Moorukannu Gudda in Sakleshpur in Hassan district is an expanse of lush shola forest that is home to several species of wildlife and over two dozen freshwater streams that feed rivers originating from Western Ghats. Today, it is threatened by human intervention as government departments bicker over its status.
The 7,938-acre shola forest that is part of the Western Ghats, recognised as one of the biological hotspots in the world and notified as an ecologically sensitive area by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has now become a bone of contention between the Forest Department that claims the area to be a notified forest and the Revenue Department, that is accused of granting land for various activities over the years, insisting it is revenue land.
This has resulted in alleged “encroachment” of over 2,000 acres, including about 1,510 acres of land granted through 508 grants so far by the Revenue Department, Forest officials say. About 611 acres has been marked as encroachments, mostly by coffee estates, residential homes and 20 resorts. At least 122 FIRs have been filed against such “encroachments” by Forest Department, multiple documents with The Hindu show.
What the report says
The disagreement between the departments has become acute since October 2022, after the Sakleshpur assistant commissioner in a voluminous report to Hassan Deputy Commissioner, a copy of which is with The Hindu, declared the area as not forest, and suggested it be declared as “communal or village forest” under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department.
In a scathing remark on Forest Department that has riled Forest officials, the Assistant Commissioner has also termed the conservation efforts of Forest Department in the past 100 years as “biased, in conflict of interest, causing monetary and legal damages.”
However, a study by the Forest Department has shown that the thick forests are home to 31 major fresh water streams that feed seven East and West flowing rivers such as Hemavati, Kabbinale, Dodda Hole, Kempole, Hongadhalla and Adda Hole. Elephants, Indian Gaur, deer, sambar and dholes are among the wildlife sighted in the region.
“Moorukannu Gudda is the catchment for major rivers. Some streams also feed Yettinahole and Netravathi rivers. It is a contiguous forest with Kaginere reserve forests helping movement of wildlife. The area is now under threat due to an erroneous understanding of forest laws,” a senior Forest official in Hassan told The Hindu.
Over a century-old dispute
The problem dates back to 1920 when 7,983.38 acres (12.4 sq. miles) of this shola forest in eight village limits of Hanbal hobli in Sakaleshpura taluk, Hassan district was notified to be declared as forest under the Mysore Forest Regulations, 1900, which was later replaced by the Karnataka Forests Act, 1963.
What has troubled forest officials is the missing completed settlement report of the forest settlement officer (FSO) appointed to define the rights and concessions of the villages submitted in 1923. “Though the FSO submitted his completed report, a Conservator of Forest visiting the area in 1923 after local protests did not feel the need to declare the area as forest. While the letter of submission of the FSO report is available in the archives, the completed report is missing from Hassan DC office,” the official said.
Forest officials contend that though there is notification to acquire forest land in 1920 under Section 4 of Mysore Forest Regulations, 1900, the notification to drop acquisition proceedings of Moorkannu Gudda does not exist. Whereas acquisition proceedings for 68.33 acres in the same area was dropped through another notification after three of eight persons whose lands had been notified, appealed against the acquisition proceedings.
While the Forest Department has argued that the area remains a notified forest in the absence of a notification to drop proceedings, the Revenue Department has not agreed with the assessment. In the absence of a final notification, the assistant commissioner has said that the land remained with Revenue Department. The officer has even accused the Forest department of fabricating a working plan map of Moorkannu Gudda without informing RDPR and Revenue Department. However, forest officials point out that 5,600 acres have been mutated in the name of forests in RTC, while the rest is shown as gomala and Hemavathy river project.
Forest department’s complaint under Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, terming all grants as “illegal” and to be cancelled in the Sakleshpura Assistant Commissioner’s court is yet to be heard.
KSPCB approval
Meanwhile, when the Forest Department asked the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board if NOC, a critical approval to operate commercial ventures in the forests, has been given to 20 resorts that operate within the forest area, the board did not respond. While the resorts attract hundreds of tourist to the woods, the wastes generated are strewn across the forests. Local pathways have been developed as roads, including in the streams to provide “off roading” experience, say forest officials.
“With the elephant-human conflict on the rise in Sakleshpur, a few kilometres away from Moorukannu Gudda, the loss of forest cover would deny the department a green space to push the elephants back to the forests. The catchment of the rivers are under threat,” said a Forest official.
