Forest Department plans to move high court against developers who allegedly want to turn Woodland where Sholay was shot into a Ramgadh resort
Forest Department plans to move high court against developers who allegedly want to turn Woodland where Sholay was shot into a Ramgadh resort
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"The Forest Department could save the land easily, but bigwigs in the government are backing the encroachers.
This has made our job very difficult. We are left with no option but to move court," said a source in the Forest Department.
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| The Forest Department continues its struggle to save the stretch of Ramanagar where Bollywood classic Sholay was shot. |
Viswanath, a government pleader, who is expected file the petition on behalf of the Forest Department, refused to speak to this reporter. "I am studying the papers. I can't speak on the issue at this point," Viswanath said.
History
Of the 405.13 acres in survey number 107 in the village Hallimala of Ramanagar district, 255 acres had been declared forestland in 1917.
The remaining 150.13 acres was earmarked as gomal or land for cattle grazing.
In 1978, the government granted gomal land to 42 scheduled caste and scheduled tribe beneficiaries.
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A person identified as Manjunath bought 6.27 acres of the said land, in 2004, which he subsequently sold to Ananthara Resorts.
Collector's special
Ananthara, which is planning to build a Sholay-themed Ramgadh Resort on the site, has allegedly fenced in some land that rightfully belongs to the Forest Department.
"They are trying to confuse everyone by showing the land purchase documents.
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From the documents one is led to believe that they have legal ownership of the land but if one studies the survey map, it becomes clear that they are actually grabbing forest land," said a source.
When the Forest Department raised objection over the development of the resort, Ananthara Resort petitioned the collector to intervene in the matter.
"The collector did not allow us to see the records. They issued orders without hearing us out," said a senior officer in the Forest Department.
"Moreover, he is not an authority in the litigation regarding forest land. We will use these facts to argue the case in court."
District Collector Chandrashekariah said he could not stop anyone from moving court. "I know the law too. Let them go to court. I am nobody to stop them."
G Ravishankar, MD of Ananthara Resorts, offered no comments.
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