Karnataka forest department may seek alternative land for every hectare alienated | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: In a decision claimed to retain the green cover in Karnataka, the state forest department is expected to seek land compensation for every hectare of deemed forest to be alienated.With 3.3 lakh hectares of deemed forest under review with a joint survey being undertaken by forest and revenue department, a physical verification is being taken up at the ground level across Karnataka.Speaking to TOI, forest minister Eshwar Khandre said he has given the department a deadline of March 2026 to complete the survey with the revenue department and provide a report on the extent of land which may have changed characteristics over the decade.“The physical verification of forest land will provide us a detailed picture of how much deemed forest lands can be retained and how much as to be alienated. But we have all the intent to retain the 3.3 lakh hectare of land under the deemed forest category,” said the minister.Khandre said every acre of land which will be lost on account of its characteristics being changed or wrongful inclusion of villages, schools and agriculture land being added to it will be compensated with alternative revenue land.“The previous govt had done an unscientific job of adding habitations and lands which had lost its character of deemed forest simply to comply with the SC orders. Now, we will try to rectify the same by getting land which has no habitations and convert the same into a deemed forest,” said the minister.Khandre said the joint survey has been “slow” in certain parts of the state like Chikkamagaluru but is expected to be completed within the time frame.“We intend to have the reports by March, give or take a month,” he said.According to the forest department, the recovery of these lands will assist the state in building more space for the wild animals and release the much needed pressure on existing forest lands.“Take for example, the tiger population. Every tiger needs at least 10-12 square km of its own space. Bandipur has 900 square km, but there are as many as 200 tigers inside, which forces them to come out of the jungles and get into conflict with humans. The deemed forest lands, uninhabited, may help us in getting some relief in such situations,” said a senior department official.Meanwhile, Khandre said the tiger census will be launched as early as in the next two months and will be carried out across the state.“We definitely believe there is an increase but the census will give us the exact picture,” he said.