  Alternatives
§  Mitigation Common to All Alternatives
§  Comparison of Alternatives
4.      Environmental Consequences
5.      Consultation and Coordination

EIA processes in sequences of application

Water conservation

Water conservation
Water conservation refers to reducing the usage of water and recycling of waste water for different purposes such as cleaning, manufacturing, and agricultural irrigation.
Water conservation means using our water wisely and caring for it properly. Since each of us depends on water for life, it is our responsibility to learn more about water conservation and how we can help keep our water pure and safe for generations to come. Since we all enjoy the benefits of having pure, clean water, we must help conserve water so that we may continue to enjoy these benefits.
Water conservation is not a job that is just for the technician, soil scientist, hydrologist, forester, wildlife manager, plant scientist, city planner, park manager, farmer, rancher, or mine owner alone. It is a job for the everyday person who just likes to have access to the life sustaining resource of water. We must all recognize that water conservation really is our personal responsibility and not just leave it up to other people. We all enjoy the many ways that we use water, so why not do our part in caring for our water?
Our water supply is finite, which means that we do not have an endless supply. We only have the water that we have now. Ninety - seven percent of all the water on the earth is salt water which is not suitable for drinking. Only three percent of all the water is fresh water, and only one percent is available for drinking water. The other two percent is locked in ice caps and glaciers.
With all the people on Earth relying on such a small percentage of all the water on Earth, it only makes sense that we must preserve and conserve our water. We must not pollute our water because it is the only water we will ever have. Some people do not realize the importance of water, and they are continually polluting it. Only about ten percent of waste water is disposed of properly.
We must learn to save water now for the future. The quality of our water is very important.
We have the same amount of water now as there was when the earth was created. This is the water we have, and we must preserve its quality. Water is the foundation of food and life. Next to air, water is our most precious resource. We cannot live without water. Saving water helps to preserve our environment. It reduces the energy required to process and deliver water, which helps in reducing pollution and in conserving fuel resources. Saving water now means having water available in the future for recreational purposes, too. Conserving the water we have minimizes the effects of water shortages and helps build a better defense against future drought years. If we save water now, we are helping to ensure a water supply adequate for future generations.

Acid Rain

What is Acid Rain?

"Acid rain" is a broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. The precursors, or chemical forerunners, of acid rain formation result from both natural sources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) resulting from fossil fuel combustion. In the United States, roughly 2/3 of all SO2 and 1/4 of all NOx come from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels, like coal.  Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these compounds across state and national borders, sometimes over hundreds of miles.

Wet Deposition
Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. If the acid chemicals in the air are blown into areas where the weather is wet, the acids can fall to the ground in the form of rain, snow, fog, or mist. As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The strength of the effects depends on several factors, including how acidic the water is; the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved; and the types of fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.

Dry Deposition
In areas where the weather is dry, the acid chemicals may become incorporated into dust or smoke and fall to the ground through dry deposition, sticking to the ground, buildings, homes, cars, and trees. Dry deposited gases and particles can be washed from these surfaces by rainstorms, leading to increased runoff. This runoff water makes the resulting mixture more acidic. About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition.

Effects of Acid Rain

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to falling to the earth, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases and their particulate matter derivatives—sulfates and nitrates—contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.

Measuring Acid Rain

Acid rain is measured using a scale called “pH.” The lower a substance's pH, the more acidic it is. See the pH page for more information.
Pure water has a pH of 7.0. However, normal rain is slightly acidic because carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves into it forming weak carbonic acid, giving the resulting mixture a pH of approximately 5.6 at typical atmospheric concentrations of CO2. As of 2000, the most acidic rain falling in the U.S. has a pH of about 4.3.

Reducing Acid Rain

The overall goal of the reduction of acid rain program is to achieve significant environmental and public health benefits through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the primary causes of acid rain.
Following actions to be executed.
1.      Understand acid deposition’s causes and effects
2.      Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes
3.      Use alternative energy sources
4.      Restore a damaged environment
5.      Take action as individuals
It may seem like there is not much that one individual can do to stop acid deposition. However, like many environmental problems, acid deposition is caused by the cumulative actions of millions of individual people. Therefore, each individual can also reduce their contribution to the problem and become part of the solution. Individuals can contribute directly by conserving energy, since energy production causes the largest portion of the acid deposition problem. For example, you can:
Turn off lights, computers, and other appliances when you're not using them.
Use energy-efficient appliances: lighting, air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.
Only use electric appliances when you need them.
Keep your thermostat at 68°F in the winter and 72°F in the summer. You can turn it even lower in the winter and higher in the summer when you are away from home.
Insulate your home as best you can.
Carpool, use public transportation, or better yet, walk or bicycle whenever possible
Buy vehicles with low NOx emissions, and properly maintain your vehicle.
Be well informed.

Ozone Layer Depletion

Ozone Layer Depletion
The ozone layer is a belt of naturally occurring ozone gas that sits 9.3 to 18.6 miles (15 to 30 kilometers) above Earth and serves as a shield from the harmful ultraviolet B radiation emitted by the sun.
Ozone is a highly reactive molecule that contains three oxygen atoms. It is constantly being formed and broken down in the high atmosphere, 6.2 to 31 miles (10 to 50 kilometers) above Earth, in the region called the stratosphere.
Today, there is widespread concern that the ozone layer is deteriorating due to the release of pollution containing the chemicals chlorine and bromine. Such deterioration allows large amounts of ultraviolet B rays to reach Earth, which can cause skin cancer and cataracts in humans and harm animals as well.
Extra ultraviolet B radiation reaching Earth also inhibits the reproductive cycle of phytoplankton, single-celled organisms such as algae that make up the bottom rung of the food chain. Biologists fear that reductions in phytoplankton populations will in turn lower the populations of other animals. Researchers also have documented changes in the reproductive rates of young fish, shrimp, and crabs as well as frogs and salamanders exposed to excess ultraviolet B.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals found mainly in spray aerosols heavily used by industrialized nations for much of the past 50 years, are the primary culprits in ozone layer breakdown. When CFCs reach the upper atmosphere, they are exposed to ultraviolet rays, which causes them to break down into substances that include chlorine. The chlorine reacts with the oxygen atoms in ozone and rips apart the ozone molecule.
One atom of chlorine can destroy more than a hundred thousand ozone molecules, according to the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The ozone layer above the Antarctic has been particularly impacted by pollution since the mid-1980s. This region’s low temperatures speed up the conversion of CFCs to chlorine. In the southern spring and summer, when the sun shines for long periods of the day, chlorine reacts with ultraviolet rays, destroying ozone on a massive scale, up to 65 percent. This is what some people erroneously refer to as the "ozone hole." In other regions, the ozone layer has deteriorated by about 20 percent.
About 90 percent of CFCs currently in the atmosphere were emitted by industrialized countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including the United States and Europe. These countries banned CFCs by 1996, and the amount of chlorine in the atmosphere is falling now. But scientists estimate it will take another 50 years for chlorine levels to return to their natural levels.

Causes
Only a few factors combine to create the problem of ozone layer depletion.  The production and emission of CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, is by far the leading cause.
Many countries have called for the end of CFC production because only a few produce the chemical.  However, those industries that do use CFCs do not want to discontinue usage of this highly valuable industrial chemical.
CFCs are used in industry in a variety of ways and have been amazingly useful in many products.  Discovered in the 1930s by American chemist Thomas Midgley, CFCs came to be used in refrigerators, home insulation, plastic foam, and throwaway food containers.
Only later did people realize the disaster CFCs caused in the stratosphere.  There, the chlorine atom is removed from the CFC and attracts one of the three oxygen atoms in the ozone molecule.  The process continues, and a single chlorine atom can destroy over 100,000 molecules of ozone.
In 1974, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina followed the path of CFCs.  Their research proved that CFCs were entering the atmosphere, and they concluded that 99% of all CFC molecules would end up in the stratosphere.
Only in 1984, when the ozone layer hole was discovered over Antarctica, was the proof truly conclusive.  At that point, it was hard to question the destructive capabilities of CFCs.
Even if CFCs were banned, problems would remain.  There would still be no way to remove the CFCs that are now present in the environment.  Clearly though, something must be done to limit this international problem in the future.

CFCl₃ + hλ      --------->  CFCl₂ + Cl^-

Cl^- +O_{3    ---------------->}    ClO + O₂

ClO + O_{3   ---------------------->}  Cl^- + 2O₂

So, from one molecule of CFCl3 millions of O3 molecules break down into oxygen, making ozone hole.
                                                                                       
Effects
Even minor problems of ozone depletion can have major effects.  Every time even a small amount of the ozone layer is lost, more ultraviolet light from the sun can reach the Earth.
Every time 1% of the ozone layer is depleted, 2% more UV-B is able to reach the surface of the planet.  UV-B increase is one of the most harmful consequences of ozone depletion because it can cause skin cancer.
The increased cancer levels caused by exposure to this ultraviolet light could be enormous.  The EPA estimates that 60 million Americans born by the year 2075 will get skin cancer because of ozone depletion.  About one million of these people will die.
In addition to cancer, some research shows that a decreased ozone layer will increase rates of malaria and other infectious diseases.  According to the EPA, 17 million more cases of cataracts can also be expected.
The environment will also be negatively affected by ozone depletion.  The life cycles of plants will change, disrupting the food chain.  Effects on animals will also be severe, and are very difficult to foresee.
Oceans will be hit hard as well.  The most basic microscopic organisms such as plankton may not be able to survive.  If that happened, it would mean that all of the other animals that are above plankton in the food chain would also die out.  Other ecosystems such as forests and deserts will also be harmed.
The planet's climate could also be affected by depletion of the ozone layer.  Wind patterns could change, resulting in climatic changes throughout the world.

Is there any solution??
The discovery of the ozone depletion problem came as a great surprise.  Now, action must be taken to ensure that the ozone layer is not destroyed.
Because CFCs are so widespread and used in such a great variety of products, limiting their use is hard.  Also, since many products already contain components that use CFCs, it would be difficult if not impossible to eliminate those CFCs already in existence.
The CFC problem may be hard to solve because there are already great quantities of CFCs in the environment.  CFCs would remain in the stratosphere for another 100 years even if none were ever produced again.
Despite the difficulties, international action has been taken to limit CFCs.  In the Montreal Protocol, 30 nations worldwide agreed to reduce usage of CFCs and encouraged other countries to do so as well.
However, many environmentalists felt the treaty did "too little, too late", as theNatural Resources Defense Council put it.  The treaty asked for CFC makers to only eliminate half of their CFC production, making some people feel it was inadequate.
By the year 2000, the US and twelve nations in Europe have agreed to ban all use and production of CFCs.  This will be highly significant, because these countries produce three quarters of the CFCs in the world.
Many other countries have signed treaties and written laws restricting the use of CFCs.  Companies are finding substitutes for CFCs, and people in general are becoming more aware of the dangers of ozone depletion.

There are two international declaration on protection of ozone layer.
The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and The Montreal Protocol on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer.

