7 months ago
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The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) nether the Ministry of Environment, Forest, & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), has flagged anomalies by the State Forest Department successful identifying onshore for compensatory afforestation (CA).
In a caller FAC gathering held successful the past week of September, the MoEF&CC has deferred a connection submitted by M/s. MSPL Limited aft detecting a slew of incongruities successful the recognition of onshore for CA successful Belagavi district.
As portion of the proposal, the institution identified non-forestland successful Survey Nos. 6/3, 6/4, 6/5, and 6/6 of Amagaon village, Jamboti Hobli, Khanapur Taluk, and Belagavi territory located wrong the limits of Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary and measuring astir 30 hectares, for CA.
These parcels were subsequently transferred and mutated successful favour of the Forest Department successful January 2023, and CA suitability certificates were issued by the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), Belagavi division, against 2 earlier wood clearance proposals.
However, the minutes of the FAC gathering bespeak that the aforesaid parcels of onshore were aboriginal recovered to person been notified arsenic “Deemed Forest” nether a Government of Karnataka notification dated May 5, 2022. Despite this, the onshore had been recommended for CA without due verification of its ineligible and ecological status.
Subsequently, connected November 11, 2024, the DCF, Belagavi division, wrote to the Deputy Commissioner, Ballari, requesting the removal of these survey numbers from the deemed forests’ list, stating that the lands were privately purchased. Based connected this, the erstwhile sought for the deletion of the survey numbers from the deemed forests’ list, confirming that they had been erroneously included contempt being backstage properties.
What transpires from the supra correspondence is the contradictory series — of recommending backstage lands arsenic “non-forestland” for CA, and aboriginal seeking their removal from the deemed forests’ list, frankincense underlying a casual attack to a superior subject.
Right To Information (RTI) activistic Raghavendra said that the contented has brought to airy procedural lapses and a deficiency of owed diligence wrong the Forest Department successful the recognition of CA land.
He pointed retired that officials of the Belagavi Forest Division had recommended compensation to astatine slightest 10 “ineligible beneficiaries” nether the voluntary relocation programme from Talewadi village, adjacent though the onshore for relocation had been privately purchased by an idiosyncratic from Hassan arsenic portion of CA.
There is simply a disturbing signifier of lapses and negligence successful onshore verification and CA recommendations by Karnataka Forest officials, said Mr. Raghavendra, and urged the authorities to bid a broad departmental enquiry and hole work for specified negligence. He cautioned that specified lapses not lone erode nationalist spot but besides decision the precise intent and tone of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
