Forest encroachment rampant in Shivamogga: Survey

Nischith N | NT

Bengaluru: Shivamogga holds the dubious distinction of highest number of forest encroachments in the state, amounting to over 28% of the state’s total in terms of acreage.

Forest officials say that over 50,000 acres of forest has been encroached upon in Shivamogga forest circle due to political pressure and not even an inch of land has been retrieved from the culprits over the years. Shivamogga is also a major hub of Karnataka politics, and has given rise to top BJP politicians like B.S. Yediyurappa and K.S. Eshwarappa.

A recent survey conducted by Karnataka Forest department, which has accessed by News Trail, claims that more than 1,77,997 acres of forest land has been encroached across Karnataka, out of which 50,579 acres is from Shivamogga circle (which includes Shivamogga, Bhadravathi, Sagar and Shivamogga WL) and it is leant that no action has been taken against these encroachments.

According to a senior Forest department official requesting anonymity, “To protect the forest, the authorities initially evict the tribals by lodging cases of illegal tree-felling, but most of the cases were dismissed for want of evidence. The tribals have been living in unauthorized settlements ever since. Today, however, the scenario is entirely different. All the forest land is encroached by the political leaders and their followers, also in these districts like Shivamogga and Ballari political pressure is high”.

The data reads that survey has categorized into two; those below three acres and those above three acres. In Shivamogga circle, 38,012 cases have been booked for the first category (encroachment below three acres).

The Ballari forest circle has recorded 379 acres of encroachment with not an inch of land has been retrieved from the culprits.

As for encroachment above three acres, Shivamogga forest circle tops the list with 27,918.06 acres, followed by Chikkamagaluru (14,016.62 acres) and Kanara forest circle (9,287.17 acres).

In 2015, the Karnataka government ordered the forest department not to carry out eviction for encroachments less than three acres. A letter dated July 30, 2020 by Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) (head of forest force) Sanjai Mohan to the additional chief secretary (forest, ecology and environment department) stated that based on the government order, encroachments that occurred after April 27, 1978, whose extent is not more than three acres, should not be evicted until rehabilitation and rearrangement packages are prepared for the consideration at government level.

The PCCF requested the additional chief secretary to identify any suitable external agency or to move the appropriate level of authority to carry out and facilitate rehabilitation and rearrangement packages for enabling the forest department to take action on the encroached lands. He mentioned in the letter that the forest department does not have additional funds to carry out the process on its own. The Supreme Court in its 1998 judgment in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India directed the Karnataka government to evict encroachment which happened after April 1978.

Many political experts’ claim that Shivamogga and Ballari have emerged as a hotbed of Hindutva politics. “Now the same government is in power but the department is finding it difficult to get back their land.” The report also says that in Bengaluru over 7,928.52 acres of forest land have been encroached upon in the below-three acre category and 5,087.77 acres in cases above three acres.