RIICO has approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Bhopal seeking relief over Khasra No. 7/2 in Beed Papad village and protection for industrial units operating on the land in Jaipur’s Vishwakarma Industrial Area (VKI). The state industrial development agency has offered 2.9087 hectares elsewhere within VKI for forestry and said it will bear the full cost of afforestation.
The application follows an NGT direction issued on September 16 while hearing a petition filed by Kamalkant Tiwari. The tribunal directed the forest department to take possession of the 2.9087 hectares under Khasra No. 7/2. RIICO has said that implementing the direction could adversely affect several industrial units operating on the land.
Under the alternative arrangement proposed before the tribunal, RIICO would earmark an equivalent 2.9087 hectares at another location within Vishwakarma Industrial Area for forestry purposes. The corporation has also offered to fund the entire afforestation exercise on the proposed alternative site.
The dispute places industrial activity and forest-related land protection requirements on the same legal track. VKI is one of Jaipur’s established industrial areas, and the tribunal proceedings could affect units whose operations are connected to the land identified in the September order. RIICO’s application seeks to address the land and environmental issue without an immediate disruption to those units, although the tribunal has not yet accepted the proposed arrangement.
RIICO is pursuing the matter through the legal process and has appointed an Additional Advocate General and a senior advocate to present its case before the tribunal. The corporation said it was taking the interests of the affected entrepreneurs into account while seeking an appropriate resolution.
The NGT is expected to hear RIICO’s application soon. Any decision will determine whether the proposed alternative land and afforestation plan can be considered in response to the direction concerning Khasra No. 7/2, and what happens to the industrial units currently operating on the disputed land.
