Bare Acts Live

The Mizo District (Forest) Act, 1955

(Act No. 4 of 1955)

ner557

[Passed by the Mizo District Council]

(1) "Cattle" includes also buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats, and kids ;

(2) "Council Forest" means the forest in the District other than the reserved forest ;

(3) "Council Forest Officer" means any person appointed as such or holding an office by or under the orders of the District Council and shall include Forest Guards, Assistant Rangers, Forest Rangers and any other person appointed to discharge the duties and functions of a Council Forest Officer under this Act or any rule thereunder ;

(4) "Council Reserved Forest" means any forest constituted as such by or under the orders of the Mizo District Council;

(5) "Deputy Commissioner" means the Deputy Commissioner of Mizo District;

(6) "District" means the Autonomous Mizo District;

(7) "District Council" means the District Council of the Mizo District constituted under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India and in accordance with the Assam Autonomous District (Constitution of District Councils) Rules, 1951 ;

(8) "Executive Committee" means the Executive Committee of Mizo District Council and the term "Chief Executive Member", "Member Executive Committee" shall be construed accordingly;

(9) "Forest offence" means an offence punishable under this Act or any rule thereunder;

(10) "Forest produce" means forest produce of Council Forest and includes-

(a) the following whether found in or brought from a forest or not, that is to say, timber, charcoal, caoutchouc, catechu wood oil, resin, natural varnish, bark, lac and myrabolams, and

(b) the following when found in or brought from a forest, that is to say-

(i) tress and leaves, and fruits, and all other parts or produce not hereinbefore mentioned of trees ;

(ii) plants not being trees (including grass, creepers, reeds and moss) and all parts or produce of such plants ;

(iii) skins, horns, bones, silk cocoons, honey and wax and all other parts or produce of animals ; and (iv) peats, surface oil, rocks and all other products of quarries ;

(11) "Land at the disposal of the District Council" means any land at the disposal of the Mizo District Council in respect of which no person has acquired a permanent heritable and transferable right of use and occupancy under any law for the time being in force or any right created by grant or lease made or continued by, or on behalf of the State Government ;

(12) "President" means the President of a Village Council appointed under the provisions of the Lushai Hills Autonomous District (Administration of Justice) Rules, 1953 ;

(13) "Reserved forest" has the same meaning as assigned to it by sub-paragraph (2) of Paragraph 3 of the Sixth Schedule- to the Constitution of India;

(14) "River" includes also streams, canals, creeks and other channels natural or artificial;

(15) "Secretary" means the Secretary to the Executive Committee of the Mizo District Council;

(16) "Timber" includes trees when they have fallen or have been felled, and all wood, whether cut up or fashioned out for any purpose or not;

(17) "Tree" includes palms, bamboos, stumps, brushwood and canes ;

(18) "Village Council" means a Village Council constituted under the provisions of the Lushai Hills Autonomous District (Administration of Justice) Rules, 1953.

(a) Village Safety Reserve, that is, reserve for the protection against fire from or without reserve constituted in the interest of health and water supplied. No one shall utilise for any purpose, any portion of land inside this reserve and no trees shall be cut in this reserve except with the permission of the Executive Committee. The Village Council may dispose of any dead trees in the manner it considers most beneficial for the village ;

(b) Village Supply Reserve, that is, reserve for the supply of the needs of the village. Any person resident in the village may cut trees and bamboos from this reserve for this household needs. The Village Council shall have the power to distribute land within this reserve from jhum ;

(c) Protected Forest Reserve, that is, reserve for protection of valuable forest from destruction for the interest of the village communities. No one shall utilise for any purpose any portion of land inside this protected forest reserve and no tree shall be cut in the protected forest reserve except with the permission of the Executive Committee.

