Encroachers nibble away state’s forest cover

Nischith N. | NT

The forest cover is facing a clear and present danger from encroachers, who often enjoy political patronage, and more than 1.7 lakh acres of forest land has been encroached upon in the state, with Shivamogga district being the worst affected.

Thanks to the political pressure, the Karnataka forest department has been dragging its feet over conducting assessments. A high-level committee had ordered them to survey forests in Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, and Shivamogga wildlife divisions for a decade.

As recent data by released by Karnataka Forest department says that more than 1,77,997 acres of forest land has been encroached across the state, out of which 50,579 acres of land is from Shivamogga and it is leant that no action has been taken against these encroachments.

The best example of government apathy is Bengaluru. A survey of more than 1,000 acres of revenue land was launched in April 2021. Though it was to get over in a few months, the revenue department has still not completed the survey. The area surveyed was to be moved to the forest department to develop an elephant corridor.

Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF, head of forest force), B.K. Singh said, “Forest survey and fixing of demarcation stones were done during the British period across the country. It was solid work done using chain compass surveys. Original boundaries were demarcated and fixed survey points were prominently located on the ground. These were clearly described in boundary notifications, as well.” However, he lamented that later encroachments on forest lands, grant of leases for different purposes fragmented the forests and defaced the boundaries. Also the revenue department granted Forest lands to many, but did not mention boundaries. “All forest land release orders said that few acres are granted to an individual, giving a scope to occupy much more than the grants made, as no boundaries were fixed. All boundaries are therefore in disorder. Any survey ordered by any authority is disputed by the parties, if the result of the survey goes against them,” he said.

As a survey procedure officials choose a reference point and mark the boundaries. So the affected parties or the encroachers who will lose the land if survey is done, will be changing the reference points. During resurvey of the forest lands, it is claimed that people remove the fixed survey points from the ground, which makes the resurvey further difficult. However, in many places forest land is encroached upon by the political leaders and their followers. “By the time another survey takes place, the boundary is further defaced. It goes on endlessly and the survey remains inconclusive. The GPS survey is quick, but is not as accurate as chain compass survey,” he added.ed people.