Karnataka govt to further reduce deemed forest land

The extent of deemed forests in Karnataka is set to shrink further from 3.3 lakh hectares to about 2 lakh hectares as the government has decided to drop more areas from the list.

The issue came up following a Supreme Court order in the landmark case of Godavarman Vs Union of India, where it asked the government to identify forests regardless of protection status as well as areas with degraded forests. The state expert committee identified 10.11 lakh hectares in 1997 which has been reduced by subsequent governments which are filing affidavits in the matter.

The latest move comes a year after the then forest minister Anand Singh announced in the Assembly that the government will reduce the original extent of deemed forests from 10 lakh hectares to 3.3 lakh hectares.

In March-April, deputy conservators of forests in all districts received a letter from the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APPCF) in the Working Plan division, advising them to remove from the list the areas notified under Section 4 of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963, as such lands already enjoy protection.

Sources in the department said 1.21 lakh ha of land has been notified as Section 4 forest but most of the area is yet to make it to the next stage of notification under Section 17, which makes it a ‘reserved forest’.

“The ownership of more than 1 lakh ha of Section 4 forest is not with the Forest Department. In this regard, files have been sent to the government more than 30 years ago but to no avail. The Revenue Department, which is supposed to protect it, has not only failed to protect these lands under Forest Conservation Act but also granted ownership of thousands of hectares to private persons illegally,” a senior official said.

APCCF (Working Plan) Jag Mohan Sharma said he was aware of the issues. “Notification of forest areas involves procedures at several stages, including those conducted by the settlement officer. The department is pursuing the matter with the state government. Further measures will be taken as per the rules,” he said.

Aside from 1.21 lakh hectares of ‘protected’ area, district level committees are busy chipping away at the 1.18 lakh hectares of land classified as ‘thickly wooded areas’.

“From district in-charge minister to zilla panchayat members, everyone wants a piece of this unprotected area. It would be a surprise even if half of it remains on paper in the next affidavit,” an official said.

Deliberate mismanagement

A retired official said the government has also dropped more than 1.6 lakh hectares from the deemed forest because it didn’t have enough trees. “An arbitrary rule was made to denotify areas which do not have 50 grown trees in 2 hectares,” the official said.

State Wildlife Board member Joseph Hoover said the government needs to reclaim such land for afforestation.

“At the Centre, the prime minister reiterates the need to protect forests and environment. At the state level, we have a government that is doing away with whatever greenery has been left. The time has come for the forest department to put its foot down in such matters,” he said.