Killing of FRO, demand for weapons to foresters gets momentum

The leaders of different forest officers associations have demanded the State government to equip field level forest officials and personnel with weapons

Khammam: Unsettled and concerned over the attack and killing of forest range officer Ch Srinivas Rao at Borlapadu on Tuesday by Guthikoyas, forest officers have sought weapons for protection of forests and for their own safety.

The leaders of different forest officers associations have demanded the State government to equip field level forest officials and personnel with weapons, which they felt would serve as a deterrent against attacks on forest staff.

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Telangana Forest Rangers Association State general secretary Narender stated that weapons for self defense of the officers and the staff besides forest protection have become inevitable in the wake of the Borlapadu incident. He noted that in the recent past, forest staff and officers have become target of podu farmers’ wrath whenever they try to stop felling of trees in the forests and plantations raised by the Forest department in the State.

The government insists on the preservation and protection of forests in Telangana, for which the spread of podu cultivation must be stopped. And in doing so the forest personnel were coming under attack from the podu farmers very often, he said.

On some occasions, foresters would be accompanied by policemen but most of the time there would be no security for them. Apart from this, forest personnel were always outnumbered whenever podu farmers engaged in clashes with them.

“In these circumstances, it has become imperative that forest officers have to be provided with weapons for their safety. Otherwise incidents like Borlapadu could repeat,” Narender told Telangana Today.

He reminded that forest officers and personnel had weapons in 1970s and 80s but were taken back in the wake of spread of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and incidents of naxals attacking forest personnel and looting those weapons.

If the government could not provide weapons, it should at least provide police security with at least five personnel in each forest range so as to ensure safety of the forest officers, he added.

On the other hand the Telangana Junior Forest Officers Association State president Mozam Ali Khan suggested setting forest stations with armed personnel like police stations. He stated that in the past the government was asked to provide weapons, but in vain.

Stating that there were around 200 Guthikoya habitations across Telangana, Khan wanted the government to evict all the residents of those habitations. Otherwise it would be difficult for the staff to work at field level to safeguard forests, he added.

The association leaders also wanted the government to provide a compensation of Rs 5 crore to the FRO’s family and 500 square yards of land to Srinivas Rao’s wife in Khammam district headquarters.