Hyderabad: Around 15 tribals from Amrabad region whose houses were allegedly demolished by the authorities approached the Human Rights Commission seeking justice. However, the forest department claims that they never went to that Railetpenta village and demolished the houses.
Speaking to this newspaper, 25-year-old Yellamma from Railetpenta said, "We went to the nearby village Vatellapalli and were informed that our houses had been demolished by the government authorities. We immediately went to our village and found our house in debris. It was a place where our forefathers lived. Now the forest department is saying that we are living illegally. We don't have any clue about it."
She further added that the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) had built those houses in 1995 and handed over to them. Now, the forest department was saying they were government lands, she said.
Another tribal, Chigulla Eadamma said at midnight the forest department officials came to their village Railetpenta and demolished their houses. “All of a sudden, we don't have a place to stay,” she said.
There are 22 families residing in Railetpenta for the last 100 years and have been cultivating 90 acres of forest land in Railetpenta in Domalapenta range in Amrabad Mandal of Nagarkurnool district. The Chenchus who approached the commission requested the commission to direct the authorities to reconstruct the demolished houses and give pattas to the agricultural lands which were cultivated by them.
G. Rohit, Amrabad divisional forest officer, said, "The residents of Railetpenta shifted to Vatellapalli and there are no inhabitants in the village. We haven't demolished any house. It is a completely false accusation against the forest department that we vacated Railetpenta and demolished the houses."
