Hyderabad: Self-defence weapons not given to officers, alleges NGO

The Wildlife Conservation Society of India and Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society have strongly condemned the attack on forest range officer Ch. Anita and demanded that stern action should be taken against the culprits to keep up the morale of the staff.

With the Kaleshwaram project requiring 3 patches of forest of 168 hectares each, officials were carrying out alternative aforestation when they came under attack.

The land near Sarsala is not under cultivation, it is a degraded forest. The area is a notified tiger corridor and is located in the same block where Phalguna had given birth to two litters consisting of eight cubs.

While CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao has time and again issued warnings against encroachment, his party cadres have been indulging in abetting illegal encroachments.

In a written statement, WCF India said, “Self-defence weapons were promised to (the staff in) sensitive areas in 2013 and again in 2017. However, not a single weapon was given. Some officers have applied for private protection guns since the government is not providing the same to them.”

Forest officials state that the confusion started with revenue officials issuing pass books in forest areas during the recent purification of land data. While in some cases forest land had been misidentified as private, in other cases claims of the land under illicit cultivation were not entertained, and no eviction notices were issued by revenue officials.