Forestland surveyed for road-laying in tribal hillock near Vellore

The District Rural Development Agency needs 0.6 hectares in the reserve forest

Residents of Vellakal Malai, a tribal hamlet in the Athiyur reserve forest along Jawadhu Hills near here, would soon get a motorable road. The Forest Department has conducted a survey for allocating its land for the project.

Forest Department officials said that under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, it is mandatory for the Collector to get the concurrence of from the District Forest Officer (DFO) for acquiring forestland for public use. The Act also empowers the DFO to approve allocation of forestland up to one hectare.

The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) needs 0.6 hectares in the reserve forest to lay a 2.73-metre-wide stretch to provide Vellakal Malai residents with an access route to Kurumalai, a distance of two km. The DRDA has laid a bitumen stretch between Kurumalai to the foothills, a distance of 2.5 km. “The forestland required for road-laying has been measured. A report will be submitted to the DFO,” P. Ravikumar, Forest Range Officer (Vellore), told The Hindu.

Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian a few days ago sought DFO Prince Kumar for concurrence to lay the road. Recently, the Collector has inspected tribal villages in the Athiyur reserve forest to assess the possibility of laying a road.

The Collector’s visit came after a 31-year-old tribal woman, who was sick, was carried on a makeshift stretcher from Vellakal to the foothills for treatment in April this year. A video of residents carrying the woman went viral in social media, prompting senior officials to visit the hamlets on the hillock.