Another forest officer assaulted in Telangana during afforestation drive

In yet another incident as a result of the ongoing conflict between the Telangana government and forest dwellers in the state, a forest officer, 30-year-old D Swapna, was assaulted, after she uprooted mango plants that was being grown by a Lambada farmers.  The forest officer claimed that it was government land which was 'encroached' and said that she was undertaking an afforestation drive as per the orders she received, while the Lambada farmers said that they had been cultivating the area near Kothapalli village in Mancherial district for decades.  The Nennela police, which has received a complaint, told the media that the farmers allegedly pelted stones and sprinkled mirchi (red chilli) powder at the forest officials who visited their field to uproot the plants. Four people, identified as Balu Naik, Srinivas, Rajesh and Mounika, have been named as the accused in the case.  Swapna, who suffered minor injuries, was admitted to the Bellampalli government hospital and later shifted to the government hospital in Mancherial. This is the second such incident where a forest officer has been attacked. Earlier, C Anitha was severely injured after a group of locals led by Sirpur MLA Koneru Konappa's brother Koneru Krishna attacked her for carrying out a similar 'anti-encroachment' drive. Several forest officials in the area that came under erstwhile Adilabad district and Bhadradri Kothagudem district, have been faced with hostile farmers from traditional forest-dwelling communities due to ‘Haritha Haram,’ a government sponsored afforestation drive. As part of the drive, the government has been identifying land and is taking up plantation drives. However, locals in the forests say that this goes against their interests, as they survive on ‘podu’, a traditional farming practice of forest dwellers, which involves shifting cultivation. The issue also reached Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who addressed a session of the Legislative Assembly in September, stating that he was aware of the issue. At the time, he had also assured the House that there will be a ‘Praja darbar’ (People’s meeting) to take stock of the issue, and come up with an amicable solution. Read: Encroachers or rightful cultivators? Why there’s unrest among Telangana's forest dwellers