Eshwar Khandre, Minister for Forests, presiding over a meeting with officials at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi on Friday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Forest, Environment and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre has directed officials to take steps to remove encroachments on protected forests.
In a meeting with officials in Belagavi on Friday, Mr. Khandre asked officials to clear all encroachments of more than three acres and those that occurred after 2015.
He told officials to keep in mind that the poor who were encroaching on land for livelihood should not be disturbed as they were encroaching on less than three acres of forest land for their livelihood, including land registered in their names.
The minister directed officials to hold public meetings in villages adjacent to forests that witness human-wildlife conflicts. He told them to take necessary measures to prevent the death of wild elephants, pointing out the recent cases where two jumbos died recently in a sugarcane farm at Khanapur in Belagavi district.
There have been cases of some farmers using illegal electrical connections to prevent wild animals from entering their fields, causing the death of wild animals, he said and directed officials to prevent such incidents in future.
“To prevent the death of wild animals, meetings should be held to create awareness among people and inform them about wildlife laws,” he said.
The minister also ordered them to restrict access to Vajrapoh Falls in Belagavi as tourists visiting the place were disturbing wildlife. “It is also in the interest of tourists to avoid any untoward incidents,” he said.
Protection and conservation should be the priority of the forest department. The whole world is facing the effects of global warming and climate change, and protecting and protecting trees has the potential to slow down and reverse the effects of climate change, he said.
He ordered to increase the green cover by planting more saplings in other parts of Belagavi Circle, except the Western Ghats. He proposed to plant and grow more saplings on both sides of highways, district main roads and other link roads in Belagavi city limits and asked for an audit and submission of a report on how many of these saplings are still alive.
Mr. Khandre asked the officials to maintain transparency in all works carried out by the department. He urged them to increase the green cover, especially by planting local species of plants on cleared land.
The Minister said that emphasis should be given to eco-tourism by providing basic amenities to tourists in the Ghataprabha Bird Sanctuary and by deploying more boats.
Principal Conservator of Forests Manjunath Chauhan, Deputy Conservator of Forests NE Kranti and others were present.
Published – 19 Dec 2025 21:11 IST
