Farmers of Sirikonda mandal in Adilabad district on Sunday demanded that the Forest Department suspend its efforts to take away their agriculture fields branding them as forest lands. The farmers also demanded stopping of harassment by the department in the name of control of illegal felling of trees in forest.
Farmers belonging to different communities, especially the Adivasis held a meeting under the banner of Adivasi Hakkula Porata Samiti or Tudum Debba at the mandal headquarters. They accused the Forest Department of actually colluding with timber smugglers but harassing innocent farmers who used wooden poles to fence their fields. Farmers from 10 gram panchayats in the mandal had gathered to voice their concern and opposition to the Forest Department moving in to dig trenches around lands identified as forest lands. The demarcation of lands had even resulted in digging trenches in fields which were being cultivated by farmers since long.