Lakhanpur. In various forest areas of Surguja district, encroachers are encroaching on forest lands by cutting trees and plants on a large scale. A similar case was seen in room number 2035 of village Manpur forest block Lipigi of Udaipur Forest Examination Center, where hundreds of trees and plants have been encroached upon by the villagers by making a Jhala. Besides, the encroachers have cut half the trees in the forest and left it to dry. And the trees that have fallen on the ground are being made into balls and blocks and are being used in homes. The forest department is turning a blind eye to the felling and encroachment of trees on such a large scale. And even after the complaint of the villagers, the Forest Department officials are not taking any action against these encroached grounds. Local villagers allege that the encroachers are encroaching on the trees by cutting them in collusion with the forest department officials.
According to the villagers, since the time of Corona about 2 years ago, some villagers of the village have been encroaching on more than 10 acres of forest land by illegally cutting trees and plants. And shells and ingots are being prepared in the forest itself. The local people have informed the Udaipur Forest Department about this several times, but till now no action of any kind has been taken by the Forest Department against these encroachers. The local villagers have demanded from the top officials of the Forest Department that plantation should be done on the said forest land to remove the encroachment.
In the matter of felling of trees and encroachment of forest land, Forest Officer Gajendra Dohra had investigated the situation and said that appropriate action would be taken, but till date no action has been taken by the Forest Department against the encroachers. Many questions have started arising regarding this. Now it has to be seen what kind of action is taken by the top officials of the department against the encroacher.
