SEVEN DECADES ON, A GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR LAND RIGHTS IN KARNATAKA

A joint survey is currently underway by the Revenue and Forest Department officials in all seven taluks of Shivamogga district to de-reserve forests in favour of those who lost land to the Sharavathi Hydel Power Project seven decades ago. Sathish G.T. visits survey sites to meet people who are hopeful of getting title deeds for their land, at least this time around.

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It is 10.30 a.m. and four government officials have just reached Kallukoppa, a village in Sringere, a gram panchayat in Shivamogga taluk. One of them is armed with a rover to record GPS location, while others are carrying documents.

The team, comprising officers of both the Revenue and Forest Departments, with residents as witness, begins a survey of the land at Maleshankara State Forest - 1. The objective is to identify the cultivators and measure the extent of land being cultivated by each. The cultivators in question are those who were displaced from villages in Hosanagar and Sagar taluks of Shivamogga by the Sharavathi Hydel Power Project in Sagar taluk.

A group of people, all aged above 55, had gathered to witness the survey. The work began with identifying the boundaries of land being cultivated by brothers C. Ramachandrakar and C. Ganesh, sons of the late Channabasava Nayaka. The family shifted to Kallukoppa way back in 1963 from Karuru hobli in Sagar taluk, as their village was about to be submerged in the backwaters of Linganmakki dam, constructed to generate power.

As the rover is placed on the boundary line, the gadget handled by the surveyor records the accurate location. They record the name and details of the cultivator, identify the boundary of the land, and also measure the extent of the land.

This exercise of joint survey is currently on in all seven taluks of Shivamogga district over 9,129 acres. The district administration has appealed to the public to cooperate with the officials for the completion of the survey, as it is being conducted in support of the Karnataka government's application before the Supreme Court, seeking permission to de-reserve portions of forest land to favour the people affected by the power project.