Climate Change

Climate change refers to any significant change in the measures of climate lasting for an extended period of time. In other words, climate change includes major changes in temperature, precipitation, or wind patterns, among other effects, that occur over several decades or longer.

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme weather events). Climate change is caused by factors that include oceanic processes (such as oceanic circulation), variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions, and human-induced alterations of the natural world; these latter effects are currently causing global warming, and "climate change" is often used to describe human-specific impacts.
Scientists actively work to understand past and future climate by using observations and theoretical models. Borehole temperature profiles, ice cores, floral and faunal records, glacial and periglacial processes, stable isotope and other sediment analyses, and sea level records serve to provide a climate record that spans the geologic past. More recent data are provided by the instrumental record. Physically based general circulation models are often used in theoretical approaches to match past climate data, make future projections, and link causes and effects in climate change.

The most general definition of climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system when considered over long periods of time, regardless of cause. Accordingly, fluctuations over periods shorter than a few decades, such as El Niño, do not represent climate change.
The term sometimes is used to refer specifically to climate change caused by human activity, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of Earth's natural processes. In this sense, especially in the context of environmental policy, the term climate change has become synonymous with anthropogenic global warming. Within scientific journals, global warming refers to surface temperature increases while climate change includes global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gas levels will affect.

Causes
On the broadest scale, the rate at which energy is received from the sun and the rate at which it is lost to space determine the equilibrium temperature and climate of Earth. This energy is distributed around the globe by winds, ocean currents, and other mechanisms to affect the climates of different regions.
Factors that can shape climate are called climate forcings or "forcing mechanisms". These include processes such as variations in solar radiation, variations in the Earth's orbit,mountain-building and continental drift, clouds and changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. There are a variety of climate change feedbacks that can either amplify or diminish the initial forcing. Some parts of the climate system, such as the oceans and ice caps, respond slowly in reaction to climate forcings, while others respond more quickly.
Forcing mechanisms can be either "internal" or "external". Internal forcing mechanisms are natural processes within the climate system itself (e.g., the thermohaline circulation). External forcing mechanisms can be either natural (e.g., changes in solar output) or anthropogenic (e.g., increased emissions of greenhouse gases).
Whether the initial forcing mechanism is internal or external, the response of the climate system might be fast (e.g., a sudden cooling due to airborne volcanic ash reflecting sunlight), slow (e.g. thermal expansion of warming ocean water), or a combination (e.g., sudden loss of albedo in the arctic ocean as sea ice melts, followed by more gradual thermal expansion of the water). Therefore, the climate system can respond abruptly, but the full response to forcing mechanisms might not be fully developed for centuries or even longer.

Humans are largely responsible for recent climate change

Over the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The majority of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy, although deforestation, industrial processes, and some agricultural practices also emit gases into the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gases act like a blanket around Earth, trapping energy in the atmosphere and causing it to warm. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect and is natural and necessary to support life on Earth. However, the buildup of greenhouse gases can change Earth's climate and result in dangerous effects to human health and welfare and to ecosystems.
The choices we make today will affect the amount of greenhouse gases we put in the atmosphere in the near future and for years to come.

Climate change is happening

Our Earth is warming. Earth's average temperature has risen by 1.4°F over the past century, and is projected to rise another 2 to 11.5°F over the next hundred years. Small changes in the average temperature of the planet can translate to large and potentially dangerous shifts in climate and weather.

The evidence is clear. Rising global temperatures have been accompanied by changes in weather and climate. Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves. The planet's oceans and glaciers have also experienced some big changes - oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, ice caps are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these and other changes become more pronounced in the coming decades, they will likely present challenges to our society and our environment.

Global Warming

Global Warming
Throughout its long history, Earth has warmed and cooled time and again. Climate has changed when the planet received more or less sunlight due to subtle shifts in its orbit, as the atmosphere or surface changed, or when the Sun’s energy varied. But in the past century, another force has started to influence Earth’s climate: humanity

What is Global Warming?
Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century primarily due to the greenhouse gases released as people burn fossil fuels. The global average surface temperature rose 0.6 to 0.9 degrees Celsius (1.1 to 1.6° F) between 1906 and 2005, and the rate of temperature increase has nearly doubled in the last 50 years. Temperatures are certain to go up further.

Earth’s natural greenhouse effect
Earth’s temperature begins with the Sun. Roughly 30 percent of incoming sunlight is reflected back into space by bright surfaces like clouds and ice. Of the remaining 70 percent, most is absorbed by the land and ocean, and the rest is absorbed by the atmosphere. The absorbed solar energy heats our planet.
As the rocks, the air, and the seas warm, they radiate “heat” energy (thermal infrared radiation). From the surface, this energy travels into the atmosphere where much of it is absorbed by water vapor and long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
When they absorb the energy radiating from Earth’s surface, microscopic water or greenhouse gas molecules turn into tiny heaters— like the bricks in a fireplace, they radiate heat even after the fire goes out. They radiate in all directions. The energy that radiates back toward Earth heats both the lower atmosphere and the surface, enhancing the heating they get from direct sunlight.
This absorption and radiation of heat by the atmosphere—the natural greenhouse effect—is beneficial for life on Earth. If there were no greenhouse effect, the Earth’s average surface temperature would be a very chilly -18°C (0°F) instead of the comfortable 15°C (59°F) that it is today.

The enhanced greenhouse effect
What has scientists concerned now is that over the past 250 years, humans have been artificially raising the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at an ever-increasing rate, mostly by burning fossil fuels, but also from cutting down carbon-absorbing forests. Since the Industrial Revolution began in about 1750, carbon dioxide levels have increased nearly 38 percent as of 2009 and methane levels have increased 148 percent.

The atmosphere today contains more greenhouse gas molecules, so more of the infrared energy emitted by the surface ends up being absorbed by the atmosphere. Since some of the extra energy from a warmer atmosphere radiates back down to the surface, Earth’s surface temperature rises. By increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases, we are making Earth’s atmosphere a more efficient greenhouse.
How is Today’s Warming Different from the Past?
Earth has experienced climate change in the past without help from humanity. We know about past climates because of evidence left in tree rings, layers of ice in glaciers, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. For example, bubbles of air in glacial ice trap tiny samples of Earth’s atmosphere, giving scientists a history of greenhouse gases that stretches back more than 800,000 years. The chemical make-up of the ice provides clues to the average global temperature.

Using this ancient evidence, scientists have built a record of Earth’s past climates, or “paleoclimates.” The paleoclimate record combined with global models shows past ice ages as well as periods even warmer than today. But the paleoclimate record also reveals that the current climatic warming is occurring much more rapidly than past warming events.

As the Earth moved out of ice ages over the past million years, the global temperature rose a total of 4 to 7 degrees Celsius over about 5,000 years. In the past century alone, the temperature has climbed 0.7 degrees Celsius, roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.

Models predict that Earth will warm between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius in the next century. When global warming has happened at various times in the past two million years, it has taken the planet about 5,000 years to warm 5 degrees. The predicted rate of warming for the next century is at least 20 times faster. This rate of change is extremely unusual.

Is Current Warming Natural?
In Earth’s history before the Industrial Revolution, Earth’s climate changed due to natural causes not related to human activity. Most often, global climate has changed because of variations in sunlight. Tiny wobbles in Earth’s orbit altered when and where sunlight falls on Earth’s surface. Variations in the Sun itself have alternately increased and decreased the amount of solar energy reaching Earth. Volcanic eruptions have generated particles that reflect sunlight, brightening the planet and cooling the climate. Volcanic activity has also, in the deep past, increased greenhouse gases over millions of years, contributing to episodes of global warming.

These natural causes are still in play today, but their influence is too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in recent decades. We know this because scientists closely monitor the natural and human activities that influence climate with a fleet of satellites and surface instruments.

NASA satellites record a host of vital signs including atmospheric aerosols (particles from both natural sources and human activities, such as factories, fires, deserts, and erupting volcanoes), atmospheric gases (including greenhouse gases), energy radiated from Earth’s surface and the Sun, ocean surface temperature changes, global sea level, the extent of ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice, plant growth, rainfall, cloud structure, and more.
On the ground, many agencies and nations support networks of weather and climate-monitoring stations that maintain temperature, rainfall, and snow depth records, and buoys that measure surface water and deep ocean temperatures. Taken together, these measurements provide an ever-improving record of both natural events and human activity for the past 150 years.
Scientists integrate these measurements into climate models to recreate temperatures recorded over the past 150 years. Climate model simulations that consider only natural solar variability and volcanic aerosols since 1750—omitting observed increases in greenhouse gases—are able to fit the observations of global temperatures only up until about 1950. After that point, the decadal trend in global surface warming cannot be explained without including the contribution of the greenhouse gases added by humans.
Though people have had the largest impact on our climate since 1950, natural changes to Earth’s climate have also occurred in recent times. For example, two major volcanic eruptions, El Chichon in 1982 and Pinatubo in 1991, pumped sulfur dioxide gas high into the atmosphere. The gas was converted into tiny particles that lingered for more than a year, reflecting sunlight and shading Earth’s surface. Temperatures across the globe dipped for two to three years.
Although volcanoes are active around the world, and continue to emit carbon dioxide as they did in the past, the amount of carbon dioxide they release is extremely small compared to human emissions. On average, volcanoes emit between 130 and 230 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. By burning fossil fuels, people release in excess of 100 times more, about 26 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere every year (as of 2005). As a result, human activity overshadows any contribution volcanoes may have made to recent global warming.
Changes in the brightness of the Sun can influence the climate from decade to decade, but an increase in solar output falls short as an explanation for recent warming. NASA satellites have been measuring the Sun’s output since 1978. The total energy the Sun radiates varies over an 11-year cycle. During solar maxima, solar energy is approximately 0.1 percent higher on average than it is during solar minima.
Each cycle exhibits subtle differences in intensity and duration. As of early 2010, the solar brightness since 2005 has been slightly lower, not higher, than it was during the previous 11-year minimum in solar activity, which occurred in the late 1990s. This implies that the Sun’s impact between 2005 and 2010 might have been to slightly decrease the warming that greenhouse emissions alone would have caused.
Scientists theorize that there may be a multi-decadal trend in solar output, though if one exists, it has not been observed as yet. Even if the Sun were getting brighter, however, the pattern of warming observed on Earth since 1950 does not match the type of warming the Sun alone would cause. When the Sun’s energy is at its peak (solar maxima), temperatures in both the lower atmosphere (troposphere) and the upper atmosphere (stratosphere) become warmer. Instead, observations show the pattern expected from greenhouse gas effects: Earth’s surface and troposphere have warmed, but the stratosphere has cooled.
The stratosphere gets warmer during solar maxima because the ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet light; more ultraviolet light during solar maxima means warmer temperatures. Ozone depletion explains the biggest part of the cooling of the stratosphere over recent decades, but it can’t account for all of it. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide in the troposphere and stratosphere together contribute to cooling in the stratosphere.

