§ MR. SLAGGasked the Under Secretary of State for India, Whether it is a fact that the Government of Bombay has recently appropriated, as a "protected forest," about 1,000 square miles of wooded land in the Thana District; whether the population of the district has not, from time immemorial, exercised unlimited right of user over the said woodlands; whether this step has not caused serious discontent among nearly 1,000,000 people, whose trade, agricultural, and domestic necessities have been seriously affected thereby; 959 and, whether he can give, or will obtain, information as to the reasons which are held to justify this step?
§ MR. J. K. CROSSTo the first clause of my hon. Friend's Question, I must reply that the "reserved" and "protected" forests of the Thana Division amounted in 1879 to 2,034 square miles. In 1844, by abandoning lands which it was not considered absolutely necessary to conserve, they had been reduced to 1,486 square miles. For many years previous to about 1870, the restrictions necessary for the protection of public forests were much disregarded, so that in some cases the people have come to regard as rights practices which really are trespasses and destructive of the forests. The enforcement during the last 15 or 20 years of these restrictions has caused some discontent. But the attention of the Bombay Government has been constantly directed to the subject, and every concession has been and will continue to be made compatible with the preservation of the forests.