Nearly 200 acres of forest land encroached in Telangana’s Vikarabad; eight acres recovered

Tree felling in the forest is on at alarming pace in Vikarabad district, which is a wildlife and biodiversity haven within 100 kilometres of Telangana capital, and birth place of Musi river.

Till recently, raucous protests were held against the VLF station being set up by the Eastern Naval Command in Damagundam reserve forest of Vikarabad. But the removal of trees there pales in comparison with the instances of illegal forest clearance, right under the nose of the Forest Department.

Officials have woken up only recently to the rampant deforestation going on for several years, and are now busy in damage control exercise.

As per the information from sources, close to 200 acres of thick forest land has been cleared in Pargi mandal of Vikarabad district, in extension of the lands for which titles were given under the Recognition of Forest Rights (FRA) Act, 2006.

Satellite alerts on tree cover changes ignored

Years of satellite alerts about tree cover changes were ignored by the foresters before the encroachments came to light. A report which appeared in The Hindu about encroachment of the balance forest land in Damagundam alerted the authorities, after which the District Forest Officer was transferred, and the charge was given to the District Forest Officer (DFO), Ranga Reddy.

It was during this time that the alerts were taken note of seriously, and field staff was alerted. About 80 instances of encroachments were noticed, and 20 cases have been booked so far, sources informed. An eight acre encroachment mentioned in the news report by The Hindu has now been secured, and the encroacher has been sent to remand.

The encroachment was into 361-acre block, which was mandated to be fenced off as a precondition for the Stage-II forest clearance for the VLF Station project. The Navy authorities were to take up the fencing work as per the agreement, but could not due to objections and protests by the encroachers. With the hurdles now removed, the officials said they will review the situation and start the work soon.