How Much More Will Earth Warm?
To further explore the causes and effects of global warming and to predict future warming, scientists build climate models—computer simulations of the climate system. Climate models are designed to simulate the responses and interactions of the oceans and atmosphere, and to account for changes to the land surface, both natural and human-induced. They comply with fundamental laws of physics—conservation of energy, mass, and momentum—and account for dozens of factors that influence Earth’s climate.
Though the models are complicated, rigorous tests with real-world data hone them into powerful tools that allow scientists to explore our understanding of climate in ways not otherwise possible. By experimenting with the models—removing greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of fossil fuels or changing the intensity of the Sun to see how each influences the climate—scientists use the models to better understand Earth’s current climate and to predict future climate.
The models predict that as the world consumes ever more fossil fuel, greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to rise, and Earth’s average surface temperature will rise with them. Based on a range of plausible emission scenarios, average surface temperatures could rise between 2°C and 6°C by the end of the 21st century.

Climate Feedbacks
Greenhouse gases are only part of the story when it comes to global warming. Changes to one part of the climate system can cause additional changes to the way the planet absorbs or reflects energy. These secondary changes are called climate feedbacks, and they could more than double the amount of warming caused by carbon dioxide alone. The primary feedbacks are due to snow and ice, water vapor, clouds, and the carbon cycle.

Snow and ice
Perhaps the most well known feedback comes from melting snow and ice in the Northern Hemisphere. Warming temperatures are already melting a growing percentage of Arctic sea ice, exposing dark ocean water during the perpetual sunlight of summer. Snow cover on land is also dwindling in many areas. In the absence of snow and ice, these areas go from having bright, sunlight-reflecting surfaces that cool the planet to having dark, sunlight-absorbing surfaces that bring more energy into the Earth system and cause more warming.

Water Vapor
The largest feedback is water vapor. Water vapor is a strong greenhouse gas. In fact, because of its abundance in the atmosphere, water vapor causes about two-thirds of greenhouse warming, a key factor in keeping temperatures in the habitable range on Earth. But as temperatures warm, more water vapor evaporates from the surface into the atmosphere, where it can cause temperatures to climb further.
The question that scientists ask is, how much water vapor will be in the atmosphere in a warming world? The atmosphere currently has an average equilibrium or balance between water vapor concentration and temperature. As temperatures warm, the atmosphere becomes capable of containing more water vapor, and so water vapor concentrations go up to regain equilibrium. Will that trend hold as temperatures continue to warm?
The amount of water vapor that enters the atmosphere ultimately determines how much additional warming will occur due to the water vapor feedback. The atmosphere responds quickly to the water vapor feedback. So far, most of the atmosphere has maintained a near constant balance between temperature and water vapor concentration as temperatures have gone up in recent decades. If this trend continues, and many models say that it will, water vapor has the capacity to double the warming caused by carbon dioxide alone.

Clouds
Closely related to the water vapor feedback is the cloud feedback. Clouds cause cooling by reflecting solar energy, but they also cause warming by absorbing infrared energy (like greenhouse gases) from the surface when they are over areas that are warmer than they are. In our current climate, clouds have a cooling effect overall, but that could change in a warmer environment.
If clouds become brighter, or the geographical extent of bright clouds expands, they will tend to cool Earth’s surface. Clouds can become brighter if more moisture converges in a particular region or if more fine particles (aerosols) enter the air. If fewer bright clouds form, it will contribute to warming from the cloud feedback.
Clouds, like greenhouse gases, also absorb and re-emit infrared energy. Low, warm clouds emit more energy than high, cold clouds. However, in many parts of the world, energy emitted by low clouds can be absorbed by the abundant water vapor above them. Further, low clouds often have nearly the same temperatures as the Earth’s surface, and so emit similar amounts of infrared energy. In a world without low clouds, the amount of emitted infrared energy escaping to space would not be too different from a world with low clouds.
High cold clouds, however, form in a part of the atmosphere where energy-absorbing water vapor is scarce. These clouds trap (absorb) energy coming from the lower atmosphere, and emit little energy to space because of their frigid temperatures. In a world with high clouds, a significant amount of energy that would otherwise escape to space is captured in the atmosphere. As a result, global temperatures are higher than in a world without high clouds.
If warmer temperatures result in a greater amount of high clouds, then less infrared energy will be emitted to space. In other words, more high clouds would enhance the greenhouse effect, reducing the Earth’s capability to cool and causing temperatures to warm.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure where and to what degree clouds will end up amplifying or moderating warming, but most climate models predict a slight overall positive feedback or amplification of warming due to a reduction in low cloud cover. A recent observational study found that fewer low, dense clouds formed over a region in the Pacific Ocean when temperatures warmed, suggesting a positive cloud feedback in this region as the models predicted. Such direct observational evidence is limited, however, and clouds remain the biggest source of uncertainty--apart from human choices to control greenhouse gases—in predicting how much the climate will change.

The Carbon Cycle
Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and warming temperatures are causing changes in the Earth’s natural carbon cycle that also can feedback on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. For now, primarily ocean water, and to some extent ecosystems on land, are taking up about half of our fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions. This behavior slows global warming by decreasing the rate of atmospheric carbon dioxide increase, but that trend may not continue. Warmer ocean waters will hold less dissolved carbon, leaving more in the atmosphere.
On land, changes in the carbon cycle are more complicated. Under a warmer climate, soils, especially thawing Arctic tundra, could release trapped carbon dioxide or methane to the atmosphere. Increased fire frequency and insect infestations also release more carbon as trees burn or die and decay.
On the other hand, extra carbon dioxide can stimulate plant growth in some ecosystems, allowing these plants to take additional carbon out of the atmosphere. However, this effect may be reduced when plant growth is limited by water, nitrogen, and temperature. This effect may also diminish as carbon dioxide increases to levels that become saturating for photosynthesis. Because of these complications, it is not clear how much additional carbon dioxide plants can take out of the atmosphere and how long they could continue to do so.
The impact of climate change on the land carbon cycle is extremely complex, but on balance, land carbon sinks will become less efficientas plants reach saturation, where they can no longer take up additional carbon dioxide, and other limitations on growth occur, and as land starts to add more carbon to the atmosphere from warming soil, fires, and insect infestations. This will result in a faster increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and more rapid global warming. In some climate models, carbon cycle feedbacks from both land and ocean add more than a degree Celsius to global temperatures by 2100.

Emission Scenarios
Scientists predict the range of likely temperature increase by running many possible future scenarios through climate models. Although some of the uncertainty in climate forecasts comes from imperfect knowledge of climate feedbacks, the most significant source of uncertainty in these predictions is that scientists don’t know what choices people will make to control greenhouse gas emissions.
The higher estimates are made on the assumption that the entire world will continue using more and more fossil fuel per capita, a scenario scientists call “business-as-usual.” More modest estimates come from scenarios in which environmentally friendly technologies such as fuel cells, solar panels, and wind energy replace much of today’s fossil fuel combustion.
It takes decades to centuries for Earth to fully react to increases in greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide, among other greenhouse gases, will remain in the atmosphere long after emissions are reduced, contributing to continuing warming. In addition, as Earth has warmed, much of the excess energy has gone into heating the upper layers of the ocean. Like a hot water bottle on a cold night, the heated ocean will continue warming the lower atmosphere well after greenhouse gases have stopped increasing.
These considerations mean that people won’t immediately see the impact of reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Even if greenhouse gas concentrations stabilized today, the planet would continue to warm by about 0.6°C over the next century because of greenhouses gases already in the atmosphere.

How Will Global Warming Change Earth?
The impact of increased surface temperatures is significant in itself. But global warming will have additional, far-reaching effects on the planet. Warming modifies rainfall patterns, amplifies coastal erosion, lengthens the growing season in some regions, melts ice caps and glaciers, and alters the ranges of some infectious diseases. Some of these changes are already occurring.

Changing Weather
For most places, global warming will result in more frequent hot days and fewer cool days, with the greatest warming occurring over land. Longer, more intense heat waves will become more common. Storms, floods, and droughts will generally be more severe as precipitation patterns change. Hurricanes may increase in intensity due to warmer ocean surface temperatures.
It is impossible to pin any single unusual weather event on global warming, but emerging evidence suggests that global warming is already influencing the weather. Heat waves, droughts, and intense rain events have increased in frequency during the last 50 years, and human-induced global warming more likely than not contributed to the trend.

Rising Sea Levels
The weather isn’t the only thing global warming will impact: rising sea levels will erode coasts and cause more frequent coastal flooding. Some island nations will disappear. The problem is serious because up to 10 percent of the world’s population lives in vulnerable areas less than 10 meters (about 30 feet) above sea level.
Between 1870 and 2000, the sea level increased by 1.7 millimeters per year on average, for a total sea level rise of 221 millimeters (0.7 feet or 8.7 inches). And the rate of sea level rise is accelerating. Since 1993, NASA satellites have shown that sea levels are rising more quickly, about 3 millimeters per year, for a total sea level rise of 48 millimeters (0.16 feet or 1.89 inches) between 1993 and 2009.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that sea levels will rise between 0.18 and 0.59 meters (0.59 to 1.9 feet) by 2099 as warming sea water expands, and mountain and polar glaciers melt. These sea level change predictions may be underestimates, however, because they do not account for any increases in the rate at which the world’s major ice sheets are melting. As temperatures rise, ice will melt more quickly. Satellite measurements reveal that the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets are shedding about 125 billion tons of ice per year—enough to raise sea levels by 0.35 millimeters (0.01 inches) per year. If the melting accelerates, the increase in sea level could be significantly higher.

Impacting Ecosystems
More importantly, perhaps, global warming is already putting pressure on ecosystems, the plants and animals that co-exist in a particular climate zone, both on land and in the ocean. Warmer temperatures have already shifted the growing season in many parts of the globe. The growing season in parts of the Northern Hemisphere became two weeks longer in the second half of the 20th century. Spring is coming earlier in both hemispheres.
This change in the growing season affects the broader ecosystem. Migrating animals have to start seeking food sources earlier. The shift in seasons may already be causing the lifecycles of pollinators, like bees, to be out of synch with flowering plants and trees. This mismatch can limit the ability of both pollinators and plants to survive and reproduce, which would reduce food availability throughout the food chain.
Warmer temperatures also extend the growing season. This means that plants need more water to keep growing throughout the season or they will dry out, increasing the risk of failed crops and wildfires. Once the growing season ends, shorter, milder winters fail to kill dormant insects, increasing the risk of large, damaging infestations in subsequent seasons.
In some ecosystems, maximum daily temperatures might climb beyond the tolerance of indigenous plant or animal. To survive the extreme temperatures, both marine and land-based plants and animals have started to migrate towards the poles. Those species, and in some cases, entire ecosystems, that cannot quickly migrate or adapt, face extinction. The IPCC estimates that 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at risk of extinction if temperatures climb more than 1.5° to 2.5°C.

