Forest dept committee to decide on fighting for Section 4 land

The Forest Department will soon begin examining whether or not to fight for the land parcels notified as forests under Section 4 of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963. Different estimates put the extent of Section 4 forest at 3.58 lakh to 5.5 lakh acres but many land parcels have been encroached upon.

As per the law, a notification under Section 4 is a prerequisite step for constituting reserve forest areas. The government has to provide at least three months to the public to submit objections or suggestions. The final notification under Section 17 of the Act is issued after forest settlement officers (FSO) look into the claims.

More than 1,000 proposals have been pending for the past 30 years with some Section 4 notifications dating back to the 1970s. “These notifications are at various stages. About 600 of them are pending with the Revenue Department. The Forest Department has tried several times to resolve the matter but the files have not moved an inch,” a source in the government said.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R K Singh has issued an order setting up a committee to study the report of FSOs, specifically the reports recommending the exclusion of the land parcels from the further procedure to declare them as reserved forests. The committee will decide whether FSOs’ report can be contested at the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal.

To a question, an officer said the committee should fight for saving all the parcels of the land instead of legalising encroachments.

“As per the rule, no land can be granted in areas after the Section 4 notification. But several illegal grants have been made. Encroachment is the white elephant that nobody talks about. Successive governments have avoided matters related to Section 4 forests despite directions from the Supreme Court,” an official at the division level said.

Within the department, however, officials have been wary of the Section 4 forests. “There has been reluctance on the part of the territorial officers and revenue officials to work on the matter. Nobody dares clearing encroachment due to lack of political support,” an official said.