On 21 Oct, the Supreme Court extended its stay on tree-felling for the Bijwasan rail terminal in Delhi’s Dwarka. The next hearing will be on 13 Dec. Citizen activists have been leading the struggle to protect this contested “deemed forest.” Thread by @sukriti_vats
1/9 The halt on tree felling was in response to a plea filed by a 23-year-old activist, Naveen Solanki, who commissioned an independent survey, which revealed that the subject land had over 25,000 trees, thus qualifying it for “deemed forest” status.
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Hundreds of houses, belonging to Muslims, were illegally demolished by the Haryana govt following communal riots in Nuh. The Punjab & Haryana High Court yesterday called it an act of "ethnic cleansing".

A thread on the gross violations in the demolition drive 🧵(1/12) On July 31, communal violence occurred in Nuh following a 'yatra' organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). Two days later, the state authorities started demolishing Muslim-owned properties. Over 90 houses, 200 structures and shanties of 250 migrant workers were destroyed (2/12)

The Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 just got passed amidst opposition protests in the Lok Sabha regarding the Manipur issue. The bill received hundreds of objections from stakeholders but was passed unchanged and without any discussion.
A quick thread 🧵 (1/14) The now passed bill amended the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The 1980 Act was intended to prohibit use of forest land for non-forest purposes (such as mining, infrastructure projects, or agriculture) without prior permission from the government. (2/14)

Punjab’s Dalit groups, labour unions & farmers are protesting again. This time, it’s to protect their common lands. For years, the state has been trying to transfer these lands out of the villagers’ control, and into the hands of industries - now, by amending the law. #LCWThread The Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961 governs common land in Punjab. It vests these lands in the gram panchayat to *manage*. Some of these lands are made up of villagers’ own contributions and managed by the Panchayat for their benefit.

#Thread: Jahangirpuri Demolitions: Legal position, facts and data. A quick read 👇 On April 20, after letter from Delhi BJP chief demanding to bulldoze illegal encroachments of rioters, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation undertook an “anti-encroachment” eviction drive in Jahangirpuri demolishing homes, shops and businesses, mostly belonging to Muslims.(1/14)

On Jan 14, protests against a proposed steel plant in Odisha turned violent. About 1,000 protestors were lathicharged in #Dhinkia village, injuring at least 30. But this isn’t the first time they have faced police action. A thread on what led to the violent incident 1/12 Village residents who had gathered to inspect their betel leaf plantations – their main source of livelihood – were stopped by the police. A steel plant by Jindal Steel Works (JSW) is proposed where these plantations currently stand 2/12

Several infrastructure and tourism projects have come up in the fragile Himalayas, drawing concerns from locals and environmentalists. In the wake of the #UttarakhandDisaster here are some land conflicts from our database. 1/9 The Vishnuprayag Hydro-electric Project in Chamoli, which was damaged on Sunday during the disaster, has faced severe opposition from locals who are still fighting to safeguard van panchayat rights over common land. 2/9 landconflictwatch.org/conflicts/peop…

Thread: The Centre introduced a new land acquisition law in 2013 to protect the rights of land owners. But three states—K'taka, Maharashtra & TN—continued to use archaic state laws to acquire land for high-profile projects. How did they do this? Read on. (1/16) In 2013, the Congress-led UPA government introduced the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act. The Act provides better compensation to land owners and makes it mandatory to seek their consent before acquiring their land. (2/16)

#Thread: Thousands of families in MP fear submergence of their homes after the Centre has forced the filling up of the Sardar Sarovar Dam to its full capacity. The Centre was aware of families living in the submergence area. Some pictures to show the ground reality. 1/9 Since 2014, the Centre has claimed that all families in the submergence zone have been rehabilitated. However, a letter from the chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh to the Narmada Control Authority in May 2019 said that at least 6k families still live in the submergence area. 2/9

The repeal of Art 35A on August 5 has scrapped special land rights granted to the residents of Jammu & #Kashmir. Here’s a thread on some other legal provisions to protect ‘original’ citizens’ rights over land in the rest of India and how these provisions are under attack. 1/17 Article 35A, a by-product of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, stated that permanent residents of the state would be conferred with special rights over the acquisition of immovable property in the state. 2/17

This is a thread on what rejection of #forestrightsact claims means on the ground, based on our data documentation. Feel free to use it, get in touch for more info. 1/9 The Supreme Court, on February 13, 2019, had ordered the forced eviction of more than 1,000,000 tribal and other forest-dwelling households from forestlands. 2/9