Hyderabad (The Hawk): A day after a forest official was killed by Gutti Koya tribal members in Telangana's Bhadradri Kothagudem district, forest workers requested on Wednesday that the state government expel encroachers of forest land and arm foresters for self-defense.
Forest officials asked that the government take quick action to drive out Gutti Koya tribal members, alleging that they smuggled into Telangana from neighbouring states and encroached on forest area.
The demands were made during the Wednesday funeral services for Forest Range Officer (FRO) Challamalla Srinivasa Rao in the Khammam district by representatives of the forest department.
As they face risks to their life while performing their responsibilities, the Forest Range Officers' Association and Junior Forest Range Officers' Association urged that the government arm all forest staff moving into the forest.
The two associations' leaders stated that they will decide on their next steps once they have received a response from the government to their demands.
They remembered that the chief minister had declared the return of the Gutti Koya tribe two years prior in the state Assembly. An officer remarked, "Had the government done it, we would not have lost our close comrade Srinivasa Rao."
According to the groups, carrying guns will safeguard all forest service employees from intruders and inspire terror in them. They urged the government to act right away to prevent a similar disaster from happening again.
Some members of the forest service shouted "kill the killers of Srinivasa Rao" during the funeral rites. Additionally, they demanded that the state's podu lands stop being surveyed by the government.
The podu lands are the forested areas that both tribal and non-tribal forest people cultivate. The forest department and the growers have developed a rift. Skirmishes between the two sides occurred at numerous locations throughout the state in recent years as a result of plantations that the forest department undertook on such areas.
When FRO Srinivasa Rao (42) rejected the Gutti Koya tribe's attempts to take the saplings the forest department had planted, they cut him to death.
According to the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's orders, Srinivasa Rao's last rites were conducted in Erlapudi, Raghunadhapalem Mandal, with state honours.
The death ceremonies were attended by the forest minister A Indrakaran Reddy, the transport minister P Ajay Kumar, other public leaders, and police and forest authorities from the districts of Khammam and Bhadradri Kothagudem.
Ajay Kumar claimed that Gutti Koya tribal members from other states attempted to demoralise forest rangers by killing the FRO, but the people and tribal members of Telangana will not stand for this.
According to Indrakaran Reddy, the chief minister will decide whether to provide pattas to tribal members and non-tribal members following an ongoing study of podu lands throughout the state.
(Inputs from Agencies)
