DK Shivakumar
“A total of 12,204 acres of forest land was reclaimed from encroachers, at an average rate of 4,000 acres per year. Besides, another 15,000 acres of land was declared forest land. In Bengaluru alone, 252 acres of forest land was recovered from land sharks,” said a forest official, requesting anonymity.
Bengaluru: Having adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards encroachments over the past three years and gone the extra mile to reclaim forest land, the department’s officials may henceforth have to walk a fine line following chief minister DK Shivakumar ’s strong comments against their “excessive” actions.
A retired principal chief conservator of forest who was present at the Martyrs’ Day event said, “The CM’s remarks could potentially create a catch-22 situation for field personnel — act firmly and risk being accused of excessive enforcement, or proceed cautiously and be soft on encroachment.
Participating in the National Forest Martyrs’ Day event at Aranya Bhavan Friday, Shivakumar said the public do not accept forest officials in the same way they accept police officers. Referring to strict enforcement of the law by foresters on the ground, Shivakumar said, “Forest officials in some cases act excessively. “You all must cultivate friendly relationships with communities living on the fringes of forests. The issue of forest encroachment is not something new. It has to be resolved as per legal provisions, and you should not exert unnecessary pressure on the public,” the CM instructed forest officials. You should not obstruct development projects, and such projects should be allowed certain exemptions or relaxations. The CM’s words come at a sensitive time for the forest department, which has been repeatedly directed to identify and act against fresh encroachments over the past three years. It is even more significant along forest boundaries, where complaints of forest encroachment often involve cultivation, construction and expansion of settlements into forest land. Any hesitation or delay in acting on such complaints could make subsequent eviction considerably more difficult. During the tenure of Eshwar Khandre as the forest minister over the last three years, Karnataka set a record in reclaiming encroached land.