BENGALURU: Forest, Environment and Ecology minister Eshwar B Khandre on Wednesday said that the forest department has revamped its approach to detect land encroachment and land use changes. By leveraging satellite images along with algorithms and other tools, officials can now monitor these developments in real time.
Minister Khandre highlighted that from July 1 to November 3, a total of 167 cases have been ascertained and alerts have been sent to the jurisdictional officials. The list of cases include forest boundary encroachments and felling of trees.
Explaining the procedure, a forest official said satellite data is procured from the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Application Centre (KSRSAC) and images of specific locations are obtained every 21 days. These images are processed using AI tools and other algorithms to assess real-time changes in the land. The processed data is then compared with older images to identify any alterations in forest cover or boundaries. If discrepancies are detected, an alert is generated and sent to the jurisdictional officers.
In addition, radar images which are obtained once in a week are not hampered even when there is a cloud cover.
Khandre emphasised that these changes made in ascertaining information and reviewing the alert system is helping the field staff take action at the earliest and submit reports.
According to data from the minister’s office, the highest number of cases have been reported from August to September. 28 cases have been reported from July 1- to 21; 58 alerts were sent from July 22 to September 1 and 33 alerts were sent from September 2 to 22. 14 alerts were sent from September 23 to October 13 and 13 were sent from October 14 to November 3.
‘Address green cover’
Minister Khandre also held a meeting with members of the Karnataka Regional Imbalance Remediation Committee and said the per capita income and green cover of each region should also be considered as a criteria for eliminating regional imbalance, undertaking developmental works and increasing the green cover.
Committee chairman and economist Prof M Govinda Rao stressed the importance of prohibiting red-category industries from being set up in forest areas. He said it is necessary to provide proper incentives to the Western Ghat region.
Noting the relatively low green cover in Kalyan Karnataka region, he suggested afforestation should be made a priority in such regions by eliminating regional imbalance and providing more incentives. He further suggested that funds recovered from managing the imbalances should be redirected towards infrastructure development and educational institutions.
Prof Rao also pointed out that Karnataka has the second largest amount of barren land in India after Rajasthan, exacerbating regional imbalances. “It is important to note that the welfare of a majority of people depend on agriculture. When they face agricultural losses, they are forced to shift professions, which is also causing an imbalance. Thus, it is necessary to encourage farmers to look at alternative cropping methods,” he added.