Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao announced in the Assembly that he will go personally along with forest and revenue officials to resolve the Podu lands issue. Speaking on the New Municipalities Act in the House here on Friday about the need to improve green cover, he said 400 nurseries were set up to supply saplings but the people’s representatives were not taking it seriously.
Emphasising the need to protect forests, he raised the Podu lands issue and said they would identify the Podu lands, give pattas to the genuine persons once for all. The practice of Gutti Koyas from other States entering the State, cutting down tress and occupying forest lands should be stopped.
“Once the Podu lands issue is resolved in the ‘Praja Darbar’ that I shall conduct, encroachment of not even an inch of forest will be allowed,” he said.
The 60 years of experience showed that the forest cover was decreasing in Telangana. Where did the forests of Vikarabad, Anantagiri and Narsapur disappear, he wondered. He said that greenery should be increased in urban areas and it would be the responsibility of ward councillors and incharge officers to ensure 85% of trees survived.