The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has raised some questions about violations of the Forest Act in Ramdurg of Belagavi district.This is the second time that the Centre has sought details from the State government.The Ministry officers have also recommended action against local forest officials for their inability “to prevent the violations and to initiate action against violators”.These concern the proposal of Shree Sharada Devi Education Society seeking diversion of 0.9648 hectares of forest land at Doddamagadi in Ramdurg taluk.The letter sent to the State government and Belagavi officials follows a site inspection by its regional office of the forest area near the mountain in Ramdurg.The Site Inspection Report has observed that the proposal is non-site specific and can be located on non-forest land. It has directed the State government to furnish its comments on the regional office’s inspection report and the issues spoken mentioned therein.The Ministry has sought the Keyhole Marker Language (KML) file of the Doddamagadi Tree Park that gives details of its boundaries.It has asked the State government to identify the compound wall constructed around the proposed area with reference to the letter from the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Belagavi of September 11, 2025.The Central Ministry has taken note that the proposal was in 2018 rejected by the regional office but, non-forestry activities have been subsequently carried out on the proposed forest land.Officials have been asked to justify why a proposal rejected earlier is being considered again when non-forestry activities are being carried out following such rejection.In another query raised on August 14, the Central government has questioned why two neighbouring forest diversion proposals have been submitted individually. It has also sought to know why the State government has described the proposals as two distinct ones while the Deputy Commissioner’s letter indicates that the user agencies in both the proposals are registered at the same address.It has sought justification for submitting two proposals instead of a single consolidated one.The Union government has sought a detailed Action Taken Report against the violators and called for details of the officials and authorities who failed to prevent the use of forest land for non-forestry purposes without its prior approval.It has also sought complete details of disciplinary action taken against the officials concerned.The letter asks what kind of supervision and enforcement have been taken at different levels of the Forest Department, including by the Chief Conservator of Forests, the Deputy Conservator of Forests, the Assistant Conservator of Forests and the Range Forest Officer.The Ministry has asked if any official has accorded permission for the use of the forest land despite the initial rejection and sought furnishing his name and other details. It has also sought the status of the FIR.Proposal rejectedForest officials objected to the construction work that began in 2017-18. In fact, an FIR was filed against the education society. A proposal to clear forest area for construction of college buildings was rejected in 2018. Notices were issued to the society authorities.The diversion of forest land involves two violations, as per the local report, one is the construction of a college building and the other, the installation of a 72 ft tall Lord Shiva statue which Congress MLA Ashok Pattan unveiled in 2018. Published - August 28, 2026 07:08 pm IST