The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Clearing of reserve forest rings alarm bells

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Clearing of reserve forest rings alarm bells

Staff Reporter

Cases booked for felling trees in Kawwal wildlife sanctuary

Tough job: Notwithstanding the degree of difficulty involved, a farmer tills land on a hillock after clearing trees, near Jamgaon in Jainoor mandal.

ADILABAD: There is every possibility of the programme for recognising land rights will land the implementation agencies in trouble given the emerging trend among tribals in Adilabad district.

Utmost care is needed while dealing with the nitty-gritty of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, as no less than 2 lakh acres of forest land will be involved.

Recent events involving tribals and others in clearing reserve forest in Jannaram and Nirmal forest divisions should ring the alarm bells.

Villagers from mandals like Indervelli and Sirpur (U) had indulged in clearing forest in Kawwal wildlife sanctuary in the far off Jannaram mandal.

Administration reacts

Allaying fears of spread of the tendency to clear forests, Collector Ahmad Nadeem said preventive measures have already been initiated.

“Cases are being booked against the violators and the survey teams have been instructed to verify the genuineness of the claim as per the provisions in the Act.”

In fact, the STFR Act seems to have enthused people to take to clearing forests in the belief that one day another similar Act will be promulgated to regularise these lands,” pointed out a forest official from Jannaram.

In any case, three cases have been booked for felling trees in the wildlife sanctuary involving about 20 hectares of land.

Unproductive lands

It may not just be the hope of getting the rights to freshly cleared forest land in future that is making the tribals and others take recourse to it.

The question of old lands being rendered unproductive also makes them seek new lands for cultivation.

Observation

It has been observed that farmers cultivating on hillocks for about five years come to the plain land for agriculture.

In cases where cultivators of such pieces of land are to get rights, the Government could facilitate increase of productivity.

This way at least some of the farmers who resort to podu cultivation can be dissuaded.

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