Plot to grab forest land by altering its status foiled in Karnataka

Unearthing a major scam, the Forest Department has found that about 18 acres of forest land near Bharatiya City in north Benglauru, valued at about Rs 500 crore, was unilaterally turned into revenue land, allegedly by the assistant commissioner, in a move that would allow encroachments and illegal grants.

Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre had ordered the vigilance wing of the department to investigate a complaint about sudden change of the status of the land from “forest land” to “government land”. The vigilance report, perused by DH, expressed concern over the “conspiracy to grab forest land” which has led to “new encroachments”.

The 17-acre 34-gunta land was classified as forest in June 2006, according to the order of the deputy commissioner, Bengaluru Urban. However, even as the department took up afforestation work, it had to fight a legal battle to secure full ownership of the land.

An association challenged the deputy commissioner’s order in the high court and Supreme Court. A joint survey of the land by revenue and forest departments was conducted and documents were verified. The team, including Bengaluru East tahsildar and assistant director of land records and surveyor, submitted the revenue map and fixed boundaries. Looking into the findings, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition on March 24, 2017, upholding the land parcel as a forest.

However, in January 2023, M G Shivanna, then assistant commissioner of Bengaluru North, unilaterally converted the forest into “government land”, a step necessary for using the land for non-forest purposes, including commercial and realty projects.

“The assistant commissioner’s order is in violation of the high court and Supreme Court verdicts and hence amounts to contempt of court. The order also violates Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980,” the report said.

Khandre told DH that he was surprised by the violation of the orders of the highest court. “I have looked into the report and its findings point to serious violations. The department is committed to recovering all encroached land. In Bengaluru, every inch of forest needs to be conserved to make the city livable. I have told the officials to raise the matter with their revenue counterparts and reclaim the forest land,” he said.
The vigilance report also noted that the forest officials have not appealed against the assistant commissioner’s order but noted that the tahsildar and the assistant commissioner changed the land’s status “unilaterally”.

“The tahsildar and assistant commissioner had no specific reasons to go against the orders from the top courts. After the unilateral order, new attempts at encroachment have taken place. Prima facie, there is a conspiracy to grab the forest land,” the report said.

To a question, the minister said the law will take its course.

Sources in the department said the Yelahanka range forest officer has booked two FIRs against persons who were trying to encroach the forest land. According to rules, a land classified as forest cannot be used for non-forest purpose and its status cannot be changed without necessary clearances from the Union environment ministry.