Tribals stage 'noose' protest against felling of trees

Visakhapatnam: Tribals of Komiri village raised objection to the merciless cutting of cashew and mango plantations by the authorities to give way for a granite company.

Opposing the attitude of the revenue officials, tribals staged a protest demonstrating a mock suicide attempt at Urulova hill of Madugula mandal on Thursday and said that the trees were planted by them years before and cutting them down was not fair as their livelihood will be largely affected.

Tying a noose around their necks, the tribals said that they had been allotted D-patta lands by the government in the past and were involved in tree cultivation for decades. Further, they said that the cashew plantations were their only source of income and the land they cultivated was taken away by force.

The locals alleged that cultivating cashew and mango plantations were being destroyed as the authorities had recently given permission for a granite company and that the tribals will be 'forced' to take their lives as they do not have any other source of income.

Tribal Association district vice-president K Govinda Rao, district general secretary E Narasimha Murthy and Agricultural Labour Union member K Bhavani alleged that Madugula MLA and tahsildar are working against the tribals, exploiting their ignorance. They said that the revenue officials were booking false cases against the tribals for preventing the officials from cutting down the trees. The tribals demanded the Anakapalle joint collector to launch a thorough investigation into the issue and take action against the officials. Further, they mentioned that they would be staging a protest at the Anakapalle district collector's office on Monday.

S Rajulamma, T Rajulamma, S Lakshmi, T Erukamma, T Peramma and S Satyavathi participated in the protest.