Forest Staff, Podu Farmers Clash Near Babjipet
Trouble began when forest staff, accompanied by police, arrived to plant saplings on land that officials say is being illegally cultivated.
Adilabad: In a fresh confrontation on Sunday, forest personnel and podu cultivators from the Multhani community clashed near compartments 71 and 72 of the Babjipet forest at Keshavapatnam in Ichoda mandal, Adilabad district.
Trouble began when forest staff, accompanied by police, arrived to plant saplings on land that officials say is being illegally cultivated. Multhani families, who claim the area as podu land, blocked the operation, pelted stones at officials, and damaged departmental vehicles.
Three forest employees sustained injuries and were first treated at the government hospital in Ichoda before being shifted to RIMS, Adilabad.
According to officials, the land retrieval drive is part of a broader programme to reclaim forest areas occupied without proof of cultivation prior to the 2008 survey held under the Forest Rights Act (2006). Forest authorities have repeatedly asked cultivators to produce the slips issued during that survey to validate their claims.
Deputy conservator of forests Prashanth Patil (Adilabad) and divisional officer Revanth Chandra (Utnoor) have been supervising the retrieval and reforestation efforts. Officials allege that Multhani cultivators have recently felled teak trees for timber and expanded cultivation, insisting there was no podu activity in the Babjipet compartments before 2008.
Forest officers say replanting will continue on disputed tracts unless cultivators can provide documentary evidence of legitimate occupation from the 2008 survey.
