SHC orders funds for recovering encroached forest land

SUKKUR: The Sukkur Circuit Bench of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered the Sindh government to provide adequate funds to the Forest Department to carry out anti-encroachment drive against all the grabbers.

At the last hearing, the bench had ordered the Forest Department to recover the forest land from the grabbers within 35 days. At the outset of the hearing, the Circuit-Bench Sukkur, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Zafar Rajput asked the Forest Department about the status of the operation against the encroachers.

The Advocate General, Shafi Muhammad Chandio, submitted that around 84,000 acres of forest land was reclaimed from the encroachers, but the operation was stopped due to paucity of funds. He also sought more time to complete action against the encroachments. The court ordered the Forest Department to submit a report about the current situation and directed the Forest Department to ensure recovering the encroached land within five weeks.