Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has ordered the restoration of ‘reserved forest’ status for 374.79 hectares of land in Bhayandarpada, Thane. This decision comes after the minister cancelled a mutation entry that had transferred the prime land adjacent to Sanjay Gandhi National Park to private individuals, following a 2015 Maharashtra Revenue Tribunal order. The land in question has been a point of contention, with the Forest Department arguing that it was notified under the Indian Forest Act and vested with the government under the Maharashtra Private Forests (Acquisition) Act since 1975.
Accepting a review petition under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, the revenue minister set aside previous decisions that had allowed the land to be transferred to private ownership. In his ruling on August 6, 2026, Revenue Minister Bawankule clarified that earlier interim directions from the Bombay High Court were directory rather than mandatory. This made it appropriate to set aside the private mutation entry, even as related writ petitions regarding the forest classification remain pending before the High Court.
The decision has been welcomed by MLC Niranjan Davkhare, who sees it as a positive step towards preserving the state’s natural resources.
