Tirupati, March 22: Tension prevailed at B.V. Puram Gollapalle, a forest fringe hamlet near Srikalahasti, about 60 km from here, on Monday when forest department personnel tried to stop about 500 tribals led by the Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary, Mr K. Narayana, from encroaching on forest land.
Implementation of the Forest Act may have been dismal in Jharkhand so far, but Operation Greenhunt has made the district administrations realise that speeding up the task of distributing pattas or land documents to tribal villagers would only add teeth to the ongoing fight against Maoist rebels.
More than 4,85,674 hectares of forest land of Assam are under encroachment by its neghbouring states and other authorities on date, this has been published in a report of the Central Government. According to the report, Assam is on the top of the list among other states of the country in terms of encroachment in forest land.
Assam has topped the list of States in terms of encroachment in forest land, with about 4,85,674 hectares of area being occupied, the Government told the Lok Sabha today, reports PTI.
Replying to a query, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said that Andhra Pradesh is in the second place with 2,68,853 hectares of forest land under encroachment.
MADURAI: The Madras High Court Bench here has issued notice to Debendranath Sarangi, Principal Secretary, Department of Environment and Forests; A.S. Balanathan, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and M. Vallalar, Dindigul Collector, in a contempt of court petition filed against them.
The Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Ltd, a Tata arm managing tea estates in Munnar, petitioned the Kerala High Court on Thursday against the Idukki District Collector
