Karnataka: Recover 444-acre forest land from IAF, Environment minister Khandre tells officials

Bengaluru: Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed officials to issue a notice to the authorities of the Indian Air Force (IAF), which is in possession of 444 acres of land in Srigandhada Kaval at Jarakabande in north Bengaluru.

In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary, Khandre referred to a matter brought to the fore by opposition leader R Ashoka, directing the initiation of eviction proceedings under Section 64A of the Karnataka Forest
Act.

He said Ashoka had raised the matter of IAF encroaching upon the “reserved forest” in the Legislative Assembly on March 23. 

“He (Ashoka) had urged the clearing of this encroachment. I have answered that the chief secretary had, on September 15, 2018, written to the defence secretary suggesting that an application for regularisation of the land under its possession under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980 would be filed,” the letter said.

Ashoka had said that the IAF had failed to regularise the land and urged the department to recover the same.