Min orders to reclaim Rs 700-cr forest land in KR Pura

Bengaluru: Bulldozers will be back demolishing properties in Bengaluru after a hiatus of more than a year, with forest minister Eshwar Khandre on Friday ordering forest officials to reclaim 22.8 acres of ‘lost' forest land, worth Rs 700 crore, in Kothanur area of KR Pura limits, Bengaluru East. Close on the heels of the minister's direction, forest officials have initiated the process to evict encroachers and reclaim the land. With the part of the disputed land piece already housing buildings and structures, the reclamation process is set to ruffle several feathers.Sources close to the forest minister revealed that the state govt, keeping in mind the fast-depleting green cover around Bengaluru, had granted 22.8 acres of land on survey number 48 to the forest department to raise tree plantations way back in 1999-2000. However, much to the dismay of many, the forest dept ‘forgot' to take possession of the allocated land for raising plantation all these years. Subsequent records available from the revenue department revealed that out of the total 22.8 acres of land, only 13 acres were categorised as forest land, and the remaining was granted to various individuals without the consent of the forest department."It was disappointing to know that no forest official evinced any interest all these days in reclaiming the land and raising the plantation. Despite allocation to the forest department, our officials have failed to raise the plantation. I have sought a report on this. Besides, I have directed the officials to obtain the sketch of the 13 acres and scout for the remaining nine acres of land. There is literally no trace of 13 acres of land and it needs to be identified afresh. If there is any land encroachment, that will be evicted by initiating procedure under section 64(a) of the forest act," Khandre said.A senior official from the forest department revealed to TOI that if not for a few families, which were illegally cultivating the land, the said land would have been easily gobbled by the land sharks. "Hoping that the land will formally be allocated to them, these families were squatting on the land. While the southern part of the said land still has enough trees and vegetation, several houses, godowns, and buildings have come up on the northern boundary of the land. A prominent builder has also commenced work to build a large apartment complex after buying it from those who had the illegal grants without the consent of the forest department. A notice has already been served to the builder to stop all construction work till further notice. Our RFO has been told to dig a trench at the access road so that nobody enters the land," explained the official.