Mekedatu project to submerge 1,079 hectares of forestland in Mandya

The Mekedatu balancing reservoir and drinking water project will result in the submergence of 1,079 hectares of forest in five villages of Malavalli taluk of Mandya district.

This came to the fore during a meeting chaired by the Mandya Deputy Commissioner Kumar on Thursday (November 20). The meeting was held to review the project details and imperatives of identifying suitable land for the project.

In the meeting, it transpired that the forest department has to be compensated for the loss of forest cover at 1:2 ratio. The Deputy Commissioner said that though 2,204 hectares of land had earlier been identified for transfer to the Forest Department in lieu of forest loss, the same was not possible now.

Hence, the authorities are trying to compensate the Forest Department for the extent of the actual forest loss that will be incurred. They have to identify 1,079 hectares of non-forestland for the purpose.

So far, only 307 hectares — spread across Pandavapura and Nagamangala — have been identified, and the Forest Department has issued suitability certificates for these parcels. The administration now faces the task of locating the remaining 757 hectares of land to offset the impending forest loss, according to the authorities.

The Deputy Commissioner directed officials to form taluk-wise teams and expedite the identification of alternative land within 15 days. A joint survey by the tahsildar, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Assistant Director of Land Records, and officers of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam should be undertaken to complete the exercise at the earliest, he added.

The officials were instructed to ensure that the land identified for compensation was not mired in legal complications like encroachment and said that the survey and sketch of the land parcel was a must.

Dr. Kumar said Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has stated that there will be a review of the Mekedatu project every 15 days, and this underlines the urgency to complete the land identification process. Senior officials of the Revenue Department and Forest Department, Cauvery Neeravari Nigam engineers, and others were present.