Despite recovering 120 acres in Kadugodi, Karnataka forest dept isn’t exactly cheering

Bengaluru: Days after the Forest Department recovered 120 acres of its land worth Rs 4,000 crore in Kadugodi, documents show that the remaining forest land faces the threat of encroachment.

The 120 acres is part of 711 acres of forest in Survey Number 1 of Kadugodi Plantation, notified as 'government plantation' in 1896.

As per the department, land notified under Rule 9 of the Forest Rules of 1878 was a 'state forest', a status reinforced and declared as 'state forest' under the Mysore Forest Regulation of 1900. It became a reserved forest with the coming of the State Forest Act in 1963.

"The 120 acres is a small patch of the 711 acres of green zone, which the maharajas sought to create more than 100 years ago. Layouts and commercial buildings have come up in the remaining forest area. The Forest Department needs to recover it in the larger interest of the public, especially to restore the environment of the eastern part of the city,” an activist said.

However, sources in the department said the land has suffered due to the claims and counter-claims by the revenue and forest departments. The problem is traced to the leasing of 572 acres and 6 guntas of land to Kadugodi Cooperative Joint Farming Society. As many as 201 members of the society sought to claim ownership of 572 acres, though no grant was made to them. Their claim was dismissed by the appellate tribunal. The same was upheld by the High Court.

Meanwhile, the forest land was declared an industrial area and the KIADB leased the plantation land to various companies. There was no de-reservation of the forest land prior to the non-forest use. In fact, the KIADB leased 78.64 acres to a company, and the lease deed recognised the land as “part of forest”.

The department lost grip on 449 acres and 28 guntas of the plantation when a Karnataka High Court order quashed the Forest Department eviction notice to those who were allotted land by the KIADB.

As per the Forest (Conservation) Act and the Supreme Court order in the Godavarman case, the Kadugodi Plantation was a reserved forest which could not be diverted for non-forest use without prior approval.

To a question, Bengaluru Division Deputy Conservator of Forests N Ravindrakumar said procedures have to be followed in recovering the land. “Any initiative to recover the forest land will be taken up with due deference to the High Court orders and the directions of the government,” he said.