Impacting People
The changes to weather and ecosystems will also affect people more directly. Hardest hit will be those living in low-lying coastal areas, and residents of poorer countries who do not have the resources to adapt to changes in temperature extremes and water resources. As tropical temperature zones expand, the reach of some infectious diseases, such as malaria, will change. More intense rains and hurricanes and rising sea levels will lead to more severe flooding and potential loss of property and life.

Hotter summers and more frequent fires will lead to more cases of heat stroke and deaths, and to higher levels of near-surface ozone and smoke, which would cause more ‘code red’ air quality days. Intense droughts can lead to an increase in malnutrition. On a longer time scale, fresh water will become scarcer, especially during the summer, as mountain glaciers disappear, particularly in Asia and parts of North America.

On the flip side, there could be “winners” in a few places. For example, as long as the rise in global average temperature stays below 3 degrees Celsius, some models predict that global food production could increase because of the longer growing season at mid- to high-latitudes, provided adequate water resources are available. The same small change in temperature, however, would reduce food production at lower latitudes, where many countries already face food shortages. On balance, most research suggests that the negative impacts of a changing climate far outweigh the positive impacts. Current civilization—agriculture and population distribution—has developed based on the current climate. The more the climate changes, and the more rapidly it changes, the greater the cost of adaptation.

Ultimately, global warming will impact life on Earth in many ways, but the extent of the change is largely up to us. Scientists have shown that human emissions of greenhouse gases are pushing global temperatures up, and many aspects of climate are responding to the warming in the way that scientists predicted they would. This offers hope. Since people are causing global warming, people can mitigate global warming, if they act in time. Greenhouse gases are long-lived, so the planet will continue to warm and changes will continue to happen far into the future, but the degree to which global warming changes life on Earth depends on our decisions now.

On Indian Forest Act

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under the British. The first and most famous was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 act and the 1927 one sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act.

Reserved Forest is an area mass of land duly notified under the provisions of India Forest Act or the State Forest Acts having full degree of protection. In Reserved Forests all activities are prohibited unless permitted. Reserved Forest is notified under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 [Act 16 of 1927] or under the reservation provisions of the Forest acts of the State Governments of the Indian Union. The manner in which a Reserved Forest, shortly written as RF, has to be constituted is described in section 3 to 20 of the Act. It is within power of a State Government to issue a preliminary notification under section 4 of the Act declaring that it has been decided to constitute such land, as specified in a Schedule with details of its location, area and boundary description, into a Reserved Forest. such a notification also appoints an officer of the State Government, normally the Deputy Commissioner of the concernned district, as Forest Settlement Officer. The Forest Settlement Officer fixes a period not less than three months, to hear the claims and objections of every person having or claiming any rights over the land which is so notified to be reserved. He conducts inquiries into the claims of rights, and may reject or accept the same. He is empowered even to acquire land over which right is claimed. For rights other than that of right of way, right of pasture, right to forest produce, or right to a water course, the Forest Settlement Officer may exclude such land in whole or in part, or come to an agreement with the owner for surrender of his rights, or proceed to acquire such land in the manner prescribed under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 [Act 1 of 1894]. Once the Forest Settlement Officer settles all the rights either by admitting them or rejecting them, as per the provisions of the Act, and has heard appeals, if any, and settled the same, all the rights with the said piece of land [boundaries of which might have been altered or modified during the settlement process] vest with the State Government. Thereafter, the State Government issues notification under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 declaring that piece of land to be a Reserved Forest.

Protected Forest an area or mass of land notified under the provisions of India Forest Act or the State Forest Acts having limited degree of protection. In Protected Forests all activities are permitted unless prohibited. Protected Forest is an area or mass of land, which is not a reserved forest, and over which the Government has property rights, declared to be so by a State Government under the provisions of the section 29 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. It does not require the long and tedious process of settlement, as in case of declaration of a reserved forest. However, if such a declaration infringes upon a person's rights, the Government may cause an inquiry into the same; but pending such inquiries, the declaration cannot abridge or affect such rights of persons or communities. Further, in a protected forest, the Government may issue notifications declaring certain trees to be reserved, or suspend private rights, if any, for a period not exceeding 30 years, or prohibit quarrying, removal of any forest produce, or breaking of land etc. Indian forest act was established in 1972 for the protection of all the flora and fauna.

Village Forest is constituted under section 28 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. The Government may assign to any village community the rights over a land which may not be a part of a reserved forest for use of the community. Usually, forested community lands are constituted into Village Grazing Reserve [VGR]. Parcels of land are so notified are marked on the settlement revenue maps of the villages.

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 with Amendments Made in 1988

Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 with Amendments Made in 1988

An Act to provide for the conservation of forests and for matters connected therewith or ancillary or incidental thereto.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

(1) This Act may be called the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 25th day of October, 1980.

2. Restriction on the dereservation of forests or use of forest land for non-forest purpose.

Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force in a State, no State Government or other authority shall make, except with the prior approval of the Central Government, any order directing-

(i) that any reserved forest (within the meaning of the expression "reserved forest" in any law for the time being in force in that State) or any portion thereof, shall cease to be reserved;
(ii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be used for any non-forest purpose;
(iii) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be assigned by way of lease or otherwise to any private person or to any authority, corporation, agency or any other organisation not owned, managed or controlled by Government;
(iv) that any forest land or any portion thereof may be cleared of trees which have grown naturally in that land or portion, for the purpose of using it for reafforestation.

Explanation - For the porpose of this section, "non-forest purpose" means the breaking up or clearing of any forest land or portion thereof for-

(a) the cultivation of tea, coffee, spices, rubber, palms, oil-bearing plants, horticultural crops or medicinal plants;
(b) any purpose other than reafforestation;
but does not include any work relating or ancillary to conservation, development and management of forests and wildlife, namely, the establishment of check-posts, fire lines, wireless communications and construction of fencing, bridges and culverts, dams, waterholes, trench marks, boundary marks, pipelines or other like purposes.

3. Constitution of Advisory Committee.

The Central Government may constitute a Committee consisting of such number of persons as h may deem fit to advise that Government with regard to-

(i) the grant of approval. under Section 2; and
(ii) any other matter connected with the conservation of forests which may be referred to h by the Central Government.

3A. Penalty for contravention of the provisions of the Act.

Whoever contravenes or abets the contravention of any of the provisions of Section 2, shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a period which may extend to fifteen days.

3B. Offences by the Authorities and Government Departments.

(1) Where any offence under this Act has been committed -
(a) by any department of Government, the head of the department; or
(b) by any authority, every person who, at the time the offence was committed, was directly in charge of, and was responsible to, the authority for the conduct of the business of the authority as well as the authority;

shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render the head of the department or any person referred to in clause (b), liable to any punishment if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence punishable under the Act has been committed by a department of Government or any authority referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of; or is attributable to any neglect on the part of any officer, other than the head of the department, or in the case of an authority, any person other than the persons referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1), such officer or persons shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

4. Power to make rules.

(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, makes rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act.
(2) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

5. Repeal and saving.

(1) The Forest (Conservation) Ordinance, 1980 is hereby replaced.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the provisions of the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.

Indian Forest Act

THE INDIAN FOREST ACT, 1927

(16 of 1927)

[21st September, 1927]

An Act to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit of forest-produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce.

Whereas it is expedient to consolidate the law relating to forests, the transit of forest produce and the duty leviable on timber and other forest-produce; It is hereby enacted a follows:

CHAPTER I

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title and extent.�(1) This Act may be called the Indian Forest Act, 1921

1[(2) It extends to the whole of India except the territories which, immediately before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in Part B States.

(3) It applies to the territories which, immediately before the 1st November, 1956, were comprised in the States of Bihar, Bombay, Coorg, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punj Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal; but the Government of any State may by notification in Official Gazette bring this Act into force2 in the whole or any specified part of that State which this Act extends and where it is not in force.]

2. Interpretation clause.�In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context�

(1) "cattle" includes elephants, camels, buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, ponies colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and kids;

(2) "Forest-officer" means, any person whom 3 [* * *] the State Government or any office empowered by 3 [* * *] the State Government in this behalf, may appoint to carry out all any of the purposes of this Act or to do anything required by this Act or any rule m thereunder to be done by a Forest-officer;

(3) "forest-offence" means an offence punishable under this Actor under any rule made thereunder;

(4) "forest-produce" includes�

(a) the following whether found in, or brought from, a forest or not, that is to say timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu, wood-oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac, mahua flowers, mahua seeds,4[kuth] and myrabolams, and

(b) the following when found in, or brought from a forest, that is to say

(i) trees and leaves, flowers and fruits, and all other parts or produce not herein before mentioned, of trees,

(ii) plants not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss), and all parts or produce of such plants,

(iii) wild animals and skins, tusks, horns, bones, silk, cocoons, honey and wax, and all other parts or produce of animals, and

(iv) peat, surface soil, rock and minerals (including lime-stone, laterite, mineral oils, and all products of mines or quaries);

5[(4A) "ownee" includes a Court of Wards in respect of property under the superintendence or charge of such Court;]

(5) "river" includes any stream, canal, creek or other channels, natural or artificial;

(6) "timber" includes trees, when they have fallen or have been felled, and all wood whether cut up or fashioned or hollowed out for any purpose or not; and

(7) "tree" includes palms, bamboos, skumps, brush-wood and canes.

CHAPTER II

OF RESERVED FORESTS

3. Power to reserve forests.�The State Government may constitute any forest-land or waste-land which is the property of Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest-produce of which the Government is entitled, a reserved forest in the manner hereinafter provided.

4. Notification by State Government.-(1) Whenever it has been decided to constitute any land a reserved forest, the State Government shall issue a notification in the Official Gazette�

(a) declaring that it has been decided to constitute such land a reserved forest;

(b) specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of such land; and

(c) appointing an officer (hereinafter called "the Forest Settlement-officer") to inquire into and determine the existence, nature and extent of any rights alleged to exist in favour of any person in or over any land comprised within such limits or in or over any forest-produce, and to deal with the same as provided in this Chapter.

Explanation.�For the purpose of clause (b), it shall be sufficient to describe the limits of the forest by roads, rivers, ridges or other well-known or readily intelligible boundaries.

(2) The officer appointed under clause (c) of sub-section (1) shall ordinarily be a person not holding any forest-office except that of Forest Settlement-officer.

(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent the State Government from appointing any number of officers not exceeding three, not more than one of whom shall be a person holding any forest-office except as aforesaid, to perform the duties of a Forest Settlement-officer under this Act.

5. Bar of accrual of forest-rights.�After the issue of a notification under section 4, no right shall be acquired in or over the land comprised in such notification, except by succession or under a grant or contract in writing made or entered into by or on behalf of the Government or some person in whom such right was vested when the notification was issued; and no fresh clearings for cultivation or for any other purpose shall be made in such land except in accordance with such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf.

