Encroachment on Bannerghatta elephant corridor: Whistleblower says ex-tehsildar’s letter emboldened squatters
Encroachment on Bannerghatta elephant corridor: Whistleblower says
ex-tehsildar’s letter emboldened squatters
Aksheev Thakur, Indian Express
October 19, 2021
See link
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/encroachment-bannerghatta-elephant-corridor-ex-tehsildars-letter-squatters-7580219/
for photos.
While removing encroachments from a 1,000-acre government land in
Shivanahalli village inside Bannerghatta National Park, it was found that a
former tehesildar’s indulgence to squatters practicing farming had led to
more land being encroached upon.
The land, which will eventually be transferred to the Karnataka Forest
Department, will be used to create an elephant corridor and in May this
year, Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban J Manjunath had ordered a
survey of the land.
Although the revenue department is yet to finish the survey, it was found
that the encroachers have destroyed the catchment area of a lake which was
meant to improve the groundwater and fill other lakes.
It has now come to light that the Anekal Tehsildar before his retirement
asked the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) in February to let the farming
continue. The local activists and officials point out that out of 1,000
acre of land, farming was allowed by the tehsildar in over 118 acre land
and presently, the size of the encroached area has increased.
Vishnu Narain, managing trustee of Bannerghatta Nature Conservation Trust,
who is fighting the issue before the Bengaluru bench of the Karnataka High
Court, said, “Emboldened by the irresponsible letter sent by the tehsildar
to the DCF, the land has been encroached and destroyed. This is within the
eco-sensitive zone of the Bannerghatta National Park and is a crucial
element of the Ragihalli Elephant Corridor. All this damage done to the
environment and the forest will take decades to be reversed.”
“Contamination of the water of this lake with fertilizers and pesticides
will poison people living downstream. This water feeds the Ramakrishna
Mission where hundreds of children and adults are fed mid-day meals every
day. The water also caters to 16 villages in the Ragihalli panchayat with a
population of 3,000. We have brought the attention of the government
officials to this issue several times,” he added.
The Lok Adalat’s judgement in 2011 had ordered the transfer of the
1,000-acre government land to the forest department for the development of
elephant corridor but the same is yet to be done.