Pune State Forest Department To Wall Off Its Land

Fearing encroachment, the Pune division of the State Forest Department is planning to construct compound walls around forest land and hills in the city. The department owns approximately 2,000 hectares in Pune and it will soon forward a proposal to its head-office in Nagpur to get funds for the work.
“We have observed that encroachment on public properties is increasing on a large scale. Once an illegal property comes up on a forest land, it becomes difficult to remove them. Gradually, these grow into several slums and then things go out of hand. Hence, to prevent illegal inhabitation on our land, we have decided to erect proper compound walls,” said Ashok Pawar, assistant conservator of forests of Pune Division.
The forest department has land in Bhamburda, Pachgaon Parvati, Wanavdi, Kondhwa, Ghorpadi, Undri, Hadapsar and Warje. “We had arranged a tour of the members of the Pune Tree Authority of the Pune Municipal Corporation to the forest land in the city. They saw that there is absolutely no or very negligible human interference on lands with compound walls,” said Prabhakar Kukdolkar, a senior forest official.
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