HC Rules 2,400 Acres Belongs To Forests Department

The Hyderabad High Court disposed of 29 writ petitions filed by 1,500 people claiming 2,400 acres of forest land of the Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park, in Mansoorabad village of Saroornagar mandal, ruling in favour of the forests department.

The court said that the petitioners were trying to indulge in forest land-grabbing under the guise of claiming ancestral property.

Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park was declared a National Park (NP) in 1994, with an area of nearly 4,000 acres being part of it. No claims were received by the then Collector regarding the said land during the process of declaring the land as a national park. A protection wall around the NP was built by 1996. The court then wondered how after so many years suddenly the claimants had filed petitions claiming the land as ancestral jagir.

The efforts of the Hayathnagar FRO Ravinder Reddy to present the case with all technical details to the High Court resulted in the case being ruled in favour of department. Even today he is said to be receiving threats from the people who filed the cases. Undeterred by the threats the Rangareddy forest field staff worked several years to protect the lands and finally appear to have succeeded in protecting the forest lands. The efforts of Rangareddy DFO Bheema Naik, APCCF Siddhanand Kukrety and the government advocate in pursuing the case have also been commended.

Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park is seen as an oasis of vegetation in concrete landscape of Hyderabad. It is situated to the south-east of Hyderabad on the national highway to Vijayawada, 15 km from city centre.