KPCL must return unused 20k acres to Karnataka forest dept: Activists

Bengaluru: Activists from Uttara Kannada have demanded the forest department to recover the 20,000 acres of land given to the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and reject the company’s proposal for additional forest to build the Sharavathi Pumped Storage
Project.

In a letter to the Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister, Vruksha Laksha Andolana stated that 20,000 acres of forest in Kargal, Shivamogga, has been lying unused as a waste land for over 50 years. The land, part of the 2 lakh acres aquired for building the Sharavathi Linganamakki dam, is still referred to as KPCL land in the revenue documents.

Anant Hegde Ashisara of the Andolana said the forest land closer to the dam was slowly being destroyed by the vested interests. “The KPCL should have returned the unused land to the government,” he said, adding that the officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change should visit the area and inquire into the matter to bring out the truth.