Farmers to protest for forest rights

Dharamsala: As the entire government machinery would shift to Dharamsala for the next six days, it would give people and various organisations of lower Himachal a chance to air their grievances. Farmers under the banner of Kisan Sabha committee of Baijnath have planned a protest on December 11.

They said the Forest Rights Act became a law in 2006. Under the Act, the farmers have the right to the forest wealth in their vicinity. Many states have already given forest rights to the residents of the state. However, the Himachal Government was dithering over the issue.

The committee has been alleging that the farmers of the Baijnath area, who live on the fringes of Dhauladhar wildlife sanctuary, are worst effected due to the failure of the state government to grant forest rights to its citizens. The people cannot even gather fodder and grass for their animals from the forest area legally. The farmers are also demanding that their forest rights be settled before the forest land in Jadrangal area was transferred to the Central University Himachal Pradesh. Besides the farmers, people whose land was being acquired for fourlaning of the Pathankot-Mandi national highway were also planning a protest during the winter session. The effected people are alleging that they were not being given adequate compensation for the land acquired. — TNS