Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre asks department to focus on removing encroachments

Bengaluru: Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Friday directed officials of the department to take up necessary steps to evict encroachments and utilise technology to get better results from the ground.

At an event at Aranya Bhavan here, the minister told officials to utilise the 'E-Gastu', a mobile-based application developed to track the patrolling work done by frontline staffers, and deploy other instruments that can check forest and wildlife crimes.

He said removing encroachments was a difficult job. "Steps are needed to be taken to evict encroachments that have taken place post 2015. We need to strengthen the legal cell as well as the vigilance wing of the department in this regard," he added.

Khandre said felling of trees, poaching, encroachment, man-animal conflicts are among the major challenges faced by the department. He asked officials to ensure no life is lost in the efforts made for conservation.

Meanwhile, the department on Friday inducted three four-wheelers and 10 bikes into the elephant task force in Hassan. The vehicles were purchased through corporate social responsibility funds provided by the National Highways Authority of India.