BENGALURU: Karnataka has the most forest area under encroachment, according to data published by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). In total, 83,092.06 hectares of forest land has been encroached in the state.
Maharashtra has 61,270.35 hectares, followed by Madhya Pradesh (54,1731.28 hectares) and Arunachal Pradesh (54,1731.28 hectares) (53,450.43 hectares). While Lakshadweep and Puducherry have no encroachment, Delhi (384.38 hectares), Daman and Diu (87.83 hectares), Chandigarh (14 hectares), and Tripura (6.77 hectares) have the least.
While the officials of Karnataka Forest Department, Government of Karnataka, point to a state government directive prohibiting them from evicting encroachers who occupy less than 3 acres of forest land until they are rehabilitated. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India recently informed the Parliament that “the ministry has no such scheme for rehabilitation of people illegally residing on forest land.”
“The ministry has written to state and local governments to remove encroachment and ensure that no additional encroachment occurs in accordance with existing legislation and rules,” the minister said in Parliament.
According to the state forest department’s report, there have been 1,01,017 occurrences of forest land encroachment of less than 3 acres and more than 3 acres for which no action has been taken.
In particular, the number of wildlife clearances requested by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild Life (SCNBWL) for various projects has decreased significantly during the last five years.