Families that have encroached upon forest land up to 3 acres can heave a sigh of relief. The government has decided not to evict families that have encroached upon forest land up to 3 acres and are depending on such land for their livelihood since 1980s, Minister for Forests B. Ramanath Rai told reporters here on Tuesday.
A total of 2.8 lakh acres of forest land has been encroached upon in Karnataka. Encroached land exceeding 3 acres would be recovered. A survey was under way to find out the number of families that have encroached up to 3 acres of forest land, he said.
Various committees set up by the government had reported encroachment of forest land by influential people, including leaders across political parties. R. Hiremath of Samaj Parivartan Samudaya has criticised the government for the delay in initiating action to recover encroached government/forest land.
Kasturirangan reportOn the K. Kasturirangan report, the Minister said the government would submit its comments to the Centre before December-end and appeal it to keep habitations, plantations and agricultural areas in villages in the Western Ghats area in the State out of the purview of the eco-sensitive areas, he said.
So far, only the Kerala government has submitted its comments on the report to the Centre.
In Karnataka, a Cabinet subcommittee has discussed the matter five times. Restrictions imposed on carrying out certain activities in forest areas apart, the government would ensure that livelihood of people was not affected, Mr. Rai said.
