Telangana govt trying to find permanent solution to Podu land issue: TRS MLA

The Telangana government is trying to find a permanent solution to the Podu land issue in the state, ruling TRS legislator Vanama Venkateswara Rao said Wednesday. Podu is a traditional system of cultivation practiced in Telangana, in which different areas of forest are cleared by burning each year to provide land for crops.

The state government's afforestation drive, conducted by forest department officials, is resisted by those cultivating on these lands. A woman forest department official was attacked in KB Asifabad district by a group of people allegedly led by the brother of a ruling party MLA when she and her staffers tried to take up a plantation on a land.

The MLA said Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao took notice of the issue during a meeting of party MLAs, ministers, and other leaders. "Forest officials are showing over-enthusiasm on the issue and harassing tribals. They are harassing even those who have been given titles (of ownership). Some Adivasis were sent to jail," he said.

"I pointed it to the chief minister. I said forest officials should observe restraint. The chief minister will be visiting every district and he said a permanent solution will be made," the MLA said.