Fight Between Podu Cultivators, Forest Staff Over Ownership of ‘Podu Lands’
Podu cultivators say that they have been cultivating the land for over 40 years, and agriculture was the only source of livelihood for them.
Adilabad: Podu land cultivators and forest staff clashed at Dimda village in Penchikalpet mandal in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on Tuesday.
Podu cultivators obstructed the forest staff from planting trees in the podu lands while forest staff claimed that the lands belong to the forest department.
A push and pull took place between the podu cultivators and forest staff. Some podu cultivators staged protest by sitting in front of their foresters' vehicles.
Podu cultivators say that they have been cultivating the land for over 40 years, and agriculture was the only source of livelihood for them. Additional forest force reached the Dinda village to control the situation.
The fight has been going on between the Podu cultivators and forest staff for a long time in the Dimda village. The forest department is fixing the boundaries to the forest land by digging trenches, for which local podu cultivators are strongly opposing.
The forest department is on a forest land retrieval mission and taking back the forest land being cultivated by non-locals and raising plantations on those lands.
It is expected that the forest department is planning to plant trees in the lands they retrieved from the podu cultivators and also raise the plantations with the onset of rains. The podu cultivators are preparing their lands for sowing seeds for Kharif season.
