BARIPADA: Residents of Halada panchayat on Friday staged a protest demanding action an employee of the Forest department posted at the Rairangpur division for allegedly encroaching upon vast tracts of forest land in a reserve forest near Badabaikala village.
The villagers staged the protest in front of the office of sub-collector and DFO of Rairangpur. The protestors said they had lodged a complaint with Rairangpur town police station against the employee. They said the forest staff has been selling forest produce and timber to mafia after encroaching upon the forest land for the last 20 years. The villagers submitted memorandums to the DFO of Rairangpur, sub-collector, tehsildar and Rairangpur town IIC seeking their intervention to save the reserve forest.
Sanjeeb Gopal, a protestor said the forest is a treasure trove of medicinal plants and valuable trees planted by locals and Forest department over the years. However, the staff has been selling the produce to mafia while not allowing any local to enter the forest. A case was also registered in Rairangpur town police station in this regard by the villagers but no action has been taken so far, he said.
Rairangpur DFO, Sibaprasad Rath said based on allegations levelled by the villagers, he conducted an on-the-spot inquiry and it came to fore that the forest is under the Revenue department and has been encroached upon the staff for 20 years. Rairangpur sub-collector Saroj Das said action will be taken basing on the report of the probe conducted by the DFO.