6. Proclamation by Forest Settlement-officer.�When a notification has been issued under section 4, the Forest Settlement-officer shall publish in the local vernacular in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the land comprised therein, a proclamation

(a) specifying, as nearly as possible, the situation and limits of the proposed forest;

(b) explaining the consequences which, as hereinafter provided, will ensue on the reservation of such forest; and

(c) fixing a period of not less than three months from the date of such proclamation, and requiring every person claiming any right mentioned in section 4 or section, 5 within such period either to present to the Forest Settlement-officer a written notice specifying or to appear before him and state, the nature of such right and the amount and particulars of the compensation (if any) claimed in respect thereof.

7. Inquiry by Forest Settlement-officer.�The Forest Settlement-officer shall take down in writing all statements made under section 6, and shall at some convenient place inquire into all claims duly preferred under that section, and the existence of any rights mentioned in section 4 or section 5 and not claimed under section 6 so far as the same may be ascertainable from the records of Government and the evidence of any persons likely to be acquainted with the same.

8. Powers of Forest Settlement-officers.-For the purpose of such inquiry, the Forest Settlement-officer may exercise the following powers, that is to say:

(a) power to enter, by himself or any officer authorised by him for the purpose, upon any land, and to survey, demarcate and make a map of the same; and

(b) the powers of a Civil Court in the trial of suits.

9. Extinction of rights.-Rights in respect of which no claim has been preferred under section 6, and of the existence of which no knowledge has been acquired by inquiry under section 7, shall be extinguished, unless before the notification under section 20 is published, the person claiming them satisfies the Forest Settlement-officer that he had sufficient cause for not prefer-ring such claim within the period fixed under section 6.

10. Treatment of claims relating to practice of shifting cultivation.�(1) In the case of a claim relating to the practice of shifting cultivation, the Forest Settlement-officer shall record a statement setting forth the particulars of the claim and of any local rule or order under which the practice is allowed or regulated, and submit the statement to the State Government, together with his opinion as to whether the practice should be permitted or prohibited wholly or in part.

(2) On receipt of the statement and opinion, the State Government may make an order permitting or prohibiting the practice wholly or in part.

(3) If such practice is permitted wholly or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer may arrange for its exercise

(a) by altering the limits of the land under settlement so as to exclude land of sufficient extent, of a suitable kind, and in a locality reasonably convenient for the purposes of the claimants, or

(b) by causing certain portions of the land under settlement to be separately demarcated, and giving permission to the claimants to practise shifting cultivation therein under such conditions as he may prescribe.

(4) All arrangements made under sub-section (3) shall be subject to the previous sanction of the State Government.

(5) The practice of shifting cultivation shall in all cases be deemed a privilege subject to control, restriction and abolition by the State Government.

11. Power to acquire land over which right is claimed.�(1) In the case of a claim to a right in or over any land, other than a right of way or right of pasture, or a right to forest produce or a water-course, the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting or rejecting the same in whole or in part.

(2) If such claim is admitted in whole or in part, the Forest Settlement-officer shall either

(i) exclude such land- from the limits of the proposed forest; or

(ii) come to an agreement with the owner thereof for the surrender of his rights; or

(iii) proceed to acquire such land in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).

(3) For the purpose of so acquiring such land

(a) the Forest Settlement-officer shall be deemed to be a Collector proceeding under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894);

(b) the claimant shall be deemed to be a person interested and appearing before him in pursuance of a notice given under section 9 of that Act;

(c) the provisions of the preceding sections of that Act shall be deemed to have been complied with; and

(d) the Collector, with the consent of the claimant, or the Court, with the consent of both parties, may award compensation in land, or partly in land and partly in money.

12. Order on claims to rights of pasture or to forest-produce.�In the case of a claim to rights of pasture or to forest-produce, the Forest Settlement-officer shall pass an order admitting or rejecting the same in whole or in part.

13. Record to be made by Forest Settlement-officer.�The Forest Settlement officer, when passing any order under section 12, shall record, so far as may be practicable,�

(a) the name, father�s name, caste, residence and occupation of the person claiming the right; and

(b) the designation, position and area of all fields or groups fields (if any), and the designation and position of all buildings (if any) in respect of which the exercise of such rights is claimed.

14. Record where he admits claim.�If the Forest Settlement-officer admits in whole or in part any claim under section 12, he shall also record the extent to which the claim is so admitted, specifying the number and description of the cattle which the claimant is from time to time entitled to graze in the forest, the season during which such pasture is permitted, the quantity of timber and other forest produce which he is from time to time authorised to take or receive, and such other particulars as the case may require. He shall also record whether the timber or other forest-produce obtained by the exercise of the rights claimed may be sold or bartered.

15. Exercise of rights admitted.-(1) After making such record the Forest Settlement officer shall, to the best of his ability, having due regard to the maintenance of the reserved forest in respect of which the claim is made, pass such orders as will ensure the continued exercise of the rights so admitted.

(2) For this purpose the Forest Settlement-officer may

(a) set out some other forest-tract of sufficient extent, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the purposes of such claimants, and record an order conferring upon them a right of pasture or to forest-produce (as the case may be) to the extent so admitted; or

(b) so alter the limits of the proposed forest as to exclude forest-land of sufficient extent, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the purposes of the claimants; or

(c) record an order, continuing to such claimants a right of pasture or to forest-overpage produce, as the case may be, to the e tent so admitted, at such seasons, within such portions of the proposed forest, and under such rules, as may be made in this behalf by the State Government.

16. Commutation of rights.�In case the Forest Settlement-officer finds it impossible having due regard to the maintenance of the reserved forest, to make such settlement under section 15 as shall ensure the continued exercise of the said rights to the extent so admitted, he shall, subject to such rules as the State Government may make in this behalf, commute such rights, by the payment to such persons of a sum of money in lieu thereof, or by the grant of land, or in such other manner as he thinks fit.

17. Appeal from order passed under section 11, section 12, section 15 or section 16.�Any person who has made a claim under this Act, or any Forest-officer or other person generally or specially empowered by the State Government in this behalf, may, within three months from the date of the order passed on such claim by the Forest Settlement-officer under section 11, section 12, section 15 or section 16, present an appeal from such order to such officer of the Revenue Department of rank not lower than that of a Collector, as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint to hear appeals from such orders:

Provided that the State Government may establish a Court (hereinafter called the Forest Court) composed of three persons to be appointed by the State Government, and when the Forest Court has been so established, all such appeals shall be presented to it.

18. Appeal under section 17.�(1) Every appeal under section 17 shall be made by petition in writing, and may be delivered to the Forest Settlement-officer, who shall forward it without delay to the authority competent to hear the same.

(2) If the appeal be to an officer appointed under section 17, it shall be heard in the manner prescribed for the time being for the hearing of appeals in matters relating to land-revenue.

(3) If the appeal be to the Forest Court, the Court shall fix a day and a convenient place in the neighbourhood of the proposed forest for hearing the appeal, and shall give notice thereof to the parties, and shall hear such appeal accordingly.

(4) The order passed on the appeal by such officer or Court, or by the majority of the members of such Court, as the case may be, shall, subject only to revision by the State Government, be final.

19. Pleaders.�The State Government, or any person who has made a claim under this Act, may appoint any person to appear, plead and act on its or his behalf before the Forest Settlement-officer, or the appellate officer or Court, in the course of any inquiry or appeal under this Act.

20. Notification declaring forest reserved.�(1) When the following events have occurred, namely:�

(a) the period fixed under section 6 for preferring claims have elapsed and all claims (if any) made under that section or section 9 have been disposed of by the Forest Settlement-officer;

(b) if any such claims have been made, the period limited by section 17 for appealing from the orders passed on such claims has elapsed, and all appeals (if any) presented within such period have been disposed of by the appellate officer or Court; and

(c) all lands (if any) to be included in the proposed forest, which the Forest Settlement-officer has, under section 11, elected to acquire under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894), have become vested in the Government under section 16 of that Act,

the State Government shall publish a notification in the Official Gazette, specifying definitely, according to boundary-marks erected or otherwise, the limits of the forest which is to be reserved, and declaring the same to be reserved from a date fixed by the notification.

(2) From the date so fixed such forest shall be deemed to be a reserved forest.

21. Publication of translation of such notification in neighbourhood of forest.�The Forest-officer shall, before the date fixed by such notification, cause a translation thereof into the local vernacular to be published in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the forest.

22. Power to revise arrangement made under section 15 or section 18�The State Government may, within five years from the publication of any notification under section 20, revise any arrangement made under section 15 or section 18, and may for this purpose rescind or modify any order made under section 15 or section 18, and direct that any one of the proceedings specified in section 15 be taken in lieu of any other of such proceedings, or that the rights admitted under section 12 be commuted under section 16.

23. No right acquired over reserved forest, except as here provided.�No right of any description shall be acquired in or over a reserved forest except by succession or under a grant or contract in writing made by or on behalf of the Government or some person in whom such right was vested when the notification under section 20 was issued.

24. Rights not to be alienated without sanction.�(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 23, no right continued under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 15 shall be alienated by way of grant, sale, lease mortgage or otherwise, without the sanction of the State Government:

Provided that, when any such right is appendant to any land or house, it may be sold or otherwise alienated with such land or house.

(2) No timber or other forest-produce obtained in exercise of any such right shall be sold or bartered except to such extent as may have been admitted in the order recorded under section 14.

25. Power to stop ways and water-courses in reserved forests.�The Forest-officer may, with the previous sanction of the State Government or of any officer duly authorised by it in this behalf, stop any public or private way or water-course in a reserved forest, provided that a substitute for the way or water-course so stopped, which the State Government deems to be reasonably convenient, already exists, or has been provided or constructed by the Forest-officer in lieu thereof.

26. Acts prohibited in such forests.�(1) Any person who�

(a) makes any fresh clearing prohibited by section 5, or

(b) sets fire to a reserved forest, or, in contravention of any rules made by the State Government in this behalf, kindles any fire, or leaves any fire burning, in such manner as to endanger such a forest;

or who, in a reserved forest�

(c) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except at such seasons as the Forest-officer may notify in this behalf,

(d) trespasses or pastures cattle, or permits cattle to trespass;

(e) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging any timber;

(f) fells, girdles, lops, or bums any tree or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, the same;

(g) quarries stone, bums lime or charcoal, or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes, any forest-produce;

(h) clears or breaks up any land for cultivation or any other purpose;

(i) in contravention of any rules made in this behalf by the State Government hunts, shoots, fishes, poisons water or sets traps or snares; or

(j) in any area in which the Elephants� Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879), is not in force, kills or catches elephants in contravention of any rules so made,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both, in addition to such compensation for damage done to the forest as the convicting Court may direct to be paid.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit

(a) any act done by permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or under any rule made by the state Government; or

(b) the exercise of any right continued under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 15, or created by grant or contract in writing made by or on behalf of the Government under section 23.

(3) Whenever fire is caused wilfully or by gross negligence in a reserved forest, the State Government may (notwithstanding that any penalty has been inflicted under this section) direct that in such forest or any portion there of the exercise of all rights of pasture or to forest produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.

