A team of forest officials was attacked and an attempt was made to set them on fire by a podu farmer K Mahesh and his family members. The team came under attack when they went to inspect a site where saplings were planted in 10 acres of forest land at Pandipampula of Bhupalpally mandal as a part of the Haritha Haram campaign. The site was designated for the plantation of 4,000 trees. K Mahesh and his family cultivate cotton in 5 acres of podu land in the village. When the officials visited the site for inspection, Mahesh and his family members stood in the way, attacked them with sticks, and also poured petrol on them. The officials were Azamnagar Forest Range Officer Guduri Divya, section officer Mohan and beat officer Ajay who escaped with minor burns.
According to Jayashankar Bhupalpally District Forest Officer (DFO) B Lavanya, the injured officials were shifted to Bhupalpally Urban Primary Health Center (UPHC) for treatment.
She also added that Mahesh had damaged the saplings planted by the Forest Department and was trying to cultivate cotton in forest land.
After the incident, Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy said stringent action would be taken against the culprits and a cabinet sub-committee will be constituted to probe the attack. He also stressed that the government will work in good faith to resolve land issues.
The Minister held a video conference yesterday and interacted with Forest Range Officer Guduri Divya and other staff who were attacked by the villagers, where he said, “We condemn the attack on forest officials and staff. Everyone should realise that the authorities are planting trees in the forest lands as part of forest revitalisation and that it is not in their personal interest to do so. Forest officials were only discharging their responsibilities under the Forest Conservation Act and anyone with any problems at the field level should bring the matter to the notice of the District Collector and the District Forest Officer,”
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R Shobha directed district-wise Forest Protection Committees headed by District Collectors to respond immediately to such incidents and ensure they don’t recur. Representatives on behalf of the State Forest Officers Association, the Forest Range Officers Association, and the Junior Forest Officers Association condemned the attack and thanked the government for extending the required support.
