Tribals stop Forest officials from digging trenches near farmlands in Kumram Bheem Asifabad

Mild tension prevailed at Polasa village in Kumram Bheem Asifabad after tribal residents stopped Forest department officials from digging trenches around farmlands. Villagers feared losing their livelihood, while officials said the exercise was aimed at protecting wildlife and forest boundaries.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Mild tension prevailed after residents prevented Forest officials from digging trenches around agriculture lands situated on the fringes of forests at Polasa village in Jainoor mandal on Friday.

The residents, mostly tribals, claimed that they were cultivating crops in the lands for quite a long time. They wondered as to why the officials were now suddenly digging trenches around the lands. They regretted that they would lose livelihood if the lands were retrieved. They declared that they would not leave the lands even if they were killed.

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They wonder how they would take care of their children, if they were not allowed to till the lands. They stopped earth movers from digging trenches by staging a sit-in the fields. They picked up an argument with the officials leading to tension. They withdrew their protest when police advised them to approach officials for justice instead of preventing the digging.

Forest officials reasoned that they were only trying to conserve wildlife. They stated that the forests were seeing movement of tigers at regular intervals. They said that the tigers were being disturbed by the farming activities in the lands. They added that the lands originally belonged to the Forest department, but were used by the residents for agriculture.

It may be recalled that the district is witnessing similar clashes between farmers and the Forest officials over boundaries of lands located near forests at different parts at regular intervals. Proposed joint surveys by both revenue and Forest officials remain a distant dream.