State dissolves panel on forest encroachment

 The State government has dissolved a committee headed by Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) U V Singh which was constituted on October 2, 2015, to look into encroachment of around 12,000 acres of forest land in the City, including lakes and reserve forests.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is said to have recalled the related file three days ago from the forest department.

Sources in the Forest department told Deccan Herald on Wednesday that the State government formed the committee under pressure from various quarters, as rising cases of encroachment had come to light.

“The committee had held a meeting on October 8 to study the order and was in the process of drafting a list of 25 controversial places in the City to start with. The committee was also planning to study the land details on ground and how the land has been developed, how much has been notified and denotified,” the sources said.

It had sought some clarification from the government regarding its powers to book cases and penalise offenders. But before anything could move forward, the government has withdrawn its orders, the source added. The committee included APCCF’s K S Sugura, Meenakshi Negi and Hari Kumar Jha. Chief conservator of forests G S Kariyappa, former APCCF Venkatasubbaiah and Bengaluru Urban Deputy Conservator of Forests Sunil Panwar.
DH News service