Govt resolute to solve Podu issue, says KTR

Sircilla: The State government was taking steps towards a permanent solution to the Podu lands issue, said IT, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K Taraka Rama Rao.

The Minister held an all-party meeting with officials, representatives of various political parties and people's representatives from eight mandals of the district on Podu land issue and forest revitalization here on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the district has a geographical area of about 4.72 lakh acres, of which 96, 394 acres was estimated to cover 20 per cent of the forest area. About 8,000 acres was under the Podu cultivation. Rama Rao said that the government was taking steps to do justice to the poor and protect the forest. Village level meetings would be held from November 8 to receive applications from those occupying Podu lands. After examining eligible applications a decision based on the actual conditions at the field level would be taken. After resolving the issue of Podu lands, steps should be taken to prevent re-encroachment of forest land in the future, the Minister said.

He wanted to set up forest rights committees in villages and forest conservation committees at the district level. There would be a climate balance with 33 per cent forest area and conservation of forest resources was the primary duty of all, he said. Due to deforestation, the climate balance was being affected leading to problems like heavy rains and droughts. A joint survey should be conducted where there were forest and revenue land issues and steps should be taken to resolve the problem, Rama Rao noted. Dharani has been introduced and successfully managed in the State like nowhere else in the country.

More than 10 lakh registrations have already taken place. A digital survey would be launched soon to achieve accuracy in land boundaries, the Minister informed. He said that an all-party meeting would be held again with the data collected after the conferences in 67 villages and action would be taken accordingly. MLAs Ch Ramesh Babu and Rasamayi Balakishan District Collector Anurag Jayanthi, NAFSCOB Chairman Konduru Ravinder Rao, ZP Chairperson N Aruna, SP Rahul Hegde and others were present.