New panel tasked with mapping Karnataka’s deemed forests by September

Bengaluru: The state government has appointed an expert committee to revisit areas classified under the non-notified forest category — earlier known as "deemed forest" — and submit a report within the next six months.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition challenging the Centre’s amendment to the Forest (Conservation) Act, had emphasised the need to expedite the process of finalising deemed forest areas.

Under Rule 16(1) of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, state governments and Union Territories are required to form expert committees to identify "forest-like areas" that are not officially notified as forests.

In an order dated March 4, 2025, the Apex Court directed all state and Union Territory governments to complete the identification of non-notified forests “within a period of six months from today” and submit their reports to the Centre. “The Union government shall consolidate the reports, prepare a state-wise position, and place the same before this court,” the bench stated, posting the next hearing for September.

Meenakshi Negi, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force), said the department is taking the matter seriously. “The expert committee has been set up. We will follow the direction of the Supreme Court and submit our report,” she said.

State's 3rd attempt 

This marks Karnataka’s third attempt to identify and protect its non-notified forests, whose extent dropped from 9.94 lakh hectares to 3.3 lakh hectares in a report by the previously reconstituted committee.

However, the notification on deemed forests issued in May 2022 will now be superseded in light of the formation of the new expert committee.

Responding to a query, a senior official stated that the chances of large swathes of deemed forest being dropped were low. “The reconstituted committee followed the Supreme Court’s guidelines. There were some errors in the report, which led to complaints. Some areas may be dropped due to claims by the public or various departments. However, additional areas will be added to compensate for the same,” the official added.