The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has reiterated that the Karnataka government should get the Supreme Court’s approval for the dereservation of forest land released for rehabilitation of people affected by the Sharavathi Valley Hydroelectric Project in Shivamogga district.
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In response to a question raised by Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra in the Lok Sabha, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for MoEF and Climate Change, replied on Monday that the State government of Karnataka is required to seek the approval of the Supreme Court and thereafter submit the proposal for prior approval by the Central government for dereservation of forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
The State government, in its proposal sent on March 23, 2023, sought the approval of the Centre for the dereservation of 9,129 acres of forest land. The extent of land was released between 1958 and 1969 for rehabilitation of over 3,000 families affected by the project. However, the proposal was sent back to the state on April 24, stating that the Government of Karnataka has to take appropriate action as per the Supreme Court’s order dated November 13, 2000. The apex court, in its order, stated that “..pending further orders, no dereservation of forests, sanctuaries, or national parks shall be effected.”
Hundreds of families were displaced due to the power project in the 1960s. Among them, many were allotted forest land as compensation in Sagar, Tirthahalli, Shivamogga, Shikaripur, and Bhadravathi taluks. The Congress government dereserved the forest land for non-forest purposes as per the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963. However, this was questioned by Girish Achar, an environmental activist based in Hosanagar taluk. He argued that the denotification was done without prior approval from the MoEF. The High Court of Karnataka cancelled the denotification. Subsequently, the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment in Karnataka issued orders cancelling the denotification.
Later, a fresh proposal was sent to the Centre, seeking its approval for denotification. The same has been turned down by the Centre. This was one of the major issues during the Assembly elections in Shivamogga earlier this year. The Congress blamed the BJP for the delay in getting clearance from the Centre. However, the BJP alleged that the Congress was responsible for the delay in getting the land for the people.