Forest department to fence 102 acres near Gurra Guda
HYDERABAD: The forest department will build a boundary wall around 102 acres of forest land near Gurra Guda on the Nagarjuna Sagar Road after a detailed survey, Chief Conservator of Forests Saravanan said on Friday.
Supreme Court ruling backs forest department claim
Speaking to reporters along with revenue officials, Saravanan said official forest and revenue records show that 182 acres in the area belong entirely to the forest department. He said the action follows a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of India, which upheld the department’s ownership of the land.
He said that in July 1976, the Hyderabad Revenue Court had allotted 302 acres in Survey No. 301 of Sahebnagar village to the forest department for establishing a forest research centre. In 1971, an additional 160 acres in Turkayamjal revenue limits (Survey No. 30) and Nadargul revenue limits (Survey No. 148/1) were also handed over for the creation of a reserve forest.
Saravanan said all these lands have remained under the forest department’s control since then.
Survey from Saturday; encroachments to be removed
He said attempts have been made since 2005 by some individuals to claim ownership of about 100 acres. Though their petitions were rejected by the forest settlement officer in 2016, the matter reached the courts and became contentious after certain interim orders that year.
Following the Supreme Court verdict in favour of the forest department, Saravanan said land worth several thousand crore rupees has now been secured for the department.
A joint survey with revenue officials will begin on Saturday for the disputed 100 acres. He said boundary demarcation will be completed first, after which a compound wall will be constructed. If encroachments are found during the survey, action will be taken strictly as per law.
Meanwhile, Hayathnagar Revenue Divisional Officer Ananth Reddy inspected related records at the Hayathnagar tahsildar office on Friday.
