VIJAYAWADA: Informing that some revenue officials, in collusion with the forest staff, are encroaching on the forest land at the behest of the ruling YSRC leaders at Allamcherla Rajupalem in T Narasapuram Mandal of West Godavari district, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu urged Union Minister for Forests, Environment and Climate change Bhupender Yadav to take immediate measures to save the forest land and protect the ecosystem in the region.
In a letter addressed to the Union Minister on Saturday, Naidu said T Narasapuram is not only a pristine forest area but also a natural habitat for special species. Mentioning all the details of various notifications issued by the Forest Department from October 15, 1951, to February 6, 1974, Naidu said the 366.99-acre block was notified as a reserve forest area as per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act 1967.
Mentioning that the encroachers and their heirs had approached the High Court with multiple petitions since long by wrongly claiming rights on the forest land, he said though the High Court had passed an interim order granting status quo, the encroachers were misusing the time available with the stay.
“Now, the encroachers are sinking borewells and erecting electric poles, besides digging land clandestinely. What is regrettable is that the YSRC is supporting them to create revenue records for the land though it belongs to the Forest Department,” he stated.
Naidu urged the Centre to immediately order a survey of the forest land and fight the cases pending before the courts by furnishing strong evidence till the issue comes to a logical end. “The Centre should ensure that the forest block in Allamcherla Rajupalem is under constant vigil to check any land grabbing. It should also initiate action against the land grabbers,” Naidu stressed.