27. Power to declare forest no longer reserved.�(1) The State Government may,6[* * *] by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that, from a date fixed by such notification, any forest or any portion thereof reserved under the Act shall cease to be a reserved forest.

(2) From the date so fixed, such forest or portion shall cease to be reserved; but the rights (if any) which have been extinguished therein shall not revive in consequence of such cessation.

CHAPTER III

OF VILLAGE-FORESTS

28. Formation of village-forests.-(1) The State Government may assign to any village-community the rights of Government to or over any land which has been constituted a reserved forest, and may cancel such assignment. All forests so assigned shall be called village-forests.

(2) The State Government may make rules for regulating the management of village forests, prescribing the conditions under which the community to which any such assignment is made may be provided with timber or other forest-produce or pasture, and their duties for the protection and improvement of such forest.

(3) All the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall (so far as they are not inconsistent with the rules so made) apply to village-forests.

CHAPTER IV

OF PROTECTED FORESTS

29. Protected forests.�(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare the provisions of this Chapter applicable to any forest-land or waste-land which,, is not included in a reserved forest but which is the property of Government, or over which the Government has proprietary rights, or to the whole or any part of the forest produce of which the Government is entitled.

(2) The forest-land and waste-lands comprised in any such notification shall be called a "protected forest".

(3) No such notification shall be made unless the nature and extent of the rights of Government and of private persons in or over the forest-land or waste-land comprised therein have been inquired into and recorded at a survey or settlement, or in such other manner as the State Government thinks sufficient. Every such record shall be presumed to be correct until the contrary is proved:

Provided that, if, in the case of any forest-land or waste land, the State Government thinks that such inquiry and record are necessary, but that they will occupy such length of time as in the meantime to endanger the rights of Government, the State Government may, pending such inquiry and record, declare such land to be a protected forest, but so as not to abridge or affect any existing rights of individuals or communities.

30. Power to issue notification reserving trees, etc.�The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,

(a) declare any trees or class of trees in a protected forest to be reserved from a date fixed by, the notification;

(b) declare that any portion of such forest specified in the notification shall be closed for such term, rot exceeding thirty years, as the State Government thinks fit, and that the rights of private persons, if any, over such portion shall be suspended during such terms, provided that the remainder of such forest be sufficient, and in a locality reasonably convenient, for the due exercise of the right suspended in the portion so closed; or

(c) prohibit, from a date fixed as aforesaid, the quarrying of stone, or the burning of lime or charcoal, or the collection or subjection to any manufacturing process, or removal of, any forest-produce in any such forest, and the breaking up or clearing for cultivation, for building, for herding cattle or for any other purpose, of any land in any such forest.

31. Publication of translation of such notification in neighbourhood.�The Collector shall cause a translation into the local vernacular of every notification issued under section 30 to be affixed in a conspicuous place in every town and village in the neighbourhood of the forest comprised in the notification.

32. Power to make rules for protected forests.�The State Government may make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:

(a) the cutting, sawing, conversion and removal of trees and timber, and the collection, manufacture and removal of forest-produce, from protected forests;

(b) the granting of licences to the inhabitants of towns and villages in the vicinity of protected forests to take trees, timber or other forest-produce for their own use, and the production and return of such licences by such persons;

(c) the granting of licences to persons felling or removing trees or timber or other forest-produce from such forests for the purposes of trade, and the production

d) the payments, if any, to be made by the persons mentioned in clauses (b) and (c) for permission to cut such trees, or to collect and remove such timber or other forest-produce;

(e) the other payments, if any, to be made by them in respect of such trees, timber and produce, and the places where such payment shall be made;

(f) the examination of forest-produce passing out of such forests;

(g) the clearing and breaking up of land for cultivation or other purposes in such forests;

(h) the protection from fire of timber lying in such forests and of trees reserved under section 30;

(i) the cutting of grass and pasturing of cattle in such forests;

(j) hunting, shooting, fishing, poisoning water and setting traps or snares in such forests and the killing or catching of elephants in such forests in areas in which the Elephants� Preservation Act, 1879 (6 of 1879), is not in force;

(k) the protection and management of any portion of a forest closed under section 30; and

(l) the exercise of rights referred to in section 29.

33. Penalties for acts in contravention of notification under section 30 or of rules under section 32.--(1) Any person who commits any of the following offences, namely:�

(a) fells, girdles, lops, taps or bums any tree reserved under section 30, or strips off the bark or leaves from, or otherwise damages, any such tree;

(b) contrary to any prohibition under section 30, quarries any stone, or bums any lime or charcoal or collects, subjects to any manufacturing process, or removes any forest-produce;

(c) contrary to any prohibition under section 30, breaks up or clears for cultivation or any other purpose any land in any protected forest;

(d) sets fire to such forest, or kindles a fire without taking all reasonable precautions to prevent its spreading to any tree reserved under section 30, whether standing fallen or felled, or to say closed portion of such forest;

(e) leaves burning any fire kindled by him in the vicinity of any such tree or closed portion;

(f) fells any tree or drags any timber so as to damage any tree reserved as aforesaid;

(g) permits cattle to damage any such tree;

(h) infringes any rule made under section 32,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

(2) Whenever fire is caused wilfully or by gross negligence in a protected forest, the State Government may, notwithstanding that any penalty has been inflicted under this section, direct that in such forest or any portion thereof the exercise of any right of pasture or to forest-produce shall be suspended for such period as it thinks fit.

34. Nothing in this Chapter to prohibit acts done in certain cases.�Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to prohibit any act done with the permission in writing of the Forest-officer, or in accordance with rules made under section 32, or, except as regards any portion of a forest closed under section 30, or as regards any rights the exercise of which has been suspended under section 33, in the exercise of any right recorded under section 29.

CHAPTER V

OF THE CONTROL OVER FORESTS AND LANDS NOT BEING

THE PROPERTY OF GOVERNMENT

35. Protection of forests for special purposes.-(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, regulate or prohibit in any forest or waste-land

(a) the breaking up or clearing of land for cultivation;

(b) the pasturing of cattle; or

(c) the firing or clearing of the vegetation;

when such regulation or prohibition appears necessary for any of the following purposes:�

(i) for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods and avalanches;

(ii) for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes and in the valleys of hilly tracts, the prevention of land slips or of the formation of ravines, and torrents, or the protection of land against erosion, or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or gravel;

(iii) for the maintenance of a water-supply in springs, rivers and tanks;

(iv) for the protection of roads, bridges, railways and other lines of communication;

(v) for the preservation of the public health.

(2) The State Government may, for any such purpose, construct at its own expense, in or upon any forest or waste-land, such work as it thinks fit.

(3) No notification shall be made under sub-�section (1) nor shall any work be begun under sub-section (2), until after the issue of a notice to the owner of such forest or land calling on him to show cause, within a reasonable period to be specified in such notice, why such notification should not be made or work constructed, as the case may be, and until his objections, if any, and any evidence he may produce in support of the same, have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that behalf and have been considered by the State Government.

36. Power to assume management of forests.�(1) In case of neglect of, or wilful disobedience to, any regulation or prohibition under section 35, or if the purposes of any work to be-constructed under that section so require, the State Government may, after notice in writing to the owner of such forest or land and after considering his objections, if any, place the same under the control of a Forest-officer, and may declare that all or any of the provisions of this Act relating to reserved forests shall apply to such forest or land.

(2) The net profits, if any, arising from the management of such forest or land shall be paid to the said owner.

37. Expropriation of forests in certain cases.�(1) In any case under this Chapter in which the State Government considers that, in lieu of placing the forest or land under the control of a Forest-Officer, the same should be acquired for public purposes, the State 3overnment may proceed to acquire it in the manner provided by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).

(2) The owner of any forest or land comprised in any notification under section 35 may, t any time not less than three or more than twelve years from the date thereof, require that such forest or land shall be acquired for public purposes, and the State Government shall require such forest or land accordingly.

38. Protection of forests at request of owners.�(1) The owner of any land or, if there more than one owner thereof, the owners of shares therein amounting in the aggregate at least two-thirds thereof may, with a view to the formation or conservation of forests thereon, represent in writing to the Collector their desire

(a) that such land be managed on their behalf by the Forest-officer as a reserved or a protected forest on such terms as may be mutually agreed upon; or

(b) that all or any of the provisions of this Act be applied to such land.

(2) In either case,-the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, apply to such land such provisions of this Act as it thinks suitable to the circumstances thereof and as may be desired by the applicants.

CHAPTER V1

OF THE DUTY ON TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE

39. Power to impose duty on timber and other forest-produce.�(1) The 7[Central Government] may levy a duty in such manner, at such places and at such rates as it may declare by notification in the Official Gazette on all timber or other forest-produce

(a) which is produced in 8[the territories to which this Act extends], and in respect of which the Government has any right;

(b) which is brought from any place outside 8[the territories to which this Act extends].

9[* * *]

(2) In every case in which such duty is directed to be levied ad valorem the 7[Central Government] may fix by like notification the value on which such duty shall be assessed.

(3) All duties on timber or other forest-produce which, at the time when this Act comes into force in any territory, are levied therein under the authority of the State Government, shall be deemed to be and to have been duty levied under the provisions of this Act.

10[(4) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the State Government may, until provision to the contrary is made by 11[Parliament], continue to levy any duty which it was lawfully levying before the commencement12 of 13[the Constitution], under this section as then in force:

Provided that nothing in this sub-section authorises the levy of any duty which as between timber or other forest-produce of the State and similar produce of the locality outside the State, discriminates in favour of the former, or which, in the case of timber or other forest-produce of localities outside the State, discriminates between timber or other forest-produce of one locality and similar timber or other forest-produce of another locality.]

40. Limit not to apply to purchase-money or royalty.-Nothing in this Chapter shall be deemed to limit the amount, if any, chargeable as purchase-money or royalty on any timber or other forest-produce, although the same is levied on such timber or produce while in transit, in the same manner as duty is levied.

CHAPTER VII

OF THE CONTROL OF TIMBER AND OTHER FOREST-PRODUCE IN TRANSIT

41. Power to make rules to regulate transit of forest produce.--(1) The control of all rivers and their banks as regards the floating of timber, as well as the control of all timber and other forest-produce in transit by land or water, is vested in the State Government, and it may make rules to regulate the transit of all timber and other forest-produce.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power such rules may

(a) prescribe the routes by which alone timber or other forest-produce may be imported, exported or moved into, from or within 14[the State];

(b) prohibit the import or export or moving of such timber or other produce without a pass from an officer duly authorised to issue the same, or otherwise than in accordance with the conditions of such pass;

(c) provide for the issue, production and return of such passes and for the payment of fees therefor;

(d) provide for the stoppage, reporting, examination and marking of timber or other forest-produce in transit, in respect of which there is reason to believe that any money is payable to the Government on account of the price thereof, or on account of any duty, fee, royalty or charge due thereon, or, to which it is desirable for the purposes of this Act to affix a mark;

(e) provide for the establishment and regulation of depots to which such timber or other produce shall be taken by those in charge of it for examination, or for the payment of such money, or in order that such marks may be affixed to it, and the conditions under which such timber or other produce shall be brought to, stored at and removed from such depots;

(f) prohibit the closing up or obstructing of the channel or banks of any river used for the transit of timber or other forest-produce, and the throwing of grass, brushwood, branches or leaves into any such river or any act which may cause such river to be closed or obstructed;

(g) provide for the prevention or removal of any obstruction of the channel or banks of any such river, and for recovering the cost of such prevention or removal from the person whose acts or negligence necessitated the same;

(h) prohibit absolutely or subject to conditions, within specified local limits, the establishment of sawpits, the converting, cutting, burning, concealing or making of timber, the altering or effacing of any marks on the same, or the possession or carrying of marking hammers or other implements used for marking timber;

(i) regulate the use of property marks for timber, and the registration of such marks; prescribe the time for which such r6gistration�shall hold good; limit the number of such marks that may be registered by any one person, and provide for the levy of fees for such registration.

