Police lathi-charge ABVP activists who attempt to block road
Youth falls in front of moving bus
Tumkur, July 07: The police resorted to lathi-charge on ABVP activists on Saturday who tried to block the road in Tumkur. The protesting ABVP activists alleged that a police officer on Friday misbehaved a student leader when they were protesting to press their demand to provide free bus passes to all classes of students.
The police stopped the ABVP activists, who were trying to block the road to condemn the Friday’s incident, without getting permission from the police. Meanwhile, the ABVP activists indulged in an argument with the police personnel. The police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the crown when the ABVP activists did not respond to the request of police. At this moment, an ABVP activist fell in front of a moving bus. Due to which the situation became tense for sometime in the area.
In this regard, Hosa Badavane Police have registered a case against seven students including ABVP leaders Appu Patil, and Chandan Gonal.
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Only 13 percent of encroached forests recovered in ten years in Karnataka: Report
Hubballi: The Karnataka Forest Department has made little progress in recovering encroached forest land, managing to reclaim only 13.6 percent of the total encroached area over the last decade.
From 2014-15 to 2024-25 (March), the department resolved 7,621 cases and recovered just 31,317 acres of forest land, as reported by Deccan Herald on Sunday.
Data cited by DH shows that nearly 2.30 lakh acres of forest land in the state were encroached upon by August 2024, with the department having filed 1.19 lakh cases against the encroachers. However, the process of clearing encroached land has been slow, primarily due to the legal procedures involved and delays in joint surveys conducted by the revenue and forest departments. The process is further delayed due to appeals by the litigants in higher courts.
In the past two years alone, the department has managed to recover just 5,113 acres of land. Environmental activist Girish D. V. from Chikkamagaluru, speaking to DH, criticised the Forest Department's handling of the issue, stating that the recovery of encroached land often happens only when directed by courts. "Forget about clearing legacy encroachments, the department is unable to prevent fresh ones. Every day, the state is losing forest land," he remarked.
An interim annual report from the Forest Department (2024) highlighted that between March and December 2024, 900 new cases of forest land encroachment were registered. Girish also pointed out that a lack of political will to clear encroachments has limited the department’s ability to prevent new ones.
Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre acknowledged the slow pace of recovery, attributing it to legal obstacles, multiple claim documents, and the livelihoods of marginal farmers. He told the news outlet that the state government was using technology, including satellite surveys, to curb new encroachments.
Khandre further emphasised that the state government has "zero tolerance" toward forest encroachments and they would go after influential persons to recover forest land. He added that they are fighting to recover leased forest land from private parties and restore it as forest land.
