Afforestation not illegal: Forest Dept.

CPI (ML-ND) leader’s statement baseless: official

Kothagudem Divisional Forest Officer Shantharam has said the Forest Department took up afforestation on 810 hectares.

This stretch of land got deforested after 2011 in Kothagudem Forest Division, and to achieve the goal of increasing the forest cover up to 33 per cent as envisaged in the National Forest Policy, this activity was taken up.

With reference to a news item titled

‘Forest Dept. destroying maize on podu lands’ containing allegations made by the CPI (ML-New Democracy) leaders against the Forest staff at a press conference, published in these columns on Friday, Mr. Shantharam stated that the afforestation works taken up in Kothagudem Forest Division does not violate any provision of the RoFR Act.

Of the total reserve forest area of 1,47,967.77 hectares under the Kothagudem Forest Division, around 98,800 acres of land was illegally encroached.

The illegal encroachment occurred mostly after 2008, he said.

The afforestation works were taken up in 810 hectares of deforested land with the consent of local villagers in January this year.

However, some ‘vested interests’ instigated local people to stop the afforestation works, Mr. Shantharam said.

The Kothagudem Forest Division will achieve the goal of afforestation of the National Forest Policy legally, he added.