(3) The State Government may direct that any rule made under this section shi-11 not apply to any specified class of timber or other forest-produce or to any specified local area.

15[41A. Powers of Central Government as to movements of timber across customs frontiers.--Notwithstanding anything in section 41, the Central Government may make rules to prescribe the route by which alone timber or other forest-produce may be imported, exported or moved into or from 16[the territories to which this Act extends) across any customs frontier as defined by the Central Government, and any rules made under section 41 shall have effect subject to the rules made under this section.]

42. Penalty for breach of rules made under section 41.-(1) The State Government may by such rules prescribe as penalties for the contravention thereof imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.

(2) Such rules may provide that penalties which are double of those mentioned in subsection (1) may be inflicted in cases where the offence is committed after sunset and before sunrise, or after preparation for resistance to lawful authority, or where the offender has been previously convicted of a like offence.

43. Government and Forest-officers not liable for damage to forest-produce at depot.-The Government shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which may occur in respect of any timber or other forest-produce while at a depot established under a rule made under section 41, or while detained elsewhere, for the purposes of this Act; and no Forest-officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes such loss or damage negligently, maliciously or fraudulently.

44. All persons bound to aid in case of accidents at depot.�In case of any accident or emergency involving danger to any property at any such depot, every person employed at such depot, whether by the Government or by any private person, shall render assistance to any Forest-officer or Police-officer demanding his aid in averting such danger or securing such property from damage or loss.

CHAPTER VIII

OF THE COLLECTION OF DRIFT AND STRANDED TIMBER

45. Certain kinds of timber to be deemed property of Government until title thereto proved, and may be collected accordingly.--(1) All timber found adrift, beached, stranded or sunk;

all wood or timber bearing marks which have not been registered in accordance with the rules made under section 41, or on which the marks have been obliterated, altered or defaced by fire or otherwise; and

in such areas as the State Government directs, all unmarked wood and timber,

shall be deemed to be the property of Government, unless and until any person establishes his right and title thereto, as provided in this Chapter.

(2) Such timber may be collected by any Forest-officer or other person entitled to collect the same by virtue of any rule made under section 51 and may be brought to any depot which the Forest-officer may notify as a depot for the reception of drift timber.

(3) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, 6xempt any class of timber from the provisions of this section.

46. Notice to claimants of drift timber.-Public notice shall from time to time be given by the Forest-officer, of timber collected under section 45. Such notice shall contain a description of the timber, and shall require any person claiming the same to present to such officer, within a period not less than two months from the date of such notice, a written statement of such claim.

47. Procedure on claim preferred to such timber.-(1) When any such-statement is presented as aforesaid, the Forest-officer may, after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, either reject the claim after according his reasons for so doing, or deliver the timber to the claimant.

(2) If such timber is claimed by more than one person, the Forest-officer may either deliver the same to any of such persons who he deems entitled thereto, or may refer the claimants to the Civil Courts, and retain the timber pending the receipt of an order from any such Court for its disposal.

(3) Any person whose claim has been rejected under this section may, within three months from the date of such rejection, institute a suit to recover possession of the timber claimed by him; but no person shall recover any compensation or costs against the Government, or against any Forest-officer on account of such rejection, or the detention or removal of any timber, or the delivery thereof to any other person under this section.

(4) No such timber shall be subject to process of any Civil, Criminal or Revenue Court until it has been delivered, or a suit has been brought, as provided in this section.

48. Disposal of unclaimed timber.-If no such statement is presented as aforesaid, if the claimant omits to prefer his claim in the manner and within the period fixed by the notice issued under section 46, or on such claim having been so preferred by him and having been rejected, omits to institute a suit to recover possession of such timber within the further period fixed by section 47, the ownership of such timber shall vest in the Government, or, when such timber has been delivered to another person under section 47, in such other person free from all encumbrances not created by him.

49. Government and its officers not liable for damage to such timber.-TN Government shall not be responsible for any loss or damage which may occur in respect any timber collected under section 45, and no Forest-officer shall be responsible for any such loss or damage, unless he causes such loss or damage negligently, maliciously fraudulently,

50. Payments to be made by claimant before timber is delivered to him.-No person shall be entitled to recover possession of any timber collected or delivered as aforesaid until he has paid to the Forest-officer or other person entitled to receive it such sum on account thereof as may be due under any rule made under section 51.

51. Power to make rules and prescribe penalties.-(1) The State Government in make rules to regulate the following matters, namely:

(a) the salving, collection and disposal of all timber mentioned in section 45;

(b) the use and registration of boats used in salving and collecting timber;

(c) the amounts to be paid for salving, collecting, moving, storing or disposing such timber; and

(d) the use and registration of hammers and other instruments to be used marking such timber.

(2) The State Government may prescribe, as penalties for the contravention of any rule made under this section, imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.

CHAPTER IX

PENALTIES AND PROCEDURE

52. Seizure of property liable to confiscation.-(1) When there is reason to believe that a forest-offence has been committed in respect of any forest-produce, such produce together with all tools, boats, carts or cattle used in committing any such offence, may be seized by any Forest-officer or Police-officer.

(2) Every officer seizing any property under this section shall place on such property a mark indicating that the same has been so seized, and shall, as soon as may be, make a - report of such seizure to the Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the offence on account which the seizure has been made:

Provided that, when the forest-produce with respect to which such offence is belie to have been committed is the property of Government, and the offender is unknown, it shall be sufficient if the officer makes, as soon as may be, a report of the circumstances to his official superior.

53. Power to release property seized under section 52.-Any Forest-officer of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger who, or whose subordinate, has seized any tools, boats, carts or cattle under section 52, may release the same on the execution by the owner thereof a bond for the production of the property so released, if and when so required, before the Magistrate having jurisdiction to try the offence on account of which the seizure has been made.

54. Procedure thereupon.-Upon the receipt of any such report, the Magistrate shall, with all convenient despatch, take such measures as may be necessary for the arrest and trial of the offender and the disposal of the property according to law.

55. Forest-produce, tools, etc., when liable to confiscation.--(1) All timber or forest produce which is not the property of Government and in respect of which a forest-offence has been committed, and all tools, boats, carts and cattle used in committing any forest offence, shall be liable to confiscation.

(2) Such confiscation may be in addition to any other punishment prescribed for such offence.

56. Disposal on conclusion of trial for forest-offence, of produce in respect of which it was committed.-When the trial of any forest-offence is concluded, any forest-produce in respect of which such offence has been committed shall, if it is the property of Government or has been confiscated, be taken charge of by a Forest-officer, and, in any other case, may be disposed of in such manner as the Court may direct.

57. Procedure when offender not known or cannot be found.-When the offender is not known or cannot be found, the Magistrate may, if he finds that an offence has been committed, order the property in respect of which the offence has been committed to be confiscated and taken charge of by the Forest-officer, or to be made over to the person whom the Magistrate deems to be entitled to the same:

Provided that no such order shall be made until the expiration of one month from d date of seizing such property, or without hearing the person, if any, claiming any rig thereto, and the evidence, if any, which he may produce in support of his claim.

58. Procedure as to perishable property siezed under section 52.-The Magistrate may, notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained, direct the sale of any property seized under section 52 and subject to speedy and natural decay, and may deal with the proceeds as he would have dealt with such property if it had not been sold.

59. Appeal from orders under section 55, section 56 or section 57.-The officer made the seizure under section 52, or any of his official superiors, or any person claim to be interested in the property so seized, may, within one month from the date of any order passed under section 55, section 56 or section 57, appeal therefrom to the Court to will orders made by such Magistrate are ordinarily appealable, and the order passed on A appeal shall be final.

60. Property when to vest in Government.-When an order for the confiscation any property has been passed under section 55 or section 57, as the case may be, and the period limited by section 59 for an appeal from such order has elapsed, and no such an apppeal has been preferred, or when, on such an appeal being preferred, the Appellate C4 confirms such order in respect of the whole or a portion of such property, such property or such portion thereof, as the case may be, shall vest in the Government free from all incumbrances.

61. Saving of power to release property seized.-Nothing hereinbefore contained shall be deemed to prevent any officer empowered in this behalf by the State Government, from directing at any time the immediate release of any property seized under section 52.

62. Punishment for wrongful seizure.-Any Forest-officer or Police-officer who vexatiously and unnecessarily seizes any property on pretence of seizing property liable confiscation under this Act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.

63. Penalty for counterfeiting or defacing marks on trees and timber and for altering boundary marks.-Whoever, with intent to cause damage or injury to the public or to any person, or to cause wrongful gain as defined in the Indian Penal Code�

(a) knowingly counterfeits upon any timber or standing tree a mark used by Forest-officers to indicate that such timber or tree is the property o Government or of some person, or that it may lawfully be cut or removed some person; or

(b) alters, defaces or obliterates any such mark placed on a tree or on timber by under the authority of a Forest-officer; or

(c) alters, moves, destroys or defaces any boundary-mark of any forest or waste land to which the provisions of this Act are applied,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or fine, or with both.

64. Power to arrest without warrant.--(1) Any Forest-officer or Police-officer without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been concerned in any forest-offence punishable with imprisonment for one month or upwards.

(2) Every officer making an arrest under this section shall, without unnecessary delay and subject to the provisions of this Act as to release on bond, take or send the person arrested before the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or to the officer in charge of the nearest police station.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise such arrest for any act which is an offence under Chapter IV unless such act has been prohibited under clause (c) of section 30.

65. Power to release on a bond a person arrested.-Any Forest-officer of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger, who, or whose subordinate, has arrested any person under the provisions of section 64, may release such person on his executing a bond to appear, if and when so required, before the Magistrate having jurisdiction in the case, or before the officer in charge of the nearest police station.

66. Power to prevent commission of offence.-Every Forest-officer and Police officer shall prevent, and may interfere for the purpose of preventing, the commission of any forest-offence.

67. Power to try offences summarily.-The District Magistrate or any Magistrate of the first class specially empowered in this behalf by the State Government may try summarily, under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, any forest-offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or fine not exceeding five hundred rupees, or both.

