Bengaluru: The Supreme Court has directed Karnataka state government to bring 1,76,570 tribals and forest dwellers, whose applications were rejected by the forest and revenue departments, under the Forest Rights Act 2006 out of the forest areas before July 24. In a direction issued to the state government, the Supreme Court asked the Chief Secretary to file an affidavit in this regard by July 24.
According to sources, 48,432 applications were submitted in the state under the tribal category, among which 35,521 were rejected. As many as 2,17,014 applications were submitted under the forest dwellers category, and 1,41,019 of the applications were rejected.
Reportedly, the issue is expected to create a lot of social disturbance in the forest-rich areas of the state especially in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga.
“The alleged harassment to the tribal is one of the reasons for the upspring of Naxal activities in the state. The issue is very severe in Shivamogga where politicians are also opposing any kind of eviction,” said sources from the state government.
