324 acres of Turahalli forest saved from the jaws of land mafia

Legal battle

After a 20-year battle, the Forest Department has thwarted an attempt by the land mafia to take over 324 acres of the Turahalli Minor Forest. The land in Survey Number 5 of Uttarahalli Manavarte (UM) Kaval is part of the Turahalli Mini Forest spread over 597 acres and 19 guntas, notified as reserved forest as far back as 1934.

For a decade, officials have been gathering documents to prove the land’s  “reserved forest” status. “We wanted to prevent it from becoming another layout,” an official said.

The land-grab attempt first came to the department’s notice in 2004 when a man named V Srinivas and 87 others moved the court claiming ownership of 343 acres and 38 guntas of UM Kaval. The department complained to the deputy commissioner. 

In 2006, the Bangalore South Tahsildar found that sale deeds and agreements were registered with false documents to stake claim to the forest land. The tahsildar cited false survey details that were used to register 20 acres in the name of Dinesh Kumar, and recommended action against the sub registrar. However, the assistant commissioner for Bangalore South in 2009 ruled that it was not forest land and the applicants do not have to produce Saguvali Chit to prove they were in possession of the land for 30 years as required under the regularisation rules.

A shocked Forest Department then approached the revenue authorities seeking an investigation “against miscreants and land grabbers forging documents to take over forest land valued at crores of rupees”.

When the deputy commissioner stayed the 2009 order, those claiming the land moved the high court. In 2021, the high court directed the deputy commissioner to dispose of the case within three months.

In his order last week, Deputy Commissioner KA Dayanand took note of the fact that the forest land, since the gazette notification of 1934, has never been denotified, which is a prerequisite for making grants to private individuals.

He also cited the findings of the Bager Hukum Committee which said that the applicants had “never cultivated” and were “never in possession” of the land. They had also submitted a fake revenue sketch which had led to an inquiry and the suspension of the land surveyor concerned.

“Considering the facts, it has been established that the assistant commissioner’s order (2009) violates the rules and the same has been cancelled,” the order said. A senior official said at least four layouts and hundreds of buildings have come up on forest land in several cases pending before the revenue officials. “In many cases, the forest department has been finding it difficult to raise the issue because those living in the areas are people vested with constitutional powers,” the official added.