Police canteen facility to be extended for forest personnel: Eshwara Khandre

Bengaluru: Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Eshwara B Khandre has appealed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to allow the forest officers and staff who work day and night to protect the rich forest wealth of the state to use the existing police canteen facility.

Speaking at the Martyrs’ Memorial as part of the National Martyrs’ Day at the Aranya Bhavan in Bengaluru, Minister Eshwara Khandre said that 61 forest guards and officers have been martyred so far while fighting forest fires, preventing human-wildlife conflict and being the target of encroachers and forest thieves. He said that the department stands with the families of all these people.

Earlier, Siddaramaiah announced compensation to the families of the martyrs when he was the Chief Minister, he said that he has also increased the compensation amount from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

He said that our government has announced a hard work allowance of Rs 2,000 per month to the outsourced employees working in the elephant task force, anti-poaching camp and other departments who have given up their life in the forest and this has been implemented. During the last 16 months, the forest department has declared about 10,000 acres of land as notified forest. In addition, Eshwara Khandre said that more than 1500 acres of forest land worth thousands of crores of rupees has been repossessed in different parts of the state including Bangalore, Kolar, Bidar. Prior to 2015 i.e. prior to the state government’s action, a clear order was given to clear large forest encroachments in cases not exceeding 3 acres inclusive of patta land and encroachment of forest land and in cases where application under the Forest Rights Act was not disposed of. He said that this is in accordance with the wishes of 41 (A) and 51 (A) of the Constitution.

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Apart from being the source of many rivers, Western Ghats is home to flora, fauna, insects and birds. Eshwara Khandre said that its preservation is the responsibility of all of us, on this 19th, a meeting of the stakeholders of the Western Ghat area will be held and opinions will be gathered, then discussed in the sub-committee meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, and after consultation with the Chief Minister, after getting the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers, the stand of our state will be conveyed to the Central Government in such a way that both the biodiversity of the Western Ghat and the livelihood of the people will be preserved. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Forest Task Force Chief Brijesh Dixit and others participated in the ceremony.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah participates in all the programs of the Forest Department and guides them. He takes strong decisions and runs a strong government. Minister Eshwara B Khandre said that he will continue as the chief minister for the next three and half years.