Removing encroachments from forest land is a nagging issue for the forest department across the country. Khammam Forest division in Telangana cajoled the villagers and fought the mafias not only to retrieve the land but also to convert it back to forest. The people behind the move is the lady range officer and the other green soldiers who were determined in getting the forest land back.
Land mafia usurped forest land in the Gubbagurthy region. The precious forest area had been encroached by the people for agriculture as water was freely available from nearby NSP canal and soil was very fertile.
RETRIEVAL
Earlier a DFO was even assaulted by encroachers of Ramnarsaiah Nagar village. Things were very volatile ever since.
Forest Conservation Act of 1980 (FCA) is an act by the Parliament of India which ensures the conservation of forests and their resources. It also prohibits felling of forests for any “non-forestry” use without prior clearance by the central government.
GREEN SOLDIER
Mr Siddharth Vikram said, a Forest Range Office (FRO), Radhika Garu, a localite opened am communication channels with villagers. She tried multiple ways to take control of the forest land by convincing people on field, speaking to village sarpanchs and using JCB machine to remove encroachments and retrieve the forest land. Finally, she held several rounds of meeting with the police personnel and the village heads.
Mr. Siddharth told Indian Masterminds, “After a lot of struggles and several rounds of personal negotiations, people started getting convinced and advanced operations were taken place.”
AFFORESTATION
Finally the forest department freed the whole land from the encroachers and conducted a massive plantation drive in that area under Compensatory Afforestation (CA). The forest department now has the whole land in control and has planted a new forest on it. With over 95 percent survival of newly planted saplings, a new forest was created.
This story of green soldiers adhering to their duty is truly inspiring. IFS officer Siddharth Vikram, who got posted here last year, is shouldering the responsibly of freeing the forest land and protect it from such people.
