Forester's transfer not surprising: Ex-officer

Bengaluru: If you are an honest government servant, then you will have to bear the harassment of frequent transfers. This time it is the turn of Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Bengaluru Urban Division, Ravindra Kumar, who has been credited with securing 130 acres of Turahalli Forest from encroachers. Environmentalists and former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers, who are angry with the transfer, have started a campaign to reinstate him.

Environmentalists and activists on Wednesday assembled before Town Hall and demanded that the government withdraw the transfer order. “The officer was recovering another 30 acres of forest land when he was transferred. This obviously has been done for political reasons,” the activists alleged.

Despite the assurance from Forest Minister R. Shankar to activists that the ACF would not be transferred, Chief Minister H.D. Kumarswamy signed the transfer order on October 12, the protesters said.

“Mr Kumar’s transfer should not surprise anyone, as such things have happened in the past. Forest encroachment is a lucrative business for land sharks, who have the support of political leaders. Lands in and around Bengaluru are priceless and everybody wants to grab them,” said Mr B.K. Singh, retired PCCF, Karnataka.

He said that large tracts of land have been encroached for coffee plantations in the Western Ghats, especially in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu districts.

Reminded about the encroachment at Tatkola forests in the Chikkamgaluru division, he said, “The land was encroached by then minister B.L. Shankar in 1998-1999.  DCF Annaiah and Conservator of Forest (CF) Sahai went to the spot and tried to evict Shankar. The stakes were so high that Sahai was immediately transferred, while Annaiah approached court and escaped transfer that year. A number of surveys were conducted by the forest department, revenue department and Forest Survey of India, but still the encroacher would dispute the boundary.”

“Mr Annaiah stayed for a year and got the encroachment cleared with the help of Supreme Court. He had planned to evict many more coffee plantations after clearing Tatkola, but he was transferred in April 2000. Coffee estate encroachers had the last laugh and encroachments are continuing even today,” Mr Singh said.