Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar holds meeting on podu lands

HYDERABAD: Two days after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced an action plan for the resolution of podu land issues in the State, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar held a meeting with all the department heads on how to implement the same.

In the meeting, details of implementation, like the processing and acceptance of applications, constitution of committees, and decisions on forest boundary coordinates, were discussed. The Chief Secretary further proposed that a meeting be convened amongst District Collectors, District Forest Officers and Conservator of Forests.

It may be recalled that the CM had announced that podu lands within the forests would be moved to the outskirts in a bid to minimise conflicts and conserve the green cover of the State. The CM had also said that free input subsidy and Rythu schemes would be extended to those farmers who give up their lands in the forests for new ones.