India, March 21 -- Nearly three decades have passed since the Supreme Court ruling in 1996, which mandated the use of dictionary definition to delineate forests. Still, India grapples with the challenge of accurately identifying its forests
In the wake of a recent interim order handed down by a Supreme Court bench on February 19, the debate surrounding India's forest definitions has reignited. The court has mandated all states and Union Territories (UTs) to ascertain their total forestland based on the dictionary definition of a forest, as outlined by the Supreme Court's landmark verdict in the T N Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India case in December 1996. The deadline for submission of this data to the Union government is March 31.
T...