JOIN USForest dept lays claim to almost half of Jakkur Plantation Village
The Assistant Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru North, has urged the Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru North subdivision of Bengaluru Urban district to change the mutation of Jakkur Plantation Village in 177 acres and 28 guntas and record the chunk of land in the RTC as state forest.
The Assistant Commissioner of Bengaluru North subdivision has taken up a suo motu case following reports of large-scale illegalities in the Jakkur Plantation Village, which is primarily a state forest, which means it’s a reserved forest.
As the matter came up before the court on Friday, advocates of people who have built houses, apartments, commercial buildings and other facilities claimed that their clients lawfully own the land, and presented documents in that regard to the Assistant Commissioner.
The Assistant Conservator of Forests, Lakshminarayana P, argued that the land is primarily a state forest and should be restored as per the law. He cited 26 rulings of the Supreme Court, which from time to time had passed orders about protecting and conserving reserved forests. He told the court that the records of Rights, Tenancy and Crop inspection (RTC) had names different from the ones that figure in the BBMP khata.
Based on the submission, the Assistant Commissioner issued notices to 80 people for
encroaching upon the forest land and constructing buildings on them. They have been summoned on December 11 at 3 pm.
Brief facts of the case
The matter dates back to 1935 when the Jakkur Plantation Village was carved out of Jakkur and it had only nine survey numbers. Spread over 377 acres and 28 guntas, the Jakkur Allalasandra Plantation was given a status of state forest through a gazette notification (8393-Ft 222-34-2) on March 11, 1935, under section 4 of the Mysore Forest Regulation (11 of 1900). The notification was published in the Mysore Gazette on March 14, 1935.
Initially, the whole 377 acres and 28 guntas were reserved for State but after the public hearing, 200 acres were granted to the Jakkur airfield (the present-day Government Flying Training School) on November 1, 1935, forest officials said, requesting anonymity.
Subsequently, under gazette notification (AF1549-Ft 58-40-3) dated September 17, 1940, which was published on September 26, 1940, the remaining portion of land, which is 177 acres and 28 guntas, was declared state forest.
As many as 70 fictitious survey numbers were created in the Jakkur Plantation Village in order to dodge government agencies and create confusion.