Karnataka - Madikeri   

Tree rights panel to boycott auctions

By Our Staff Correspondent

MADIKERI, FEB. 22. The Joint Tree Rights Struggle Committee in Kodagu, demanding that the State Government accord rights over trees to landholders, will boycott the February 24 and 26 timber auctions at the Government timber depots in Kushalnagar and Thithimathi respectively to press for its demands.

Addressing presspersons here on Tuesday, the convenor of the committee, Nanda Subbaiah, said the committee would appeal to all timber merchants not to participate in the auctions till the State Government conceded tree rights to the landholders.

Mr. Subbaiah said the delegation's meeting with the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, which was postponed earlier, will now be held in the first week of March.

Payment to farmers

The committee accused the Forest Department of withholding the payment to farmers to the tune of Rs. 1.5 crore realised from the sale of "unredeem" timber from the Thithimathi depot since the last one year.

Unredeem tenure farmers who cut and deposited the timber for sale during auctions in the Government depots were being paid half the total sale proceeds so far. But, Venkatasubbaiah, a former Conservator of Forests, passed an order in February last year stating timber from all unredeem tenure lands belonged to the Government. The committee will also ensure that the Department paid the unredeem timber value withheld by it to the landholders, Mr. Subbaiah said.

Felling trees

Mr. Subbaiah accused the Forest Department of felling green trees in the forests, terming them "dead and fallen" to fill the State coffers whenever such a need arose. But, if a small farmer wants to utilise the dead and fallen tree, no permission is given or if the farmer did use such timber, cases are foisted against them.

`Keep off'

C.M. Pemmaiah, former president of the Codagu Planters Association, urged the Forest Department not to interfere in the affairs of farmers, who were demanding rights over trees grown in their plantations. Plantations accounted for over 30 per cent of the green cover in the district. If a farmer fells a tree, he replaced it with by planting more saplings. The farmers were concerned about ecology. It is because of the wrong policies of the Government that farmers resorted to growing of silver oak, a monoculture species, which is not conducive to environment, he added.

Farmer leaders K.P. Ganapathi, B.T. Pradeep, C.M. Kaverappa and Harish were present.

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