Permanent avenues will be set up to resolve forest land issues, says A.K. Saseendran

Border demarcation activities to be put on hold in areas where issues persist

Minister for Forests and Wildlife Protection A.K. Saseendran has said that permanent avenues will be set up to resolve issues connected to forest land in Kozhikode district and that officials from the Forest and Revenue departments will be part of it.

At a meeting of people’s representatives and officials on Friday to discuss problems faced by those living close to forest areas, Mr. Saseendran asked Forest Department officials to put on hold border demarcation activities in areas where issues persisted.

Forest and Revenue officials will conduct joint inspections at such locations and a fresh survey will be held to determine the borders. The border demarcation process will be taken up after the issues are resolved.

There are issues at Cheruplad and Koorachundu where some people are living on forest land without land documents. The meeting decided to hand over the land to them in exchange of some other land with the Forest Department. Title deeds will be provided to those in Scheduled Tribe colonies, at locations where the Forest Department had no objections.

Efforts will be made to speed up work on solar fencing in areas that face wildlife menace. The fences will be maintained by the local bodies and farmers.

MLA Linto Joseph, District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao, Chief Conservator of Forests (North Range) D.K. Vinod Kumar, and Forest and Revenue officials were present at the meeting.