Mahabubnagar: Farmers lock horns with forest officials over Podu land

Mahabubnagar: The fight between farmers and forest officials took an ugly turn with the farmers opposing the forest officials to plant saplings in the cultivable podu lands of the farmers at Tatichelka Podu land in Madhavanipally village of Amrabad mandal in Nagarkurnool district.

Earlier the farmers from Kollapur also opposed the forest officials who forcefully snatched the podu lands by not allowing them to cultivate the land last month in Kollapur mandal. It was former MLA Jupally Krishna Rao who intervened and spoke to the forest officials and urged them to allow the farmers to cultivate their lands.

Now that the matter has subsided, the forest officials have once again come to forcefully evacuate the farmers at the Tatichelka Podu land in Madhavanipally. According to villagers, the forest officials came in large numbers and dug small trenches in the cultivable podu lands and tried to plant trees in the open lands. Opposing this large number of villagers from Madhavanipally objected the move by the forest officials, over which a tussle broke out between the forest officials and the villagers, that entered an altercation.

"We are cultivating the Podu lands near the forests areas since decades and making a living on it. However now the forest range officials are coming and planting trees on the podu lands are doing injustice to us," said the agitating farmers. They demanded the state government to immediately direct the forest officials to withdraw their move to plant trees on the open podu lands. The local representatives also demanded the government to issue patta pass books to those podu lands on which the tribals are making a living since decades.

However, the forest officials said that they have been instructed to protect the forest lands and do plantation wherever there is no forest cover. "The forest lands have been illegally grabbed and are being cultivated by the villagers adjacent to the forest areas. It is our responsibility to protect the forest land and as per the directions of the government. We are planting trees to ensure enough forest cover to the open lands," observed a forest division officer K Sudhakar Rao.