Tension prevails as villagers till Forest dept lands in Adilabad

Adilabad: A war like situation can be sensed in forest fringe villages situated in different parts of erstwhile Adilabad district for the past few weeks. And, this war is between dwellers of these villages and forest department officials. People living on the fringes of forest areas have been tilling the lands allegedly belonging to the […]

Adilabad: A war like situation can be sensed in forest fringe villages situated in different parts of erstwhile Adilabad district for the past few weeks. And, this war is between dwellers of these villages and forest department officials.

People living on the fringes of forest areas have been tilling the lands allegedly belonging to the forest department for over two decades. In particular, aboriginal tribals are traditionally known for depending on shift cultivation or Podu farming on the fringes of the forest. They do not harm wild animals and fell trees in pursuit of this way of agriculture.

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The forest officials laid a special focus on protecting the dwindling forest cover in the recent past. They are taking special measures to reclaim forest land used for agriculture in several parts of the district. But, they are accused of harassing the dwellers for tilling the land. Some of them are apparently using harsh means to evacuate the ‘encroachers’.

Evidently, nineteen tribals were arrested by forest department officials and were produced before a court for allegedly encroaching at Koya Poshamguda village in Dandepalli mandal on May 23. They drew flak for taking some women with children into custody and lodging them in Adilabad district jail, about 150 kilometers away from this habitation. Infants of these women were forced to stay with their relatives.

A small-time farmer Doke Isthari tried to end life when staffers of the forest department tried to reclaim land used for agriculture in the forests of Kondapalli village of Penchikalpet mandal recently. Instances of forcible evacuation of farmers by foresters are reported in Mancherial, Nirmal Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Adilabad districts at regular intervals, triggering tensions on certain occasions.

The forest officials claim that they are taking back the lands belonging to the department. But the dwellers say that they have been tilling the lands for two decades. In order to resolve the issue, joint surveys by both officials of revenue and foresters have been decided. But, the joint surveys are not being carried out due to various reasons including shortage of surveyors and lack of coordination between the two departments.

The delay in conducting the surveys is irking the dwellers of forest fringe villages. The dwellers are losing benefits of Raithu Bandhu scheme and financial assistance by the union government. They are forced to migrate to urban areas in search of livelihood. They are, however, demanding the authorities concerned to take steps to address the long pending ‘podu’ issue.