VELLORE: The forest department gave the green light, under the Forest Rights Act, to lay roads and construct culverts over the river streams at the hamlet, said Vellore District Forest Officer (DFO) Prince Kumar on Monday.
With this, residents of the Thellai tribal village may no longer need to cross rocky roads and 11 river streams to get to hospitals and shops. Earlier, The New Indian Express reported about the sufferings endured by the locals from Thellai in Thuthuikadu village panchayat and surrounding hamlets without road connectivity.
Numerous remote tribal hamlets in the Vellore district lack basic amenities. Several persons, including residents and the elected representatives, cited a nod from the forest department as the reason for the delay in providing basic amenities.
In an interaction with The New Indian Express, the DFO said that the public can approach the department seeking permission to lay roads in the forest areas, and other developmental work such as construction of schools, anganwadi centres, and Primary Healthcare Centres.
He said that permission for development works at other hilly villages in the forest area would be given based on the rules. "If the public and the local authorities give enough information and time for the due process, then possible solutions could be found," he said.
He added that individuals can approach the district-level forest committee to get a land title or to build a house on forest land and similar individual-related issues if he's a forest dweller. "The public can approach forest officials regarding this. Guidance and support will be provided," he added.
The DFO also said that various laws should be kept in mind. "As per the Forest Conservation Act 1980, permission should be sought from the Union Forest Ministry to allow development works, and Tamil Nadu Government's Forest Act should be kept in mind in dealing with Reserved forest areas," he said.
The Department is creating an awareness campaign for tribals about the Forest Rights Act, said Prince Kumar. "The forest rangers and guards across the district are reaching out to the tribal people about their rights in the forest," he said.
Vellore DFO Prince Kumar said that works are going on to bifurcate the Vellore Forest Division. At present, the Vellore Division consists of forests in Vellore and Ranipet districts, covering 1002.64 sq. km. The new boundaries will be the same as that of the district boundaries, he said.