Amaravati, Nov 13 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has ordered a comprehensive probe into the alleged encroachment of 76.74 acres of forest land in the eastern ghats by former minister and YSR Congress Party leader Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy.

Pawan Kalyan, who holds the environment and forest portfolios, directed officials to publish the names of all forest land encroachers on the department website and take strict legal action against forest land grabbers without exception.

He issued the orders after an aerial survey of the forest.

According to the Deputy Chief Minister’s office, the aerial survey “exposed” 76.74 acres of illegal encroachment inside the protected Mangalam Peta forest lands in the eastern ghats, linked to Ramachandra Reddy.

Pawan Kalyan visited the site, reviewed the violations and briefed Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Cabinet ministers.

He directed officials to publish the names of all forest land encroachers on the department website, reveal the extent of encroachment and the status of cases on each individual and take strict legal action against anyone who grabbed forest land, without exception.

The Deputy CM also directed officials to investigate discrepancies in land records, including inflated Webland entries and false claims of “ancestral land” inside protected forest areas.

He asked them to act, based on vigilance reports and legal expert guidance, and to digitise all land records to prevent manipulation and ensure transparency.

“Forest lands are national assets. Those who encroach upon them, misuse them, or violate forest laws, no matter who they are, will be held accountable. The government will not tolerate the grab of protected forest areas or wildlife zones,” reads a post on ‘X’ by the Deputy CM’s office.

It also posted a video of Pawan Kalyan’s aerial survey, and the map showing the extent of the forest enclosure. A total of 32.63 acres were earlier occupied and evicted. He is seen taking pictures of the forest enclosure and the structures built on it.

Early this year, Ramachandra Reddy had rubbished the allegations made by a newspaper and a television channel that he grabbed forest land.

He had called it an “orchestrated negative campaign” by the media organisations owing allegiance to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and dared the media house to prove its charges.

He claimed that the 75 acres of private property had been purchased in 2001.

According to him, the Director of Settlements had declared in 1981 that the said piece is not forest land.

The former minister also claimed that the road leading to his estate, though falling in the middle of the forest, had been laid with the permission of the Central government.

Ramachandra Reddy said that N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and later Chandrababu Naidu, during their respective terms as Chief Minister in the past, had ordered a probe into the same issue, but could not prove anything incriminatory.

The case filed in the High Court by a TDP leader was also dismissed as the same property had been shown in the forest gazette as private land in 1968, the YSRCP leader said.

–IANS

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