Karnataka: Case registered against private resort owners for ‘encroaching’ forest land
The encroached land is part of a 7,300-acre area in Sakleshpura that was declared as forest land in 1920, but the said area has not yet been notified by the state government as a reserved forest.
It is for the first time in two decades that the tree cover has fallen below 3 per cent. The tree cover of 2.80 percent is also the second lowest since 2.06 per cent (4,036 sqkm) recorded in 2001. (Representational image) A forest offence case (FOC) has been registered against the proprietors of a private resort for alleged encroachment of forest land in the state. Forest officers said that the proprietors have built a resort and a residential facility over a five-acre area at Survey Number 92 of Moorkannugudda forest in Sakleshpura.
🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️
Speaking with indianexpress.com, a senior forest department official said, “The proprietors concerned say that they have bought the land from the revenue department. However, no revenue officer has any authority to grant forest land. The law clearly says that any such transaction is null and void. This has also been reiterated many times over by the highest court of the country. When any forest land is granted illegally by revenue officers, the land in question does not get denotified… And we absolutely consider it as an encroachment. So, the forest department has every right to remove the encroachment.”
The officer further said that the encroached land is part of a 7,300-acre area in Sakleshpura that was declared as forest land in 1920, but the said area has not yet been notified by the state government as a reserved forest. “The state government has to issue a notification under Section 4 of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963 specifying the extent and limits of the area to be designated as a reserve forest… The government under Section 17 of the Act has to finally publish a notification to declare the land as a reserve forest,” he added.
Notably, there are other resorts also in the vicinity that offer trekking facilities and rides on four wheelers within the forest.
Share
