Forest dept clear encroachment on 100 acres in Manchar

The drive was led by Amit Bhise, assistant conservator of forest, Encroachment Department, and Sandesh Patil, Forestry Department

Junnar Forest Department on Wednesday removed encroachment over 100 acres of land in Kathapur Budruk village in the Manchar Forest range. The encroachment included residential facilities and agricultural produce and the action was initiated after repeated notice to the concerned citizens, said a Forest official from Junnar Forest Department.

During the drive, 13 huts, an illegally constructed pipeline, and a banana farm were removed from Kathapur Village. (HT PHOTO)

The drive was led by Amit Bhise, assistant conservator of forest, Encroachment Department, and Sandesh Patil, Forestry Department, and over 80 personnel including police officers were involved in this anti-encroachment drive.

During the drive, 13 huts, an illegally constructed pipeline, and a banana farm were removed from Kathapur Village, at the same time 22 huts were removed from a nearby village Thorndale.

Speaking about the drive Sandesh Patil said, “After identifying the forest land, we asked people to vacant this land. However, they claimed forest rights in said area. A procedure was followed to verify the claim. After a detailed investigation, the action was implemented following the standard procedure. The department is helping the police department to depart the encroachers in their villages. Meanwhile, to avoid any such occurrence in the future, the department also built a small water pond in the area under conflict.”

Encroachment on forest lands has increased in recent years reportedly because of growing demands for vacant land, rising land prices, and population pressure, threatening the very existence of forests. Realising the increasing Encroachment, the Forest Department now seems to be vigilant about their lands, and efforts are going on to identify encroachments, remove them and protect the forest land in the Pune district.