Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre directs officials to remove encroachments

Minister for Forest, Ecology, and Environment Eshwar Khandre has instructed officials to take steps to remove encroachments in protected forests.

At a meeting with officials in Belagavi on Friday, Mr. Khandre asked officials to clear all encroachments of over three acres and those done after 2015.

He told the officials to keep in mind that the poor who have encroached lands for livelihood should not be disturbed, having encroached less than three acres of forest land for their livelihood, including lands registered in their names.

The Minister directed officials to hold public meetings in villages bordering the forests that witness human-wildlife conflicts. He told them to make necessary measures to prevent death of wild elephants, pointing out to the recent instances in which two jumbos died at a sugarcane farm at Khanapur in Belagavi district recently.

There have been instances of some farmers using illegal electricity connections to prevent the entry of wild animals into their fields, which cause the death of wild animals, he said, instructing the officials to prevent such incidents in the future.

“In order to prevent the death of wild animals, meetings should be convened and be aimed at creating awareness among the people and to inform them about wildlife laws,” he said.

The Minister also instructed them to restrict access to the Vajrapoh waterfalls in Belagavi, as tourists visiting the spot had disturbed wildlife. “It is also in the interests of tourists that they avoid any untoward incidents,” he said.

Conservation and protection should be the priority of the Forest Department. The entire world is facing the effects of global warming and climate change, and tree conservation and protection has the potential to slow and reverse the effects of climate change, he said.

He directed to increase the green cover by planting more saplings in other parts of Belagavi Circle, except the Western Ghats. He suggested planting and nurturing more saplings on both sides of the highways, district main roads, and other connecting roads in the limits of Belagavi city, and asked to audit and submit a report on how many of these saplings are still alive.

Mr. Khandre asked the officials to maintain transparency in all the works undertaken by the department. He urged them to increase the green cover, especially by planting local species of plants in the cleared area.

The Minister said that emphasis should be placed on eco-tourism by providing basic facilities to tourists in the Ghataprabha Bird Sanctuary and by deploying additional boats.

Chief Conservator of Forests Manjunath Chauhan, Deputy Conservator of Forests N.E. Kranti, and others were present.