Land grabbing poses threat to biodiversity

KOPPA: Suma Nagesh, convenor of Save Democracy Front, will approach the Union Ministry of Forests to take necessary steps to evacuate encroachments expeditiously in Chikmagalur district, famous for its coffee and tea plantations.Encroachment of forest land for cultivation purpose is still prevalent in the district and a rough estimate claims that more than half of the total plantations is on encroached land, said Suma.The committee on land encroachment headed by Dr Balasubramanyam, an IAS officer, had rightly reported that the district leads other districts in land grabbing in the state.Politicians cutting across party lines always stood with encroachers. A nexus between officials, politicians and encroachers resulted in deforestation which is posing as a great threat to the biodiversity.When information was sought under RTI Act, a tahsildar revealed that there is a written direction from the CM saying that no action should be taken against encroachment of forest and revenue land.Though the law of the land strictly prohibits encroachment of government land and courts, including the Supreme Court, it has directed to evacuate the encroached land.Encroachment of forest and revenue land has posed a threat to the very existence of wild animals, said Suma. IFS Officer and DFO at Koppa B P Ravi, IAS Officer and Deputy Commissioner of Chikmagalur Gopalakrishna Gowda and many others were thrown out of the district for their initiatives to protect forest land.The unwritten law here dictates the government servants to cooperate with land grabbers just to survive in the district, she stated.Even, the list of encroachment prepared by the Forest and Revenue Department was also a faulty one. Persons in possession of thousands of acres of government land were interestingly kept out of the very list itself. A survey by an independent authority would only reveal the truth, according to her opinion.Officials are misleading the court by registering cases against small growers who have encroached one or two acres of government land. There is an urgent need to put an end to land grabbing. Planters should be asked to surrender their encroached lands. A survey under the supervision of a committee appointed by the SC should be conducted, she said.