Shivamogga: Want to grab forest land in the lush-green Malnad area of Shivamogga? Kill the trees using poisonous herbs and chemicals and then seek a title deed under the Forest Rights for Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006!
Raviraj (name changed), a villager of Purappemane in Hosanagar taluk told Deccan Chronicle how the greed to make money by growing commercial crops like ginger, was denuding forests in Malnad.
“Fifteen years ago, many people from Kerala settled in Malnad and cultivated ginger, making a killing in the process. When we asked them how they did it, they told us that they would gather poisonous herbs and place them secretly in the tree trunks, patching them up with wax or red clay to make it look natural. The tree starts dying and in six months becomes dead wood. They then apply for ownership rights using the political influence of elected representatives. Many local people are doing it now.”
A senior forest officer revealed that after the Forest Rights Act 2006 came into effect, the encroachment of forests has doubled. Satellite imagery shows that 50 percent of forest areas have been encroached upon. What’s more shocking is that mercury is being used to clear the natural forests.
After felling the trees, the encroachers submit applications to the village-level Forest Rights Committee seeking title deeds. This is happening rampantly near Purappemane, Punaje, Gavatur, Jeni and Ripponpet villages in Hosanagar taluk where over three acres of forest land was cleared in this manner and a eucalyptus plantation raised.
The department personnel have cleared the encroachment now. Five acres of land in Haridravathi reserve forest near Bilaki village was encroached upon recently and an application submitted seeking a title deed for the land.
Forest officials have cleared the encroachment and dug trenches around the reclaimed land. An officer said that in Hosanagar taluk alone, more than 100 acres of forest land has been encroached upon in the past two months.
According to the latest report of the Social Forest Department, 85,518 people have submitted applications seeking title deeds under the Act in the district of which 31475 applications have been rejected.
