Over 5,000 hectares of forest land in Kerala under encroachment: State forest dept report

In a concerning revelation in the Kerala Forest department's annual administrative report of 2021-22, over 5,000 hectares of forested land in the state has been encroached upon.

Of the 5,024.535 hectares of forest land encroached upon, the largest chunk -- of 1,998.03 -- is in the Kottayam High Range Circle which includes the Kothamangalam, Kottayam, Munnar, Marayoor and Mankulam divisions, according to the report released late last year.

The second highest portion -- 1,599.61 hectares -- of encroached forest land is in the Palakkad Eastern Circle and the Kannur Northern Circle comes third with 1,085.67 hectares under encroachment, according to the report.

The least amount of encroachment -- 2.634 hectares -- of forest land in the state was in the Aralam and Wayanad wildlife divisions which come under the Palakkad Wildlife Circle.