Chandrababu urges Centre to protect forest lands from encroachers in West Godavari district

AMARAVATI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) National President N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav alleging illegal occupation and encroachment of forest lands in Allamcherla Rajupalem in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Naidu appealed to the Centre to intervene in the matter and protect the forest lands from encroachers.

In his letter to the Union Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, said, “The forest block covers around 3,255.92 acres of land in Allamcherla Rajupalem and needs protection. Earlier, revenue officials had declared some portion of the forest land as agricultural land without informing the forest department officials. The decision taken by the revenue officials is now being challenged in court.”

Naidu said that unfortunately, the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government was supporting the encroachers to create illegal revenue records for survey numbers 226, 227, 231, 232 and 233, though it actually belonged to the forest department. The encroachers and their heirs had even approached the High Court stating that the land was under their control, the TDP Chief said. He also pointed out that the encroachers had also setup electricity poles and sinking bore wells in the forest land, although the court had issued an interim order to maintain the status quo.

“We are appealing to the Centre to immediately intervene in this matter and protect the forest lands from encroachers. The entire forest land should be surveyed immediately to establish clear boundaries and prevent it from further encroachment. Vigilance should be intensified to protect the Allamcherla Rajupalem lands from the land grabbers. Disciplinary action should be taken against the officials involved in the encroachment of the forest lands,” the TDP Chief demanded.