State lost 26,000 acres of forests to encroachers in 9 years

Hubbali: Despite stringent legal provisions, Karnataka has lost around 25,767 acres of forest land due to encroachment between 2014 and 2023. 

Of the 14 forest circles in the state, Kalaburagi circle, which has one of the least forested areas, lost the highest forest cover -- 6,333 acres -- during this period. 

Forest department officials attribute this loss to porous borders and staff shortage. The department, over the decade, has filed 6,611 cases. 

According to experts, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Canara, Kodagu and Hassan circles have been reporting a large number of forest land encroachment for cultivation. Bengaluru, the state’s biggest forest circle, is witnessing encroachment for both agriculture and “development”.

“People of Chikkamagaluru have already started facing the consequences of encroachment,” said a Chikkamagaluru-based wildlife activist.

“More human-animal encounters, especially involving elephants, are being reported,” the activist added.

Chikkamagaluru circle, known for its coffee estates and green-covered mountains, has reported encroachment of 5,864 acres of forest land of which Koppa division alone has seen a diversion of 4,130 acres for agriculture in the last 10 years.

According to an affidavit submitted by the forest department in the high court, around 2.04 lakh acres of forest land was encroached as of 2014 and over 1.10 lakh cases were pending in various courts of the state.

Department officials said eviction has been hampered by long legal processes and the state government’s decision to “rehabilitate” farmers who have encroached upon less than three acres of forest land.

The department, in its affidavit, mentioned that a large area of encroached forest land is in the possession of farmers who own less than three arces of land. Praveen Bhargav, a former member of the National Board for Wildlife said, “Several court orders have directed state governments to curb encroachment. However, every round of regularisation has set the stage for another wave of encroachment.”

He said that in 1997, more than 18,000 cases of pre-1980 encroachments were regularised. “Yet, under the Forest Rights Act, one lakh claims of other forest dwellers who had to establish 75 years of continuous occupation, have been granted. This requires to be reviewed but the Forest department has not yet submitted the GPS coordinates to Forest Survey of India, as directed by the Supreme Court,” he said.

Brijesh Kumar Dikshit, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force), said the department is working towards clearing encroachments. “In the last decade, we have evicted more forest encroachers than fresh encroachment cases. The legal process to be followed for eviction takes time and the government policy of rehabilitating small and marginal farmers has to be followed wherever possible. This sometimes results in a bit of delay,” he said. He conceded that one of the reasons for higher encroachment in “lesser green circles” is staff shortage.