Oppn members object to list of deemed forest

The Opposition members from the Malnad districts on Monday unitedly opposed the State government’s list, indicating the types of land brought under the deemed forest status, and demanded withdrawal of the same.

Answering a question by C T Ravi (BJP) in the Assembly, Forest Minister Ramanath Rai presented an annexure indicating the extent of deemed forests under 23 categories.

This included Bane, Jamamalai, Paisari, Kans, Mangroves, lakes, plantations, community land, among others. The MLAs from Kodagu, Chikmagalur, Shimoga and Udupi districts argued that if every type of land falls under the forest category, then people would have a tough time eking out a living. BJP MLAs K G Bopaiah, Appachu Ranjan, C T Ravi, KJP’s B S Yeddyurappa and JD(S) MLA H K Kumaraswamy argued that the government should not submit it to the Supreme Court, which is yet to hear the State’s argument on the classification of deemed forests.