Land sharks eyeing National Parks

HYDERABAD: Land sharks are at it again. Their target now — the Mahavir Harina Vanasthali at Vanasthalipuram and Mrugavani National Park at Chilkur.
With the backing of powerful politicians they are thwarting the plans of the forest department to protect the two parks against encroachment.
As about 300 acres of the Chilkur park and 80 acres of the Vanasthali Park are said to be under threat of encroachment, forest officials prepared a plan to fence off portions of the parks.But a cabinet minister prevailed upon them to put the plan on hold till after the Assembly session.
"This is not the first time that we have had to face interference from ministers and influential leaders. Even during the TDP rule, a senior minister asked us to go slow on the fencing programme," an official said.
The villagers of Marpalli, which lies on the banks of the Musi and is close to Vanasthali, are also opposing the fencing plan and have been petitioning politicians to stop the work. They say they have no alternative land but the park where their cattle can graze. Forest officials suspect landsharks are instigating the villagers to oppose fencing of the parks.
"Some people had also produced fake documents that state the Nizam had given them some land in the Chilkur forest as an inam to them. We verified the documents and found them to be forged," an official said.
The 3605-acre Harina Vanasthali and the 1205-acre Chilkur forest are two of the four National Parks situated in the state. They used to be the hunting grounds of the Nizams until they were acquired by the government in 1960.