தவறவிடாதீர்கள்..!உடனே பதிவு செய்யுங்கள்

By OUR REPORTER

Vanni District Parliamentarian Thurairasa Raviharan characterized the Forest Department as an unauthorized land-grabbing body and urged Deputy Minister and District Development Committee Chairman Upali Samarasinghe to take stern administrative action against its activities in the Northern Province.

Speaking at the Vavuniya-Cheddikulam Regional Development Committee meeting, Raviharan welcomed recent pushback from Deputy Minister Samarasinghe against land demarcation practices by forest officials.

Highlighting the extent of expansion, Raviharan stated that while the Forest Department controlled 222,006 acres of dense forest in Mullaitivu before the end of the conflict, its demarcated holdings have expanded to 432,141 acres post-war.

He alleged that boundaries have encroached onto private paddy fields and secondary crop lands, disrupting local farming livelihoods, and called on the government to return agricultural lands to local farmers.