(1) trespasses or pastures cattles, or permits cattle to trespass;: or

(2) causes any damage by negligence in felling any tree or cutting or dragging timber;

(1) sets fire or in contravention of any rules made by the Executive Committee kindles any fire or leaves any fire burning in such manner as to endanger such a forest; or

(2) kindles, keeps or carries any fire except in such seasons and in the manner as the Executive Committee may from time to time notify; or

(3) fells, cuts, girdles, marks, lops, taps or injures by fire or other means any trees; or

(4) quarries stones, bums limes or charcoal or collects, subject to any manufacturing process, or removes any forest produce ; or

(5) clears or breaks up any land or cultivation or any other purposes; or

(6) poisons water or in contravention of any rule made by the Executive Committee, fishes or set traps or snares,

(1) When any property person has been seized as liable to confiscation the same may be released on payment of the value thereof estimated by the Executive Committee.

(2) On the payment of such sum of money, or such value, or both, as the case may be, the suspected person, if in custody, shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against such person or property.

(a) knowingly counterfeits upon any tree or timber a mark used by Forest Officers to indicate that such tree or timber is the property of the District Council or some person, or that it may lawfully be felled or removed by some person, or

(b) unlawfully fixes to any tree or timber mark used by Forest Officers, or

(c) alters, defaces or obliterates any such mark placed on any tree or timber by or under the authority of a Council Forest Officer, or

(d) alters, moves, destroys or defaces any boundary mark of any forest to which this Act applies,

(a) in extinguishing any fire occurring in such forest;

(b) in preventing any fire which may occur in the vicinity of such forest from spreading to such forest ;

(c) in preventing the commission in such forest of any forest offences ; and

(d) when there is reason to believe that any such offence has been committed in such forest in discovering and arresting the offender.

(i) the area will be selected by the Council Forest Officer with the approval of the Executive Committee ;

(ii) an allotment of maximum 12 (twelve) bighas of jhum land will be annually made for each resident's household ;

(iii) the villagers themselves will sow or plant with their crops the seeds or plants of such forest trees in such manner as the Forest Officer may direct.

Appendix I

Reserved Trees

Appendix II

[Section 5]

Permit for timber and other forest produces to be to collected from Autonomous Mizo District

Signature of Designation of the Issuing Officer

1. This permit must be in the possession of the person removing forest produce under it, and must be produced by such person whenever called upon to do so by a Forest Officer.

2. Only tree marked with the District Council hammer may be felled. No log or sawn timber may be removed from felling site unless it has been measured and marked with the prescribed hammer, i.e., passing hammer, if royalty is to be paid at site.

Note. - Logs may not be converted at sites unless they have been measured, and unless the sale is at converted timber rates.

3. All timber and other forest produces must be removed from the forest within the time granted in the permit.

4. This permit must be returned to the nearest Forest office within one month of the date of its expiry.

5. Any advance royalty paid at the time of taking out a permit will lapse to District Council with the lapsing of the permit unless application for extension has been made to the Executive Member in-charge, Forests within one month from the date of expiry and the Executive Member in-charge, Forests, Mizo District Council, exercising its discretion, has granted an extension which may not exceed a further period of twelve months after realisation of an extension fee not exceeding 25 per cent of the royalty on the forest produce to be removed under permit.

6. Breach of any of the above conditions will render this permit liable to be cancelled and other forest produce confiscated, notwithstanding any other penalties incurred by the permit holder under the Mizo District Forest Act, 1955 or rules made thereunder.

Signature of Forest Officer

Signature of the Permit Holder.

Appendix II-A

[Section 7 (2)]

Forest Department, District Council, Mizo District

..........Range..........Revenue Station.

1. Name and residence of Permit Holder.........

2. No. and date of Permit or Agreement.........

3. Kind of forest produce.........

4. Number of pieces, packages or bundles...........

5. Measurements, cubic contents or weight..........

6. Marks-hammer or other..........

7. Rate......

8. Amount paid.........

9. Locality from where collected.......

10. Place from which to be transported

11. Destination...........

12. Route of transport.......

13. Date of issue .........

14. Date of expiry...........

Signature and Designation of Issuing Officer.

1. Any person removing timber or other forest produce without a Transit Pass in this form in contravention of any rules made under Section 42 of the Mizo District Forest Act, 1955 is liable for punishment.

