BANGALORE, DEC 7: ARS-135 crore forest encroachment scam unearthed by the Karnataka Forest department has identified Janata Dal State President B L Shankar, his brother B L Diwakar, father-in-law H P Kenchegowda, and several others, as prime offenders.A huge 3,309-acre reserve forest area in the ecologically-sensitive Western Ghats, in Chikmaglur district, have been illegally appropriated. Coffee planters, including the Dal politicians, account for over 2652 acres, while farmers have gobbled up 656 acres. In all, 416 cases have been booked in the short span between August 1 and November 30 this year.An irate coffee lobby, aided by powerful politicians and bureaucrats, were on the watch-out for an opportunity to strike back. On Nov 30 the Forest Mobile Squad, Chikmaglur, filed an First Information Report (FIR) against Shankar, a member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, a former minister, and a man known to be close to former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. Within a few days, on Dec 3, the State Government shifted A M Annaiah, IFS - the man behind the crackdown - from the post of Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Chikmagalur Division, and put G A Sudarshan, DCF, Working Plan, Chikmaglur, in his place. With the move - a clear violation of the Government's September 27 circular banning any transfer till March 31, 1998 - the government hopes to scuttle further investigations into the Dal heavyweight's actions, as the Forest Department has only registered FIRs in most of the cases.Shankar and his two relatives have encroached upon 31.12 acres of Tathkola reserve forests abutting their Moule Kenjigegudda Coffee Estate in the Mudigere range, and have already begun to develop the land as a coffee plantation. The value of the land is estimated to be about Rs 1.24 crore.Other politicians booked are C A Chandregowda, former Congress MLA, and Marisiddegowda, a Dal leader and former Mandal Pradhan of Aldur. These have allegedly encroached upon areas measuring 14.08 acres and 23 acres respectively.In a number of cases, the extent of encroached area ranges from 30 to a maximum of 110 acres. Experts point out that on an average, the planters could earn over Rs 70,000 a year from an acre of coffee plantation. ``Coffee planters went berserk on an encroaching spree in recent years, after the prices of coffee shot up.''Forest department officials estimate the value per acre land in the Mudigere range at Rs 4 lakhs. These are thick reserve forests, declared to have a density of 80 per cent.
