In a move that could result in massive corruption and land-grab, about 232 acres of forest land at Gulikamale in Uttarahalli Hobli of Bengaluru have been converted to revenue land and being sold to private people.
The land in question is close to Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and has acted as a buffer zone separating the expanding city from the shrinking wildlife habitat.
According to land records, the Forest Department has been the owner of the land in 2013-14. The land parcel is part of the C&D land sanctioned by the government in 1934, when the Forest Department was given 319.14 acres in survey number 35 and 184 acres in survey number 36. Based on a court order, the Forest Department was given the title of the land in the record of rights, tenancy and crops (RTC).
However, in September 2014, then Assistant Commissioner Bengaluru South L C Nagaraj passed an order declaring the land as ‘Muffat Gomala’ (free grazing land) belonging to the Revenue Department. Following this, the khata of the Forest Department was cancelled.
In the following days, several people submitted applications claiming title of the land. The Forest Department came to know about the issue later. In 2018, then Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru Urban district, Dipika Bajpai red-flagged the attempts to encroach forest land in a letter the Principal Secretary of Revenue Department.
The letter, which came after the then Deputy Commissioner failed to respond to her concerns, warned that the order by the assistant commissioner has opened doors to “mass level corruption”. “Large scale grants have been made and the land has been given away to more than 25 individuals,” she said.
Another officer said the assistant commissioner never heard the side of the Forest Department. “He came to his own conclusion citing that there was no gazette notification on grant of land to the Forest Department,” he noted.
Dipika’s letter cited another government order on July 20, 1994 which granted the land to the Forest Department. Noting that funds and resources spent over the years have transformed the land into a natural forest, she said, “The lands abut Bhootanahalli Minor Forest in Anekal Taluk and are contiguous to BNP, forming an important corridor to the elephants for a stopover during their seasonal migrations from Bannerghatta to Savandurga forests and vice versa,” she said.
To a question, DCF Bengaluru Urban S S Ravishankar said there has been no progress in the matter. “We have written to the revenue authorities as per the procedure. We are yet to get a response,” he said.
Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner J Manjunath said encroachment of forest land was a serious matter. “This issue has not come to my notice till now. I will look into it and take action,” he
added.
Another officer said the land mafia has dealt a death blow to the forests surrounding Bengaluru. “Everyone is hand in glove in these matters. Crores of rupees are paid for illegal grant of land on bogus claims. Wildlife corridors are turned into plots to build gated communities for the rich, who bring pressure on the department when a conflict occurs,” he added.
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