Conservationists aver the State Government’s decision to declassify nearly 6.5 lakh acres of deemed forests and transfer it to the Revenue Department will legalise large-scale encroachment by the powerful under the fig leaf of securing the rights of the poor.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said that he signed a Cabinet decision to release 6.5 lakh acres of land from deemed forest classification and will submit an affidavit to the Supreme Court.
A section of Forest Department officials too concur with the view and said on conditions of anonymity that though the State Government has taken the decision, the status does not change on the ground unless approved by the Supreme Court.
