The District Level Committee (DLC) has accepted roughly 44,000 claims over 1,38,000 acres of forest land from members of Scheduled Tribe communities below the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA), 2006, to this point in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.
Expedited pattas distribution
The predominantly tribal-populated district has a forest space of round 10 lakh acres. The district administration has expedited the method of printing passbooks for the distribution of pattas (title deeds) to the eligible tribals as per the provisions of the FRA in regards to the cutoff date of December 13, 2005, and different stipulations.
The official equipment is racing towards time to facilitate the distribution of RoFR pattas to eligible individuals quickly, as per the assertion made by Chief Minister Okay. Chandrasekhar Rao in the Assembly earlier this month.
The transfer is meant to discover a lasting resolution to the long-festering podu lands challenge, which frequently led to skirmishes between the podu land cultivators and the forest division workers in Telangana’s tribal heartland in current years.
It will be recalled that Forest Range Officer Ch. Srinivas Rao was brutally murdered allegedly by two Gutti Koya tribals with searching sickles whereas attempting to forestall encroachment of the forest division’s plantation at Errabodu, a tribal hamlet in Chandrugonda mandal, in November final yr.
The ghastly homicide of the FRO sparked outrage among the many rank and file of the forest division and vociferous calls for for provision of arms to the frontline forest workers for self-defence.
Satellite imagery survey
A survey involving GPS know-how and satellite tv for pc imageries was carried out rigorously in the forest lands throughout the district earlier than taking on the huge train of approving claims over forest lands below the RoFR in current months.
In all, 83,341 claims over 2,99,269 acres of forest lands have been filed by as many as 65,616 tribal individuals and 17,725 different conventional forest dwellers (OTFDs) from 726 habitations below 332 Gram Panchayats in 21 mandals of the district, sources stated.
Out of those, as many as 45,978 claims over 1,37,500 acres have been really helpful by the Gram Sabhas, rejecting 36,747 claims for 1,60,830 acres. Around 616 claims over 938 acres are pending with the Gram Sabhas throughout the district.
After the scrutiny by the Sub-Divisional Level Committees, practically 44,000 claims have been accepted by the District Level Committee until date, sources added.
In Khammam district, the DLC has to this point accepted 3,315 claims from tribal individuals over 4,400 acres below the FRA. The forest cowl of the district is 63,700 hectares.
The claims of non-tribal conventional forest dwellers over forest lands have been rejected as they failed to supply documentary proof to show their steady occupation of the land for 75 years.
‘Tribals evicted’
“Several tribals were evicted from the lands they had tilled for decades at Yerrabodu village in Karepalli mandal, Nemilipuri, Medepalli, Mulapocharam and Rangapuram villages in Enkur mandal last year”Bukya VeerabhadramKhammam secretary, Telangana Girijana Sangham
Telangana Girijana Sangham (TGS) Khammam district common secretary Bukya Veerabhadram rued that a number of tribals have been evicted from the lands they’d tilled for many years at Yerrabodu village in Karepalli mandal, Nemilipuri, Medepalli, Mulapocharam and Rangapuram villages in Enkur mandal final yr.
Plantations have been raised on these lands which have been excluded from the survey of podu lands, depriving scores of poor tribal individuals and different conventional forest dwellers of pattas, he alleged, calling upon the State authorities to come back to the rescue of the distressed podu cultivators.
On the opposite hand, Khammam District Forest Officer Siddharth Vikram Singh stated the claims over forest lands have been meticulously scrutinised and really helpful as per the stipulated eligibility standards below the FRA.
Our forest beat officers and Panchayat Secretaries are concerned in the verification of the pending claims, which might be reviewed and settled by the DLC as per the provisions of the FRA, the DFO added.
