Eco groups seek action against encroachers

 
Environmental organizations here have demanded the State Government to take immediate steps to evict encroachers from Anthimahakalankadu vested forest in Ottapalam forest range, one of the main watershed areas of the Bharathapuzha.

The statement here on Tuesday, the Bharathapuzha Samrakshana  Samithi( protection association) general secretary Indanur Gopi said the Government, in a counter affidavit filed before a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on a public interest petition, had said that the area would be protected under the ecologically fragile land Act,2006.

The association filed the petition in 2004.  The court recorded the assurance of the Government on November 25,2006 and disposed it of. As part of the implementation of the court order, the forest area was surveyed and 2.9 hectares of forestland found encroached, the statement said.

Anthimahakalankadu, an ecological hotspot spanning 190 hectares, were taken over from an erstwhile landlord under the Kerala Private  Forests(Vesting and Assignment) Act 1971. It was notified as vested forest item no.74 in 1974.

(The Hindu, 3rd January,2007)