Forest Minister C P Yogeeshwara on Thursday insisted that illegal quarrying was indeed taking place in Kanakapura taluk, disagreeing with the contents of the Mohammed Sanaulla report on illegal quarrying.
His statement comes a day after Congress MLA D K Shivakumar made public the report submitted by the senior IAS officer, stating that there was no quarrying within the forests of Kanakapura.
Yogeeshwara said neither had his department received Sanaulla’s report nor had the officer sought the department’s support during the probe. The report was submitted to the government in March.
“I am not sure how the inquiry was conducted, but the officer has neither consulted my department nor has he taken any information from us. As far as my knowledge goes, the government has not accepted the report. I don’t want to react to statements made by vested interests, but my department’s findings clearly indicate that illegal quarrying is alive in Kanakapura,” he said.
He said while 12 lessees were quarrying in the deemed forests, 15 lessees were quarrying inside the reserve forests. He said 26 companies continued quarrying within 100 metres of the forest area.
“Illegal quarrying has been going on for the last 20 years, despite measures against it by the department. The department has initiated a survey of the entire area. Also, charges have been framed against officials who have a nexus with the lessees.” He said the situation was so grave that the department had reopened cases against the leaseholders who had been granted reprieve by the High Court.
He said eight cases had been reopened in the Kanakapura JMFC court. The leaseholders are – C R Swamy, D K Suresh, Lepaksha, Indian Rocks, Hen Rocks and Jaysree Dindoor.
Yogeeshwara refused to comment on the statements made by Shivakumar, who alleged that the minister was unnecessarily targeting him.
According to the U V Singh report in 2006, as many as 99 illegal quarries were within the reserve forest area, while 90 lessees were carrying out illegal quarrying within 100 metres of the forests. However, of the 189 instances, forest offence cases were booked against only 143 leaseholders. Of these, 71 cases were filed in the JMFC court in Kanakapura and summons were issued to the respondents. As many as 15 lease holders moved the High Court, which quashed the proceedings of the JMFC, giving them reprieve.