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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Sleeping together in fear of elephant attack, 3 children die of snake bite in Jharkhand
Garwah (Jharkhand), Sep 6: Three children who were sleeping together in fear of elephant attacks, died of snakebite in a village in Jharkhand’s Garwah district, police said on Friday.
The incident happened in Chapkali village, under the jurisdiction of Chinia police station of the district, a police officer said.
Scared of elephant attacks, around 8 to 10 children of a family were sleeping on the floor of their tile home when the reptile, reportedly a Krait, sneaked into the house, situated in Nawanagar Tola, and bit the three on Thursday night, the police officer said.
Following the incident, the victims were taken to a sorcerer at around 1 am, where two of them died.The family members then took the third victim to a quack but she died on the way, the police officer said.
The deceased were identified as Pannalal Korwa (15), Kanchan Kumari (8), and Baby Kumari (9), the Officer-in-Charge of Chinia police station Neeraj Kumar said.
Meanwhile, the villagers are being forced to sleep in safe places owing to the prevailing elephant menace.
The pachyderms enter the human habitat in search of food.
Some villagers were compelled to sleep on the roof of school buildings or in groups at one place in the village, the locals claimed.
