Deputy CM Pawan: 76.74 acres of encroachment found inside Mangalampeta forest

Amaravati: Titled ‘Operation Aranya’, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan conducted an exclusive aerial survey on Thursday. During the operation, the Deputy CM exposed 76.74 acres of illegal encroachment inside the protected Mangalampeta forest lands in the Eastern Ghats, linked to former Forest Minister and YSRCP senior leader Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, the government said.

Pawan Kalyan visited the site, reviewed the violations and immediately ordered a comprehensive probe. He briefed Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Cabinet ministers on the encroachment.

In a post on X with the hashtag #OperationAranya, he tagged the Prime Minister’s Office, the Union Environment Ministry and the State government handles.

Pawan Kalyan directed officials to:

- Publish the names of all forest land encroachers on the department website.

- Reveal the extent of encroachment and the status of cases on each individual.

- Take strict legal action against anyone who grabs forest land, without exception.

- Investigate discrepancies in land records, including inflated wet land entries and false claims of ‘ancestral land’ inside protected forest areas.

- Digitise all land records to prevent manipulation and ensure transparency.

No violations in protected areas

Calling forest lands ‘national assets,’ Pawan Kalyan said that the government would not tolerate violations in protected forest zones or wildlife areas.

It may be recalled that Ramachandra Reddy had rubbished the allegations made by a newspaper and a television channel that he grabbed forest land. He claimed that the 75 acres of private property had been purchased in 2001, and the Director of Settlements had declared in 1981 that the said piece is not forest land.