BENGALURU: Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Monday said the Central government has to take a call to change the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, in order to denotify forest lands occupied by farmers even if they are displaced by projects.
Replying to Tarikere MLA G H Srinivas in the assembly that the forest department was evacuating families displaced because the Bhadra dam was full, the minister clarified that there was a Supreme Court order that said, “once a forest, always a forest”.
He also informed that he had not received the dereservation order of the forest from the revenue department. He said he would convene a meeting of water resources, forest and revenue departments to arrive at a decision on how to safeguard the interest of forest dwellers.
The legislators, irrespective of party lines, included Araga Gnanendra. JDLP leader B Suresh Babu said people and forest dwellers, in their respective constituencies, have been facing a similar issue. Replying to them, he said forest officers have been instructed not to evacuate farmers who had less than three acres.
Railway barricade project
Responding to Sakleshpur MLA Cement Manju, Khandre informed that barricading 120km of railway tracks was in progress, to check intruding elephants. Work has been going on for a year. The government is spending Rs 1.5 crore for every kilometer, he added.