Andhra Pradesh - Khammam   

Polavaram: tribals clear reserve forest for new settlements

Staff Reporter

KHAMMAM: The tribals from six villages of Chintoor and Vararamachandrapuram mandals facing the risk of submergence by the Polavaram project began clearing forests for building new settlements.

A senior forest official confirmed that the tribals had cleared about ten hectares of reserve forest. They defied the forest personnel who tried to prevent them from felling the trees.

Khammam Forest Circle Conservator Tej Singh Kardam appraised the situation to Collector R.J. Nimje. The tribals of Chintoor, Errampeta, Ratnapura, Lakshmipuram, Vegithotha and Chutur, armed with bows, arrows and sickles began to occupy the forest land right on the road side. The tribals claimed that the new settlements planned by the administration away from the forests would leave them deprived. As a result the tribal communities resolved to find a new shelter right in the heart of the forest. The forest personnel made all out efforts to persuade them to give up the operation, but in vain.

The forest officials said much of the area cleared by them was wasteland.

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