SC order on 'zudpi jungles' Ruling will accelerate Vidarbha's development says Bawankule

Mumbai, May 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court's ruling on scrub forests will unlock opportunities for all-round development and employment in Vidarbha, Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declared 'zudpi jungle' lands in Maharashtra's eastern Vidarbha region as forests in line with its 1996 verdict but protected the structures existing on it for decades.
A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih noted that "zudpi" was a Marathi word, literally translating to bushes or shrubs and "zudpi" lands meant an inferior type of unoccupied lands with bushy growth.
The top court was dealing with the issue over the status of such lands in the districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli in Maharashtra's eastern Vidarbha region.
Notably, the judgment coincided with International Biodiversity Day, which this year is being observed with the theme of harmony with nature and sustainable development.
The state revenue minister and guardian minister for Nagpur and Amravati said the verdict aligns with that spirit.
Asserting it was a "golden day" for Vidarbha, he said, "This Supreme Court decision will accelerate Vidarbha's development. Due to the classification of land as scrub forest and other minor technical issues, many irrigation and infrastructure projects were stalled. Now, the stream of progress can flow faster."
A total of 86,000 hectares of land in Vidarbha had been recorded as scrub forest even though there were no trees or undergrowth present, he pointed out.
This classification, stemming from historical revenue records when the region was merged from the Central Provinces and Berar into Maharashtra, had caused consistent roadblocks in development, said the minister.
"Madhya Pradesh corrected its records, but we faced persistent hurdles. As a result, Vidarbha's progress was halted. We have been fighting this legal and administrative battle under the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the past 10 years," he said.
"The Chief Minister personally guided legal experts on the state's position, held several meetings, and ensured Maharashtra's case was strongly presented before the Supreme Court. Today's success is a testament to his development-oriented vision," Bawankule said.
A committee formed by Fadnavis in 2014 had submitted its report to the Supreme Court, and after years of hearings, the matter had finally reached a positive conclusion, he said.
"Many challenges were raised, but the ending is a sweet one," Bawankule said.
Bawankule also said the verdict would now enable ownership rights to be granted to slum dwellers in Nagpur, Vidarbha's largest city.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)