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Amaravati, Nov 13 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged encroachment of 76.74 acres of forest land in the Eastern Ghats by former minister and YSR Congress Party leader Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy.
Pawan Kalyan, who holds the Environment and Forest Department, directed officials to publish the names of all forest land encroachers on the department’s website and take strict legal action against forest land grabbers without any exception.
He issued orders after aerial survey of the forest.
According to the Deputy Chief Minister’s office, the aerial survey “uncovered” 76.74 acres of illegal encroachment inside the protected Mangalam Peta forest land in the Eastern Ghats, which is linked to Ramachandra Reddy.
Pawan Kalyan visited the site, reviewed the violations and informed Chief Minister N. Gave information to Chandrababu Naidu and cabinet ministers.
He directed the officials to publish the names of all forest land encroachers on the website of the department, disclose the extent of encroachment and the status of cases on each individual and take strict legal action against any person grabbing forest land without any exception.
The Deputy CM also directed officials to check discrepancies in land records, including inflated weeland entries and false claims of “ancestral land” inside protected forest areas.
He asked them to act on the basis of vigilance reports and legal expert guidance and digitalize all land records to prevent manipulation and ensure transparency.
A post on ‘X’ by the deputy CM’s office said, “Forest lands are national assets. Those who encroach on them, misuse them, or violate forest laws, whoever they are, will be held accountable. The government will not tolerate usurping protected forest areas or wildlife areas.”
It also posted a video of Pawan Kalyan’s aerial survey and a map showing the extent of the forest. A total of 32.63 acres of land was first encroached upon and evicted. He is seen taking photographs of the forest circle and the structures built on it.
Earlier this year, Ramachandra Reddy had rejected allegations made by a newspaper and a television channel that he had encroached upon forest land.
He called it a “reserved negative campaign” by media organizations owing allegiance to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and challenged the media houses to prove their allegations.
He claimed that the 75-acre private property was purchased in 2001.
According to him, the Settlement Director had declared in 1981 that the said piece was not forest land.
The former minister also claimed that the road leading to his property, though falling in the middle of a forest, was built with the permission of the central government.
Ramachandra Reddy said N Kiran Kumar Reddy and later Chandrababu Naidu had in the past ordered investigations into the same issue during their respective tenures as chief ministers, but could not prove anything.
The YSRCP leader said the case filed by the TDP leader in the high court was also dismissed because the same property was shown as private land in the forest gazette in 1968.
–IANS
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