300 acres of encroached land recovered in Karnataka’s Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary
Tumakuru: The Karnataka Forest Department recovered 300 acres of the Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary at Tiptur sub division in Sira Taluk, Tumkur district. The restored area, located in Survey No. 46 of Muthugadahalli Ambarpur, was declared as forest land in 1926 under the Forest Rights Act.
According to forest department records, as cited by The New Indian Express on Friday, this marks one of the largest recovery of forest land in recent years.
While 120 acres were recovered just last month from Kadugodi plantation—land reportedly worth over Rs 4,000 crore—this latest exercise in Bukkapatna stands out in scale. However, the record for the largest forest land recovery still remains with 600 acres reclaimed in Kolar in 2013, followed by 355 acres in Mallur in 2014.
V. Yedukondalu, Conservator of Forests, revealed that the land had been illegally granted by revenue officials to villagers over the past 30 years. Although no residential structures were present, agricultural activities such as the cultivation of coconut, cotton, arecanut, cowpea, and other crops had been ongoing for years.
“Following the recently issued Lokayukta directives and Supreme Court and Karnataka High Court orders, we asked the revenue department officials of the division to cancel the illegal records, and 64(A) proceedings were initiated (under Section 64(A) of the Karnataka Forest Act of 1963, and the eviction notice is issued to people illegally occupying land before recovering the land). Documents that we obtained showed that most of the land was illegally occupied, and on Thursday, the entire land parcel was recovered,” TNIE quoted him as saying.
Forest department officials mentioned that the exercise of digging pits to lay trenches and undertake plantations suitable for blackbucks has started.
“There are many more land parcels around the forest division that are also being recovered. The exercise has started,” Yedukondalu added.
The sanctuary (also known as the Black Buck Sanctuary) is spread across 36,000 acres and includes three reserve forests. It was notified in 2019 as a measure to protect the chinkaras (Indian gazelle) in their natural habitat of the dry thorny scrub forest, which faced the threat of excessive grazing. Apart from Chinkaras, the Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary is home to black bucks, four-horned antelope, sloth bear, leopard, striped hyena, and Indian wolf.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey tweets alleged ITR, journalists raise privacy concerns
New Delhi: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday shared on social media an alleged income tax return (ITR) document, suggesting a sharp rise in the earnings of a journalist after leaving a salaried job. He left the identity of the journalist unnamed, asking followers to guess.
The Newslaundry citing the post reported that the purported document, which did not mention any name, showed taxable income rising from ₹18.9 lakh in 2019 to ₹1.2 crore in 2021-22, before falling to ₹62.7 lakh in 2022-23.
“Figure it out if you can: whose great journalist’s income tax return is this? Rs 18 lakh in salary, and the moment they quit the job, meaning as soon as they start roaming the streets, abusing Modi ji/BJP, it's in crores. This is the real truth,” Dubey wrote in his post.
Journalist Abhisar Sharma reacted sharply, accusing the MP of breaching confidentiality. Retweeting Dubey’s post, Sharma tagged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Income Tax Department. “Confidential documents and details of taxpayers… are being tweeted in the public forum by none other than a Member of Parliament,” he wrote, adding that he would file an FIR. “He doesn’t have the guts to name the journalist. But this is what you do. Sheer cowardice,” Sharma said.
Journalist Ravish Kumar also expressed concern, questioning the implications of the disclosure. “Is the BJP now going to extract everyone's ITR and target them? Will someone's hard-earned income be criminalized in this manner?” he asked.
Legal experts point out that disclosure of an individual’s ITR without consent is punishable under Section 72 (breach of confidentiality and privacy) and Section 138 (disclosure of information respecting assessees) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
