Green Light for Dewas: Jaisalmer Land Earmarked for Forest Compensation

About 2,943 hectares of land in Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan, has been earmarked for compensatory allocation to facilitate forest and wildlife clearances for key irrigation initiatives, including the Dewas project in Udaipur.

The designated area comprises 1,970.16 hectares in Bida village and 972.87 hectares in Phaledi village, located near the Sudasari Desert Sanctuary in Sam tehsil. This allocation follows a directive issued during a high-level meeting chaired by the State Chief Secretary on July 3.

As part of the process, authorities are required to prepare detailed documentation, including mapping the land on revenue records, recording existing pathways and water structures, providing GPS coordinates, and noting previously allocated forest land. A team led by the local tehsil administration has been assigned to compile the necessary report.

The forest department has also granted the long-pending No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the Dewas III and IV dam projects in Udaipur, which had been delayed for nearly two years due to the unavailability of compensatory land. The Rs 1,691 crore project is critical to ensuring Udaipur’s long-term drinking water supply and mandates the replacement of diverted forest land with equivalent non-forest land.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.