BENGALURU: Forest, Environment and Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre on Tuesday said that an FIR has been registered against a man who had submitted fake documents to take possession of 482 acres of BM Kaval forestland.
The accused, MB Nemanna Gowda alias MB Manmatha, tried to usurp 532 acres of forest and government lands. Before this, he tried to grab 512.26 acres of forest and government lands by submitting fake documents. A case was filed by local forest officials and the tahsildar with Mudigere police in November. The police have launched an investigation after taking the accused into custody, Khandre said.
“It is learnt that some forest officials and lawyers are helping people to grab government and forest lands. A letter has been sent to the chief minister seeking an investigation by CID or a special investigation team into such cases,” he said and warned of stern action against errant officials.
On criticism by conservationists and opposition parties over withdrawal of the ‘biodiversity hotspot’ tag issued to 8.61 acres of land near the Cantonment Railway Station (CRS) in Bengaluru, Khandre said the government took the decision not because of any pressure.
“The government did not yield to any pressure. A notification in this regard was withdrawn as nobody can stake claim over the lands belonging to the Railways. The land near the CRS was declared as a biodiversity site to protect around 371 trees there. But it was withdrawn after learning the restrictions under the Railways Act,” Khandre said.
He said officials of the Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) had promised to take all environment protection steps and relocate the trees that face the axe. “RLDA has given a written assurance under Section 37(1) of the Biodiversity Act to protect green cover and trees even after constructing buildings on that land,” Khandre said.
An environment official said, “As per the Biodiversity Act and Tree Preservation Act, permission is needed from jurisdictional tree officers to axe trees. No requests have been made for permission to axe trees there. We have identified and numbered 371 trees on that land. Felling 100-year-old trees and planting saplings there later is nothing but riotous.”