Forest Act & Transit Pass

 Forest Acts: Felling of trees in private lands in State of Maharashtra is regulated by following
three acts:
(A) The Maharashtra Felling of Trees (Regulation) Act 1964:
This Act and the rules made thereunder are for regulation of felling of trees specified in the
Schedule attached with the act for non-urban areas.
(B) The Maharashtra (Urban Areas) Preservation of Trees Act, 1975: This is for regulating
felling of any tree in Urban Area. Felling permission is granted by the "Tree Officer" appointed by
the Tree Authority, who is not a Forest Officer but an officer from the local body i.e. Corporation
or Municipality.
Appeal against the orders of "Tree Officer" lie with the "Tree Authority" which again is a group of
persons from the local body headed by the Commissioner of the Corporation or the President of the
Council or the Chief Executive Officer of the Special Planning Authority etc. as the case may be.
(C) The Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966: It regulates the felling in the non-forest areas.
Permission for felling of trees is granted by the Revenue Officer i.e. Sub Divisional Officer (Dy.
Collector). Appellate authority is Collector.
So far as, transportation of forest produce is concerned, it is regulated by Forest Department under
provisions of Maharashtra Forest Rules 2014 in respect of timber and other forest produce.

 Transit pass:
The transit of forest produce is governed by Rule 31 of the Maharashtra Forest Rules, 2014.
Accordingly, no forest produce shall be moved into, or from, or within any district without a pass
from authorized officer.
Similarly transport of imported timber made by the Port Authorities from Port to Container Freight
Station or Inland Container Depot, where the customs clearance is made, is also exempted vide
notification dated 20/10/2004.
No transit pass is required to transport the forest produce within the limits of the village, town or a
city, if the forest produce is not obtained from the notified forest and a prior intimation has been
made to concerned Range Forest Officer.
Considering the convenience of the people, Government of Maharashtra has also exempted
following produce/species from the purview of transit permission namely:
1. Nilgiri (Eucalyptus)
2. Babhul (Acacia nilotica)
3. Subabhul (Leucaena Leucocephala)
4. Prosopis (Prosopia juliflora)
5. Ashok (Polyalthia longifilia)
6. Drumstick (Moringa Oleifera)
7. Sindi (Phoenix Sylvestris)
8. Orange (Citrusaurantium)
9. Chikku (Achras Zapota)
10. Bhendi (Thespesia Populnea)
11. Acacia (Acacia mangium)
12. Poplar (Populus) (Excluding areas of Amravati, Yavatmal, Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia,
Chandrapur, Nagpur, Thane, Nasik and Raigad)
13. Dendrocalamus strictus
14. Bambusa bambose (Only for Bhandara and Gondia district)
15. Lac produced in private area
16. Suru (Casuarina equisetifolia)
Dr. Sanjay Kundetkar, Dy. Collector Forest Act & Transit Pass Page 1
17. All Species of Bamboo except Dendrocalamus strictus and Bambusa bambose, Rubberwood
(Hevea brasiliensis, Ficus elastica) obtained from Non-forest land.



Dr. Sanjay Kundetkar, Dy. Collector Forest Act & Transit Pass Page 2