Karnataka Forest Minister orders formation of Special Task Force to clear forest land encroachments
Bengaluru: Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre has taken a step to address the issue of forest land encroachments in the state. He has directed the additional chief secretary for forest, ecology, and environment, Jawaid Akhtar, to establish a state-level task force to clear forest land encroachments.
Additionally, the minister has instructed the creation of a separate task force specifically for Bengaluru, where forest encroachments are a daily occurrence.
The directives were issued on September 22 and call for the task forces to comprise officials from various departments, including forest, revenue, home, urban development, rural development, and Panchayati raj.
Minister Khandre emphasized the importance of protecting forested areas, even those with a history of land records dating back a century. He noted that any alterations to the forest landscape can have adverse ecological consequences. Despite the existence of land records, forested areas continue to face encroachments, leading to disruptions in the ecological balance.
The minister acknowledged the coordination between the forest department and the revenue department but stressed the forest department's responsibility for preserving and scientifically managing designated forest areas and freeing them from encroachments. He expressed concern that the eviction of encroachers often stalls due to legal challenges and that encroachment cases have not been consistently pursued to resolution.
These task forces would focus on clearing various encroachment cases and expediting the resolution of pending eviction cases, even if they are at different stages of the legal process. He recommended that the task forces be headed by senior forest department officials and include experts from relevant departments.
Moreover, the minister highlighted the importance of providing government lawyers with access to relevant land records and satellite maps to facilitate the settlement of encroachment cases.
According to the Karnataka Forest Department's Annual Report 2022-23, the state witnesses over 1,000 forest encroachment cases annually. Between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023, the forest department registered 992 encroachment cases. As of March 31, 2023, a backlog of 45,071 encroachment cases existed within the department. During the same period, only 463 cases were disposed of, leaving 44,608 cases pending resolution.
In Bengaluru Urban district alone, out of a total of 16,988 acres of forest land, 2,871.37 acres are encroached upon, as reported by Minister Khandre in July to the Legislative Council.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