68. Power to compound offences.-(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, empower a Forest officer�

(a) to accept from any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed any forest-offence, other than an offence specified in section 62 or section 63, a sum of money by way of compensation for the offence which such person is suspected to have committed, and

(b) when any property has been seized as liable to confiscation, to release the same on payment of the value thereof as estimated by such officer.

(2) On the payment of such sum of money, or such value, or both, as the case may be, to such officer, the suspected person, if in custody, shall be discharged, the property, if any seized shall be released, and no further proceedings shall be taken against such person or property.

(3) A Forest-officer shall not be empowered under this section unless he is a Forest officer of a rank not inferior to that of a Ranger and is in receipt of a monthly salary amounting to at least one hundred rupees, and the sum of money accepted as compensation under clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall in no case exceed the sum of fifty rupees.

69. Presumption that forest-produce belongs to Government.-When in any proceedings taken under this Act, or in consequence of anything done under this Act, a question arises as to whether any forest-produce is the property of the Government, such produce shall be presumed to be the property of the Government until the contrary is proved.

CHAPTER X

CATTLE-TRESPASS

70. Cattle-trespass Act, 1871, to apply.-Cattle trespassing in a reserved forest any portion of a protected forest which has been lawfully closed to grazing shall be deem to be cattle doing damages to a public plantation within the meaning of section II of Cattle-trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871), and may be seized and impounded as such by Forest-officer or Police-officer.

71. Power to alter fines fixed under that Act.-The State Government may, notification in the Official Gazette, direct that, in lieu of the fines fixed under section I the Cattle-trespass Act, 1871 (1 of 1871), there shall be levied for each head of cattle impounded under section 70 of this Act such fines as it thinks fit, but not exceeding following, that is to say:-

For each elephant ten rupees

For each buffalo or camel two rupees

For each horse, mare, gelding, pony, colt, filly, mule, bull,

bullock, cow, or heifer one rupee

For each calf, ass, pig, ram, ewe, sheep, lamb, goat or kid eight annas

CHAPTER XI

OF FOREST-OFFICERS

72. State Government may invest Forest-officers with certain powers.-(1) The State Government may invest any Forest-officer with all or of the following powers, that is to say:-

(a) power to enter upon any land and to survey, demarcate and make a map of the same;

(b) the powers of a Civil Court to compel the attendance of witnesses and production of documents and material objects;

(c) power to issue a search-warrant under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898); and

(d) power to hold an inquiry into forest-offences, and, in the course of such inquiry, to receive and record evidence.

(2) Any evidence recorded under clause (d) of sub-section (1) shall be admissible in subsequent trial before a Magistrate, provided that it has been taken in the presence of accused person.

73. Forest officers deemed public servants.-All Forest-officers shall be deemed be public servants within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).

74. Indemnity for acts done in good faith.-No suit shall lie against any public servant for anything done by him in good faith under this Act.

75. Forest-officers not to trade.-Except with the permission in writing of the State Government, no Forest-officer shall, as principal or agent, trade in timber or other forest produce, or be or become interested in any lease of any forest or in any contract for working any forest, whether in or outside 17[the territories to which this Act extends].

CHAP TER XII

SUBSIDIARY RULES

76. Additional powers to make rules.-The State Government may make rules

(a) to prescribe and limit the powers and duties of any Forest-officer under this Act;

(b) to regulate the rewards to be paid to officers and informers out of the proceeds of fines and confiscation under this Act;

(c) for the preservation, reproduction and disposal of trees and timber belonging to Government, but grown on lands belonging to or in the occupation of private persons; and

(d) generally, to carry out the provisions of this Act.

77. Penalties for breach of rules.-Any person contravening any rule under this Act, for the contravention of which no special penalty is provided, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.

78. Rules when to have force of law.-All rules made by the State Government under this Act shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall thereupon, so far as they are consistent with this Act, have effect as if enacted therein.

CHAPTER XIII

MISCELLANEOUS

79. Persons bound to assist Forest-officers and Police-officers.-(1) Every person who exercises any right in a reserved or protected forest, or who is permitted to take any forest-produce from, or to cut and remove timber or to pasture cattle in, such forest, and every person who is employed by any such person in such forest, and

every person in any village contiguous to such forest who is employed by the Government or who receives emoluments from the Government for services to be performed to the community,

shall be bound to furnish without unnecessary delay to the nearest Forest-officer or Police officer any information he may possess respecting the commission of, or intention to commit, any forest-offence, and shall forthwith take steps, whether so required by any Forest-officer or Police officer or not,-

(a) to extinguish any forest fire in such forest of which he has knowledge or information;

(b) to prevent by any lawful means in his power any fire in the vicinity of such forest of which he has knowledge or information from spreading to such forest,

and shall assist any Forest-officer or Police-officer demanding his aid�

(c) in preventing the commission in such forest of any forest-offence; and

(d) when there is reason to believe that any such offence has been committed such forest in discovering and arresting the offender.

(2) Any person who, being bound so to do, without lawful excuse (the burden ofprovin which shall lie upon such person) fails�

(a) to furnish without unnecessary delay to the nearest Forest-officer or Polic( officer any information required by sub-section (1);

(b) to take steps, as required by sub-section (1), to extinguish any forest fire in reserved or protected forest;

(c) to prevent, as required by sub-section (1), any fire in the vicinity of such fore.4 from spreading to such forest or

(d) to assist any Forest-officer or Police officer demanding his aid in preventing th commission in such forest of any forest-offence, or, when there is reason believe that any such offence has been committed in such forest, in discover� and arresting the offender,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both.

80. Management of forests the joint property of Government and other persons.�(1) If the Government and any person be jointly interested in any forest or waste-land, a in the whole or any part of the produce thereof, the State Government may either�

(a) undertake the management of such forest, waste-land or produce, accounting to such person for his interest in the same; or

(b) issue such regulations for the management of the forest, waste-land or produce by the person so jointly interested as it deems necessary for the management thereof and the interests of all parties therein.

(2) When the State Government undertakes under clause (a) of sub-section (1) the management of any forest, waste-land or produce, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that any of the provisions contained in Chapters 11 and IV shall apply to such forest, waste-land or produce, and thereupon such provisions shall apply accordingly.

81. Failure to perform service for which a share in produce of Government forest is employed.-If any person be entitled to a share in the produce of any forest which is the property of Government or over which the Government has proprietary rights or to any part of the forest-produce of which the Government is entitled upon the condition of duly performing any service connected with such forest, such share shall be liable to confiscation in the event of the fact being established to the satisfaction of the State Government that such service is no longer so performed:

Provided that no such share be confiscated until the person entitled thereto, and the evidence, if any, which he may produce in proof of the due performance of such service, have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that behalf by the State Government.

82. Recovery of money due to Government.�-All money payable to the Government under this Act, or under any rule made under this Act, or on account of the price of any forest produce, or of expenses incurred in the execution of this Act in respect of such produce, may, if not paid when due, be recovered under the law for the time being in force as if it were an arrear of land-revenue.

83. Lien on forest-produce for such money.--(1) When any such money is payable for or in respect of any forest-produce, the amount thereof shall deemed to be a first charge on such produce, and such produce may be taken possession of by a Forest-officer until such amount has been paid.

(2) If such amount is not paid when due, the Forest-officer may sell such produce by public auction, and the proceeds of the sale shall be applied first in discharging such amount.

(3) The surplus, if any, if not claimed within two months from the date of the sale by the person entitled thereto, shall be forfeited to Government.

84. Land required under this Act to be deemed to be needed for a public purpose under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.--Whenever it appears to the State Government that any land is required for any of the purposes of this Act, such land shall be deemed to be needed for a public purpose within the meaning of section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (1 of 1894).

85. Recovery of penalties due under bond.�When any person, in accordance with any provision of this Act, or in compliance with any rule made thereunder, binds himself by any an bond or instrument to perform any duty or act or covenants by any bond or instrument that he, or that he and his servants and agents will abstain from any act, the whole sum mentioned in such bond or instrument as the amount to be paid in case of a breach of the conditions thereof may, notwithstanding anything in section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (9 of 1872), be recovered from him in case of such breach as if it were an arrear of land revenue.

18[85A. Saving for rights of Central Government.-Nothing in this Act shall authorise a Government of any State to make any order or do anything in relation to any property not vested in that State or otherwise prejudice any rights of the Central Government or the Government of any other State without the consent of the Government concerned.]

86. Repeals.- [Rep. by Repealing and Amending Act, 1947 (2 of 1948), sec.2 and Sch.]

THE SCHEDULE.-[Enactments Repealed.] Rep. by sec.2 and Sch., ibid.

---

1 Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Order, 1956, for sub-sections (2) and (3).

2 This Act has been declared to be in force in the Khondmals District by the Khondmals Laws Regulation 1936 (4 of 1936), sec. 3 and Sch; and in the Angul District by the Angul Laws Regulation, 1936 (5 of 1936) sec. 3 and Sch.

This Act has been extended to :-

(1) Berar (partially) by the Berar Laws Act, 1941 (4 of 1941).

(2) The Province of Coorg, see Coorg Gazette, 1930, Pt. I p. 94.

(3) The Delhi Province, see Gazette of India, 1933, Pt. IIA, p. 293.

(4) The whole of Madhya Pradesh, by M.P. Act 23 of 1958.

(5) Dadra and Nagar Haveli, by Reg. 6 of 1963, sec, 2 and Sch. I (w.e.f. 1.7.1965).

(6) Pondicherry by Reg. 7 of 1963, see. 3 and Sch. (w.e.f. 1.10.1963).

(7) Goa, Daman and Diu by Reg. II of 1963, sec. 3 and Sch.; and

(8) Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands by the Reg. 8 of 1965, sec. 3 and Sch. (w.e.f. 1.10.1967).

(9) Sikkim by S.O. 1138 (E), dated 1st December, 1988 (w.e.f. 20.4.1989).

3 The words "the G.G. in C., or" omitted by the A.O. 1937.

4 Ins. by Act 26 of 1930, sec. 2.

5 Ins. by Act 3 of 1933, sec. 2.

6 The words "subject to the control of the G.G. in C.," omitted by the A.O. 1937.

7 Subs. by the A.O. 1937, for "L.G."

8 Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Order, 1956, for "Part A States and Part C States".

9 The proviso omitted by the A.O. 1937.

10 Ins. by the A.O. 1937 as amended by para. 2 and Sch. to the Government of India (Adaptation of Indian Laws) Supplementary Order, 1937.

11 Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for "the Central Legislature"

12 i.e. the 26th January, 1950.

13 Subs. by the A.0. 1950, for "Part III of the Government of India Act, 1935".

14 Subs. by the A.0. 1937, for "British India".

15 Ins. by the A.O. 1937.

16 Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Order, 1956, for "Part A States and Part C States".

17 Subs. by the Adaptation of Laws (No. 3) Order, 1956, for "Part A States and Part C States"

18 Subs. by the A.O. 1950, for the former section 85A which had been inserted by the A.0. 1937.