Whitefield Citizens Ward Committees@WhitefieldWards
1/n The BIGGEST FOREST SCAM in India is unfolding in the Silicon Valley - Bengaluru, right opposite ITPL, in Whitefield (where else?)…
STATE MINISTERS ARE INVOLVED? Not surprising?
711 Acres Kadugodi Forest in Bengaluru - THE LARGEST URBAN FOREST SCAM?
Hyderabad's Kancha Gachibowli Forest scam (400 acres) pales in comparison...?
#SaveKadugodiForest
@eshwar_khandre @aranya_kfd are you asleep?
History:
On May 29, 1896, an extent of 711 acres of land in Kadugodi that belonged to the Kingdom of Mysore, along with the boundary description was notified as government plantation, which according to the law back then was demarcated the area as state forest land. (Rule 9 of Rules 1878 for the Administration of the Forests and Wastelands in the territories of the Maharaja of Mysore).
In a notification dated January 7, 1901, the area was declared as state forest under the Mysore Forests Regulations Act (1900) and was later deemed as reserved forest in 1963.
THE SCAM:
The #KIADB, the shady SCAM machine of the Karnataka Govt, is the usual suspect!! The Land Mafia in Karnataka, especially crooked Ministers utilise the shady bureaucrats of KIADB for their dirty schemes.
This is how :
* The Karnataka government’s Commerce and Industries Department acquired 305 acres and 23 guntas, "without noticing the nature of the land" in 1985 & 1987, under the provisions of the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Act to develop the Kadugodi Industrial Area! What kind of officials do not notice the nature of a forest land? Even if they are retired, they need to be brought back and prosecuted!
* Another 141 acres was handed over to the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) by the Mysore reserve Police in 1972.
* Rumour has it that of 711 acres of Forest land, only 60 acres are left as forest. Kadugodi tree park is 22 acres and the Forest Dept opposite ITPL is some 37 acres.😢
ATTEMPTS BY FOREST DEPT TO RESTORE FOREST STIFLED:
* In 2006, the joint Legislature committee set up to look into the encroachment of government land, headed by A T Ramaswamy, had surveyed this area and reported that Kadugodi Plantation Reserve Forest had been encroached upon by the Railways, KIADB, police department, animal husbandry department etc.
* The original document of this property goes back to the notification of June 2, 1896 published in Mysore Gazette, described as Kadugodi Plantation in survey number 1 to the extent of 711 acres.
* Digging into the old records, assistant commissioner, Bengaluru North, N Mahesh Babu, traced out the 1896 copy of the notification and put in place the layers of records, to finally prove that the land belongs to government and is a s a forest land.
* Subsequently, RTC was entered into the Revenue Dept records, establishing 711 Acres as a forest land, in 2015! Subsequently, the Karnataka Forest Dept @aranya_kfd initiated process to recover the entire Forest land, however, it was blocked by vested interests..
There is a rumour that one of the affected beneficiaries of the encroachment challenged the recovery of forest land by the Forest Dept in the Supreme Court, and due to poor representation by the State Govt, the Supreme Court is supposed to have issued a stay or order against the recovery?
This needs to be thoroughly investigated. How can the Govt be so careless about such an important matter? Just the way the Govt employs the most expensive lawyers to protect its derelict officials, or real estate interests, or to withhold elections to BBMP, cant it employ the best legal resources to save a forest?
Bengaluru desperately needs this lung space! Whitefield in particular has become a concrete slum, with the lowest liveability parameters. If there is anything most precious to this area, it is a green lung space!
THIS FOREST SHOULD BE RESTORED AND REVIVED, ALL CONCRETISATION SHOULD BE REMOVED. DEFORESTERS SHOULD BE PUNISHED!
The million dollar question is... will Bengaluru come together to fight for the Kadugodi Forest as Hyderabad did to fight for Kancha Gachibowli? We have a long tradition of fighting for small causes and missing the big ones... EG: We fought for the 800 odd trees with #SteelFlyoverBeda campaign... But we sat around twiddling our thumbs when 7,500 trees were being cut for the KRDCL Surrounding Roads Project.... Right now, we are fighting to save around 400 trees next to Cantonment Railway station, but will be be mute spectators to the destruction of our largest 700 acres forest by commercial interests and an apathetic Govt?
FRESH HOPE?
On 15th May 2025, the Supreme Court passed a landmark order directing all States & UTs To Handover Possession Of ‘Forest Lands’ To Forest Department
Does the recent judgement bode for Kadugodi Forest? Will it be recovered fully and entrusted to Forest Dept? Click on link below to see order:
verdictum.in/amp/court-upda…
@eshwar_khandre @aranya_kfd @moefcc @byadavbjp @PMOIndia @rashtrapatibhvn
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IMAGES:
*The first image shows the spread of the forest in records, most of which has been encroached by Govt agencies, primarily KIADB, and sub let to other industries, most of which are defunct. It is a LAND GRAB SCAM OF MASSIVE PROPORTIONS!
* The second image is a screenshot from google maps showing recent deforestation next to the Good Shed Terminal.
* The third image shows a post by a real estate portal involving this forest land
* The fourth image shows the RTC on Revenue Dept portal that shows the 711 acres as forest land
SOURCES:
bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/othe…
thenewsminute.com/karnataka/name…
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