33. On certain lands the breaking up or clearing for cultivation, etc., may be regulated or prohibited.
(1)The Government, may, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, regulate or prohibit in any forest or waste land not at the disposal of Government-(a)the breaking up or clearing of land; or(b)the firing or clearing of vegetation; or(c)the pasturing of cattle; when such regulation or prohibition appears to be necessary for any of the following purposes:-(i)for protection against storms, winds, rolling stones, floods and landslips;(ii)for the preservation of the soil on the ridges and slopes and in the valleys of hilly tracts, the prevention of landslips and of the formation of ravines and torrents and the protection of land against erosion or the deposit thereon of sand, stones or gravel;(iii)for the maintenance of water supply in springs, rivers and tanks;(iv)for the protection of roads, bridges, canals and other lines of communication; and(v)for the preservation of public health.Any such notification may be altered or cancelled by a like notification.(2)The Government may, for any such purpose, construct, at their own expense, in or upon any such forest or land, such works as they think fit.(3)No notification under sub-section (1) shall be issued, and no work under sub-section (2) shall be begun, until after the issue of a notice to the owner of such forest or land, calling upon him to show cause, within a reasonable period to be specified in such notice why such notification should not be made or work constructed, and until his objections, if any, and any evidence he may produce in support of the same have been heard by an officer duly appointed in that behalf and have been considered by the Government.
