While encroachment of lakes is still under scrutiny, the concretisation of erstwhile forest land has also come under the scanner.
Over the past two years, conversion of forest land into apartment complexes in Peenya, industrial estates in Kadugodi and Jakkur-Allasandra have led to the Forest and Revenue Departments sending notices to landowners. These three land parcels constitute nearly 1,500 acres of the built-up area. The seven-member committee will not just look at the legality of these controversial parcels but also the status of nearly 12,407.65 acres notified by various government orders between 1901 and 1988. Documents show that over 6,711 acres have been categorised as “lost” or encroached upon or “not having been mutated”.
Apart from private layouts and properties, documents show that universities and military institutes had also been set up prior to 1983 when land could be granted for non-forest purposes by a State government order or Assembly resolution.
Apart from forest officer U.V. Singh, the team comprises three Additional Principal Chief Conservators of Forests (APCCF) — K.S. Sugara, Meenakshi Negi, Harikumar Jha — and Chief Conservator of Forests G.S. Kariyappa. Former APCCF Venkatasubbaiah has been nominated as a permanent special invitee. Deputy Conservator of Forests (Bengaluru Urban) will be the Member Secretary, says the government order, a copy of which is with The Hindu .
The team has been asked to meet as frequently as possible and not less than twice in a month and submit monthly interim progress reports to the government.
On the two-year tenure, Mr. Sugara said, “This is a humongous task. Government orders granting land have to be looked at from the archives, and their legality needs to be seen as most of the lands have not been mutated…this is a historical kind of document.”
