3-acre mark favours forest land-grabbers, says activist

State government urged to refrain from making forest encroachers immune to punishment

A Bengaluru-based activist has approached the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), requesting the Ministry to issue directions to the Government of Karnataka to refrain from making statements exempting forest land encroachments below three acres.

The written appeal underlines statements given by political leaders, including Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar B Khandre, to the media and in open forums, about Karnataka’s decision to immune encroachers of forest land below three acres from eviction.

“The order issued by the Government of Karnataka in 2015 directing forest department officials not to evict such encroachers is illegal and contempt of court. In my letter, I have requested the Ministry to issue necessary directions to the state government to refrain from making such statements and withdraw the order issued in 2015,” said Ramprasad, Bengaluru based activist.

In 2015, the Karnataka government issued an order that asked the forest department to submit a revised list of encroachers with a maximum of

three acres for regularisation. Karnataka environment minister, in an order given to forest department officials a couple of months ago, reiterated the exemption.

Environmentalists and conservationists point to a circular issued by MoEF&CC in 2002, that the document notes that all forest land encroachments, which are not eligible for regularisation, should be evicted in a time-bound manner.

“In its 2002 circular, MoEF&CC had cited a Supreme Court order of 2001. The order restrained the Central Government from regularisation of encroachments in the country. This exemption has led to many scams. To please local politicians and favour encroachers, officials are splitting encroached forest areas to avail of this exemption. The state government should roll back the order and evict every encroachment irrespective of the size of the forest land,” said a city-based conservationist.

Majority of encroachments in Western Ghat less than 3 acres: KFD
On August 2, Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre instructed the Deputy Chief Secretary of the state environment ministry to clear all forest encroachments in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. As per the order, any form of encroachment of forests in all Western Ghat districts - Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Mysore, Chamarajanagara, Belgaum, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu, and Hassan - was supposed to be cleared. This would include barangays, plantations, homestays, and resorts.

A task force led by the principal chief conservator of forests and the head of the forest force was formed to clear encroachments.

“We have started the process of identifying encroachments and sending notices to encroachers. However, almost 60% of the encroachments in the Western Ghat region are under three acres. This is a difficulty we are facing,” said a source from KFD.

Gok order akin to incentivising encroachers: CAG

The 2017 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India highlighted the Karnataka Government’s order and stated that the order is tantamount to incentivising encroachers.

This is after the state government in an order dated September 21, 2015, issued instructions to the forest department to prepare and submit a division and circle-wise proposal to GoI through DCF, CCF, and PCCF to relocate and rehabilitate the encroachers.

CAG noted that out of the total encroachments of 9,524 acres recorded in the sampled Protected Areas in the state, 3,845 families were found involved in encroachment of 5,847 acres of forest land and were categorised as ‘below three acres’ by considering only the encroached forest land and not the land owned by them.

“Classifying encroachers as “below three acres”, without conducting a joint survey with the Revenue Department, could lead to undue benefit to the encroachers. The instructions issued by GoK in September 2015, to not clear encroachments below three acres, were contrary to the instructions issued by the GoI. The act of not evicting the persons who encroached forest lands after 1978 and rehabilitating “below three acres” encroachers is tantamount to incentivising them,” noted CAG.

Panel to document state’s forests

The state government has decided to form a committee for comprehensive documentation of notified and deemed forests in Karnataka. The decision was taken at a meeting of Karnataka Forest and Revenue ministers on Thursday. The committee will be constituted within 15 days from now.
Rule 16 of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, provides for the constitution of an expert committee to create a comprehensive record of forest areas, examine and rectify shortcomings, and submit a consolidated report within six months.

The Supreme Court in 1996 had directed the state to constitute an expert committee to identify forests and submit a factual report in an affidavit. Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda informed that instructions have already been issued to the Revenue Department and survey work is in progress in 20 districts.

“If both departments conduct a joint survey in a couple of districts, they will find out about the problems and confusions. This will help in the submission of the report of the new expert committee,” he said. A list of all notified and deemed forests will help in the verification process,” said Gowda.