Priority to clear forest encroachments near cities: Khandre

Bengaluru: Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar B Khandre on Tuesday directed officials to take steps to prevent further damage to forest ecology, noting that 2 lakh acres of forest area was under encroachment.

Khandre was speaking to the media after holding a meeting with the forest officers to outline priorities of the department in the coming year. "Priority will be given to the removal of encroachments from forests bordering cities, towns and urban areas. We have recovered forest land worth Rs 400 crore in Kothnur (north Bengaluru) and booked a criminal case against the tahsildar and assistant commissioner who had illegally converted the land," he said.

He said directions have also been given to clear large encroachments and decisive steps will be taken after getting range-wise, division-wise and circle-wise data on the forest encroachments in Karnataka.

The minister also noted the importance of protecting the forests in view of the rising man-animal conflict. "The wildlife population is increasing but the forest area is not. This has led to conflict with wildlife. After taking over the department, encroachments have been removed from more than 2,000 acres of forest," he said.

He said destruction of heritage trees in the buffer zones of the protected area was also a punishable offence and there was a need to create awareness among the people living in such areas.

Khandre, however, sought to assure those who had applied for regularisation of encroachments that took place before 1980. "There are 13,155 cases involving 31,864 acres, of which patta can be distributed for 7,000 acres. Instructions will be given to the district nodal officers to clear those files," he said.

Khandre also spoke about the controversy surrounding tiger claw artifacts and the legal issues surrounding the possibility of permitting people to keep such artifacts.

He said the time given to the public to register the artefacts made with wildlife parts has long expired. We are discussing with the legal department to provide a one-time opportunity for three months to register and legalise such artifacts.

'Action as per rule in Vikram Simha case'

Referring to the arrest of Mysuru MP Pratam Simha's brother Vikram Simha in the case regarding illegal felling of 126 trees in Hassan's Belur taluk, the minister said action was initiated as per the rule.

"There is no question of making allegations against a person. The department had arrested the person who had entered into an agreement to cultivate ginger in the land. We have also initiated action against forest officials for dereliction of duty," he added.