2. The Transit Pass must be produced whenever called upon to do so by a Forest Officer.

Appendix III

B	6' to under 12'	0.25	12' and over	0.40
C	6' to under 12'	0.20	12' and over	0.35
D	6' to under 12'	0.15	12' and over	0.25
E	6' to under 12'	0.10	12' and over	0.15
F	6' to under 12'	0.50	12' and over	0.10

1.	Plough pieces for unreserved species converted from branch wood of felled trees	0.15
2.	Plough pieces of reserved species converted from branch wood of felled trees	0.20
3.	Old Gonsoroi stumps of (felled) trees)	0.20
4.	Undressed posts (chapter substitutes for bamboo) of all species except Jarul, Jageswar, Cham, Gundroi, Kura, Rata, Poma, Jhoki, Tailo, Sundi, Karal, lam and Ping up to 2' in girth and 25' in length	0.15
5.	Chamia (used as post plate and for other purposes) of all species except Jarul. Nageswar, Cham, Gundroi, Kurta, Kota, Poma, Jhoki, Tailo, Sundi, Karal, lam and Ping, up to 2' girth and 25' in length	0.15
6.	Husking pole of all species except hard wood	0.15
7.	Husking pole of all species of hard wood	0.20
8.	Paddle or oar of all species up to 5' in length	0.10
9.	Paddle or oar of over 5' in length	0.15
10.	Ish (a part of plough) of all species 9'in length	0.10
11.	Gail (a round wooden vessel for husking paddy) of all species up to 3' girth and 18"-20" in length	0.10
12.	Gail (a round vessel for husking paddy) of all species over 3' girth	0.15
13.	Kund (a small dugout for watering paddy field etc.) of all species up to 10' in length	0.50
14.	Kund (a small dugout for watering paddy field etc.) of all species over 10' in length	1.00
15.	Plough of all species	0.50
16.	Poles (for fencing paddy fields and homestead lands against animals of all species up to 6' in length and 15” in girth	0.15 per 100

		Rs.
Bambusa vulgaris	Bariala	7.50
Bambusa tulda-jati	Mirtenga	5.00
Bambusa Pallida	Haill jati, Bijli	3.75
Bambusa balcooa	Barua, Bhaluka	7.50
Dendrocalamus hamiltonii	Karop, Pecha	2.00
Dendrocalamus stricuts	Male Katabans	5.00
Pseudostachyum-Polymorphum	Bajal	1.00
Teinortachyum dullo	Dalu	1.50
Melocanna bambusoides	Muli	2.00
Other bamboos 2 inches and above in dieambeter		1.50
Other bamboos 2 inch and above in diameter		0.75
Other bamboos less than 1 inch, in diameter		0.50

1' girth	Rs. 3.75 per 1000 bundles.
1-½' girth	Rs. 8.50 per 1000 bundles.
2' girth	Rs. 15.00 per 1000 bundles.

Calamus guruba	Sundi
Calamus tenuies	Jati, Jali
Calamus flagellum	Raidang	Rs. 0.25 per 240 rft.
Calamus latifolius	Houka, Horna
Deemonorps jenkinsianus	Golla
Calamus leptospadix	Tita	Rs. 0.20 per 240 rft.
Calamus floribundus	Lejai	Rs. 0.10 per 240 rft.

Up to 6 inches girth	Re. 1.00 per 100 bundles
Over 6 inches in girth to 1' girth	Rs. 3.00 per 100 bundles
Over 1' to 1-½' girth	Rs. 6.00 per 100 bundles

Rs. 2 and Rs. 4 per 100 cft. respectively.

Rs. 4 per cft.

Rs. 4 and Rs. 2 per 100 per cft. respectively.

Toko at Re. 0.65 per, 1,000 leaves.

Jeng and other leaves Re. 0.35 per, 1,000 leaves.

Appendix IV

To....
of........
Circle....
District.....

Signature and designation of
the Officer granting the licence

(i) that the licence is not transferable.

(ii) That the licence shall always be in the personal possession of the licensee when purchasing wax.

(iii) That the licence shall be returned either to the Executive Committee or to the officer by whom it was issued, within one week, or before the date on which the period for which it was issued, expires.

Appendix V

Boundaries of the Town Forest Reserve of Aijal Town

Appendix VI

Receipt Book

[In triplicate]

Designation.