NCPNR welcomes eviction order against ex-speaker

BANGALORE: The National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR)welcomed the eviction order against former Vidhana Sabha Speaker Ramesh Kumar. At a press meet here on Friday, NCPNR urged Kumar to voluntarily surrender over 60 acres of forest land to the forest department. Further, the NCPNR thanked the key forest officials and chief secretary of the state for protecting the forest land from  encroachers. “We urge them to exercise their constitutional duties effectively by withstanding undue political pressure,”  founder president of NCPNR S R Hiremath said.The team said that CEC court and Supreme Court hearings respectively on 11 and 13 April will be important. “The SC hearing before the forest bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia may perhaps be one of the most important hearings in the history of illegal mining in Karnataka and AP. the CEC has submitted its final report regarding the survey and demarcations of mines in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur, which for the first time takes a pro-mining approach and recommends a lenient penalty,” he said.The SPS, too, submitted its report of the situation in three districts along the lines of the SC, he added.