New cells to shield forest lands soon

Hyderabad: State Chief Secretary S K Joshi said that the State government is contemplating to establish Forest Land Protection Cell (FLPCs) in coordination with the revenue and police departments to protect the forest lands in Telangana.

Speaking at a two-day State Forest Officers' workshop at the Forest Academy in Dhulapally here on Friday, he said that the government also intends to appoint Forest Settlement Officers (FSOs) in every district, for the early resolution of the forest land disputes.

Joshi, who interacted directly with the chief conservators of forests and some District Forest Officials from Hyderabad, Adilabad and Khammam inquired about the issues being faced by them in the field and solutions needed to resolve them.

On being told that the forest staff has more work in the field and there is a need for coordination with other departments in the protection of forest lands, they pointed out.

It was against this backdrop that the CS assured them of all necessary cooperation from the State government and said that the government's top priority is to protect the existing forest and to add more green covers growing more forests.

Towards this end, Joshi said that the cleansing of the revenue records will help in finding a solution to the vexed problem of forest land disputes.

Besides, steps will also be taken to reduce the burden on the forests from the people living in the villages adjacent to the forest areas.

That apart, he said the State government is also contemplating to encourage the agroforestry taking the support of the agriculture departments and making farmers as the main stakeholders in the programme.

He said that the Agriculture Extension Officers will also be made part of these efforts.