The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Forest Department action justified, says school

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Thursday, Feb 21, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Forest Department action justified, says school

Staff Reporter

School learnt about encroachment only recently
It was told that demolition was imminent

BANGALORE: The Valley School management is worried over the consequences of its stocking 500 kg sandalwood near its Arts Village, which the Forest Department says is illegal.

“We do not have any commercial interest involved either in the land or in the wood. The allegation against us is serious in nature and we never imagined that this will happen to us,” said Satish Inamdar, director of the Bangalore Educational Centre of the Krishnamurti Foundation, which runs the school, on Wednesday.

Mr. Inamdar said a number of trees, including sandalwood, grow in the area. “While some fall naturally, there are instances where poachers have cut them down.” The wood is regularly stacked in open areas and allowed to decay.

He said that it was difficult for the school to prevent poaching of sandalwood trees. “They are armed and we cannot do much. Even officials have expressed their helplessness. We have been stacking the remains abandoned by poachers,” he said.

On Saturday, the Forest Department demolished 10 sheds of the School’s Arts Village on the grounds that it had encroached on five acres of B.M. Kaval Reserve Forest land. During the course of the demolition, the department came across the sandalwood blocks stored by the school nearby.

According to Karnataka Forest Act, 1963, sandalwood could not be cut or stored without a government licence. The school management distanced itself from the criticism by parents of the Forest Department’s action.

“We do not want to create any misunderstanding. We are distancing ourselves from the allegations made by the parents.

“There is no dispute with the department over the action taken in accordance with the law. We want to clear this muck and move ahead,” Mr. Inamdar said.

This is the first time that the school management has reacted after Saturday’s demolition.

He said the land in question was part of the 103 acres given to the foundation in 1970.

“The land given to us was barren and fenced and abutted the forest.”

The school built a cowshed and later replaced it with the Arts Village, where the students connected with nature and made wooden artefacts and clay models.

A few years ago, the school management came to know that a portion of the land given to them belonged to the Forest Department. “We asked the Forest Department to survey the land and demarcate the boundary,” Mr. Inamdar said. S. Gopalan, one of the senior teachers of the school said, “We also planted native species of trees and developed greenery in this area.”

N.J. Krishnan, who has taught in the school for nearly two decades, said that when it was found that the Arts Village was within the encroached portion, “we tried informally to negotiate with various Central and State authorities to explore the possibility of barter or lease.

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