Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has deplored damage to the forest on account of the presence of Gutti Koyas who have escaped from the conflict zone of Chhattisgarh and settled in the border villages of Khammam and Warangal districts.
Mr. Rao announced steps to create a corpus for the Forest Department by collecting a cess in the name of forest development. An exclusive commissionerate for social forestry was also being examined.
Addressing a State-level conference of forest officers at the forest academy at Dulapalli near here on Saturday, Mr. Rao asked police officers to act tough to prevent the entry of Gutti Koyas into the State from across the border as they posed a threat to forest.
He was responding to the complaint from participants that the Gutti Koyas posed a threat not only to the forest but beat officers.
The officers must also deal sternly with encroachments in forest and smuggling of teak. He promised to fill vacancies in the Forest Department.
Police officials asked to prevent their entry into the State
