‘96 acres of forest land to be leased to communities’

Amid opposition from the forest department, the Bengaluru Urban District Administration has proposed to lease 96.12 acres of reserved forest land to various organisations, alleged advocate N P Amrutes

BENGALURU: Amid opposition from the forest department, the Bengaluru Urban District Administration has proposed to lease 96.12 acres of reserved forest land to various organisations, alleged advocate N P Amrutesh, who is president of Voice of Public, on Tuesday. This land lies in Survey No.81 to 31 at Machohalli in Bengaluru North Taluk.
This was done following recommendations from the Chief Minister’s Office, he alleged and said that organisations belonging to the CM’s community are getting a lion’s share of 11 acres, He urged the CM to drop the proposal.

The land was proposed for a botanical garden, which was planned to be launched as part of the ‘Koti Vriksha’ campaign. But with the revenue department dilly-dallying on transfering the land records to the forest department, the botanical garden proposal was dropped.

Amrutesh alleged that he Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner, who first requested the revenue department to transfer the land records to the forest department, has now taken a U-turn by proposing five acres to Sri Kaginele Mahasamsthana Math, Haveri. This was after he allegedly received a communication dated June 19, 2015, from the CMO. Amrutesh has accused Siddaramaiah of allotting the forest land to his own community organisations and others in a hurried manner.
Even locals have opposed it, he claimed. Lakshmanaiah, an environmentalist, has written to Revenue Minister Kagodu Thimmappa to provide alternative land to the organisations, he said.

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