MYSURU: A day after Nagamangala JDS MLA Suresh Gowda abused foresters and threatened them with dire consequences when they visited Halti village in the taluk to prevent miscreants encroaching forest land, members of the Karnataka State Deputy Range Foresters’ Association and Karnataka State Forest Guards and Watchers Association met Mysuru Division Conservator of Forests (CF) Malathi Priya and demanded legal action against the MLA.
Gowda abused the foresters -- ACF Shankare Gowda, RFO Satish, DRFO MK Prakash and staff -- when they tried to prevent miscreants from digging trenches using earthmovers and encroaching deemed forest area in Halti village on Thursday. They had taken the help of police to prevent any untoward incident. When the villagers informed MLA Gowda, he rushed to the spot and abused the foresters, and threatened them if they tried to clear the encroachment.
He also asked the residents not to allow the foresters into their village, and to torch any officer who troubles them. After the video of the MLA abusing foresters went viral on social media, environmentalists and the public demanded that the forest department take strict action against the MLA. Meanwhile, angry foresters submitted a memorandum to CF Malathi Priya, seeking legal action against Gowda. It states that the MLA instigated some villagers to occupy the land and cut trees, and also attack the foresters in the 32-acre deemed forest.
Such incidents are also reported in the villages of Mylarapattana, Handenahalli and Devara Mallanayakanahalli, where villagers are cutting trees in forest areas and cultivating the land. When forest staff tried to prevent it, Gowda told the villagers to file an atrocity case against them. At Halti village, he demanded that the foresters first conduct a joint survey with the revenue department.
Association president Siddaraju told TNIE that they will consult legal experts on Saturday. “The land belongs to the forest department, and it is the foresters’ duty to protect it. We will file a complaint against the MLA,” he said.
Staff being trained to handle abuse
The abuse of forest staffers by a JDS MLA is not just an isolated incident. Foresters across the state face harassment or ill-treatment almost on a daily basis when carrying out their duties, they say. Officials pointed out that they get at least three cases of harassment, abuse, death and rape threats from politicians and influential people in a month.
Forest staffers are now demanding stern action against those stopping government servants from carrying out their duty. In a memorandum to the PCCF, the Deputy Range Forest Officers’ Association has demanded that forest services be made part of only the central services list.
Fed up with the rising cases, senior forest department officials said along with training staffers on forest duty, they have also started to train recruits on handling such situations.