Indore: About 200 women of Pathan Pipalya village tried to encroach forest land on Thursday. They did so citing possible claim and benefits in future.
They (the women) came together and cleared the forest land and started ploughing the field for crops. As shared by forest officials, the group was planning to encroach upon 5 hectare area.
“The incident first came to light on Wednesday, when we had investigated in the area talking to a couple of people,” forest ranger said. Team of officials suspected a possible plan to encroach the land.
“It does not take more than a couple of days to encroach and take over forest land for such a large group, so we have to keep an eye out,” ranger said. He added that the cases of encroachments are on rise since April.
“Since, Unlock began in June, we have been countering many such group encroachments, where large groups of women are leading such encroachments,” ranger shared. With easier ways to get claims from forest land encroachments, many villagers are willing to come together to encroach land not for farming but to secure the land as their property.
In the recent case, where 200 women were attempting to encroach 5 hectare forest land, each would have been able to secure about 250 square metre. This piece of land would not be enough for farming as such.
“This is our fourth interaction with a large group of villagers attempting to encroach forest land since the second week of June,” ranger shared.
On reaching the spot, the large team of forest officials with support from local police attempted to resolve the issue with villagers. The officials also assured them of other means of income via forest projects which are generally given out to local villagers.
