The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi recently intervened and compelled the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw its appeal filed against National Green Tribunal (NGT) judgment mandating recognition of forest rights of tribal farmers under the Forest Right Act. Despite that, the state government launched a drive to clear ‘encroachments out of the forests’ under the garb of High Court order. Farmers’ and Tribal rights’ groups in the Himalayan state are likely to intensify protests stating that the state as more than 10,000 plots across the state’s forest areas have been identified for eviction.
On October 18, the Himachal High Court ordered the removal of encroachment on forest land and revenue land more than 10 bigha (one bigha in Himachal Pradesh = 0.07432243 hectares) and to report the progress of eviction on November 15.
See more at – http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/himachal-pradesh-launches-eviction-drive-ignores-forest-rights-of-tribal-farmers-56229
