Udupi to drop 1.45 lakh acres from deemed forests

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, May 28, 2016: Addressing media the Udupi MLA Pramod Madhwaraj, said on May 27,  Friday that the district administration had recommended dropping of 1.45 lakh acres of land from the deemed forest area in the district. The MLA  said the proposal to drop 1.45 lakh acres was subject to approval from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the Supreme Court. There is a total of about 9.5 lakh acres of land in Udupi district.

Of this, there is about 1.75 lakh acres of deemed forest land in the district. But, in previous surveys, even schools and roads had been included within the deemed forests.

In some cases, there has been duplication and same survey numbers had been recorded twice. The repetition is of about 13,000 acres. The ‘Kumki’ and ‘Parampoke’ lands have now been left out of the deemed forests. Hence, about 1.45 lakh acres of land will not be under deemed forest.

After all the deletions, there will only be 30,000 acres of land left as deemed forest in the entire district. An area having 50 trees per hectare is considered as deemed forest land. The Supreme Court had said that ‘Kumki’ land was a privilege and not a right. Whether ‘Kumki’ land belongs to the Forest or Revenue departments is yet to be decided by the government. The Law Department feels it belongs to the Department of Forests.

The State government had decided to extend the deadline for amending the ‘pahani’ (land) records to September 30. This is because many deputy commissioners had sought an extension due to rush for amending these documents.

On Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s directions, MLA  Madhwaraj was touring all districts to expedite the disposal of old files. So far, he had visited five districts. He will hold a review meeting in Dakshina Kannada on June 3 and 4. MLA  Madhwaraj said that he had reviewed the pendency of files in Udupi and Kundapur taluk and found that pendency of files in Udupi district was low when compared to other districts. The district was in second position in the State in disposal of files under the Bhoomi and Sakala schemes.