The Forest Department officials seized a popular resort in Sakleshpur taluk on Tuesday and recovered the forest land that the resort owners allegedly encroached upon. The Stone Valley resort was allegedly built encroaching upon 14 acres and 36 guntas of Moorukannu Gudda forest at Achchanahalli in Sakleshpur taluk.
A team of officials led by S.P. Mahadev, ACF of Sakleshpur, and S.L. Shilpa, RFO, conducted the seizure operations as per the directions of Deputy Conservator of Forests Ashish Reddy. The staff of the department from Hassan, Belur, Yeslur, Sakleshpur, and Arkalgud ranges were involved in the seizure.
Subhash Stephen and three others of his family allegedly encroached upon the land, which has been declared a forest under Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act, and built the resort. Following a complaint by previous Sakleshpur RFO Raghavendra Agase, DCF of Forest Vigilance Squad N. Ravindra Kumar conducted the hearing and issued an eviction order on July 26, 2022. Now, almost a year later, the officials have acted upon the order.
The Hindu had recently reported on encroachments in the region which is a fallout of a dispute between the Forest and Revenue departments over the status of the 7,938-acre forest.
The accused encroached on nine acres and 36 guntas in Survey Number 92 of Achchanahalli, three acres in Survey Number 148, and another two acres in Survey Number 148/2. They had built cottages, a kitchen, swimming pool, play area, and a house on the encroached land. When the officers reached the place, the parents of the accused were staying in the house. The officials asked them to vacate the place and take out the valuables. Similarly, there were around 15 tourists staying at the resort. The officers instructed them to leave the place.
Ms. Shilpa, RFO, said the officers seized 28 rooms, kitchen, lobby, swimming pool, a house and the play area. “The land was declared forest in 1920. It is a pristine Shola forest. We have taken the land back into our custody. The next step is to demolish the structures that have come up in the forest. We will go by the law,” she said.
The Forest Department is expected to take similar action against the resorts that have come up on forest land in Sakleshpur taluk. “Of the total 7,983 acres of forest in Murkannu Gudda, around 1,300 acres are estimated to have been encroached upon. We seized the land encroached by the people of Stone Valley Resort, as there was an eviction order. In the case of other encroachers, the process is still going on,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, senior officers of the Revenue Department intervened, raising the Forest Department’s claim over the land. However, the officials, armed with the documents, continued their action.
The officials seized 10 vehicles and booked cases against 15 people for conducting off-road rides in the same locality on Saturday. Besides, the officials seized cottages belonging to a resort, built on deemed forest land at Mankanahalli in the Yeslur range in Sakleshpur taluk on June 30.
