Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady
Beltangady, Nov 2: The forest department’s wildlife division cleared an alleged encroachment in Kudremukh National Park limits at Malavanthige village in Beltangady taluk on Friday. The operation led to the eviction of the family of P T Joseph, who had been residing on the land for the past 50 years. Coconut, areca, and banana plantations were cleared, and local saplings were planted along with the installation of a forest department board.
P T Joseph’s family from Arasinamakkie had been residing in Malavanthige since 1970. Under the Akrama Sakrama scheme, the family was allotted 4.94 acres of land in 1997. However, after Kudremukh was declared a national park, their land title was cancelled in 2004. The forest department issued a notice in 2014 instructing them to vacate the land. The family’s appeal against the order was later dismissed. On October 16, the department issued a final notice, asking them to vacate by October 30.
On Friday, a team led by Beltangady range forest officer (Wildlife Division) Sharmishta V, with the support of police and revenue officials, carried out the eviction and completed the encroachment clearance. The family’s house was demolished, and nearly two acres of cultivated areca, coconut, and banana crops were uprooted.
Joseph, expressing his anguish, said, “Our family has been here since I was three years old. The land title was granted in my father’s name. We depended entirely on this farmland for our livelihood. Now, we are left homeless. I have no idea where to go with my wife and children. We neither have another house nor land.”
Providing details, RFO Sharmishta said, “The department has been issuing notices to the P T Joseph family since 2018. The land title granted earlier was cancelled long ago by the sub-divisional officer as it was unauthorized. Hence, we issued the final notice on October 16. Even after that, our staff informed the family to vacate voluntarily. Only after they vacated did we proceed to clear the areca, coconut, and banana plantations and plant native species.”
Social activist Shekhar Layila criticized the move, saying, “The state government had earlier promised that no one would be forcibly evicted from within the Kudremukh National Park. Yet now, it has initiated forced evictions. When forest dwellers were evicted earlier, it gave rise to the Naxal movement in the Malnad region. After the surrender of Naxalites, resuming evictions of forest residents is condemnable. The government must provide adequate compensation to Joseph’s family.”