In a significant move to protect its precious natural resources, the Forest Department in Chikkamagaluru district has registered two major cases concerning the illegal encroachment of 580 acres of forest land within the Balehonnur Range.
One case targets three individuals from Kalasa – S.B. Shankar, S.B. Prabhakar, and Sunitha. They are accused of encroaching upon 450 acres of the Halasur Reserved Forest area in Kalasa taluk. The complaint, lodged by the Balehonnur RFO on October 24, details their alleged occupation of forest land across survey number 36 in Thanodi village.
A separate investigation led to the booking of six people from Balehonnur – Mohamed Ifthikar Adil, Mohammed Iliyas, Abdul Vahid, Adul Munaf, Abdul Gafar, and Mohammed Ibrahim. These individuals are implicated in the encroachment of 130 acres of Bannur minor forest, specifically within survey numbers 9 of B. Kanabur village and 95, 96, and 97 of Bannur village in N.R. Pura taluk.
Many of these detected encroachments, while recently brought to light, are not new occurrences. E. Shivashankar, the Deputy Conservator of Forests for Koppa Division, explained to The Hindu that the Halasur forest encroachment surfaced during a thorough document verification process. Although the land was officially designated as forest long ago, some applicants had sought land grants for coffee cultivation, claiming prior possession. However, these claims lacked sufficient supporting records, prompting officials to register the case.
The Deputy Conservator also referenced a previous incident involving a 10-acre forest land encroachment in N.R. Pura taluk. Subsequent inquiries revealed that family brothers were responsible for the larger 130-acre illegal occupation, leading to the current charges. He affirmed that the department would proceed with further investigations and appropriate legal action in line with established procedures.
The officials have invoked various sections of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The charges include unauthorized occupancy, causing damage to the forest, tampering with boundary markers, and utilizing forest land for non-forest-related activities, among other violations.