The office of the Chief Principal Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) on Thursday announced that extensive encroachment has been detected in the forest area of Mangalamapet Pulicherla mandal in Chittoor district.
Under the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, the department registered criminal cases against several individuals, including former MP Peddireddy Mithun Reddy (marked as A1 in the case). In a post on X, PCCF (HoFF) PV Chalapathi Rao said, “The Mangalamapet forest area originally had 75.74 acres of notified forest land as per the Gazette of 1968. However, another 32.63 acres of forest land was illegally merged with private enterprises, fenced and cultivated with forest crops which were grown in horticulture and forest crops. causing an estimated loss ₹ 1.26 crore to the natural wealth of the State Cases were filed under Sections 61(2), 20(1)(d)(2) and 52(d) of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Act, 1967 along with relevant provisions Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Peddireddy Mithun Reddy, A2 Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, A3 Peddireddy Dwarakanath Reddy and A4 Peddireddy Indiramma Forest Department recovered 32.63 acres and details of the case were brought before the court.
Mr. Chalapathi Rao said that no one involved in the encroachment of forest lands would be spared and departmental action would be taken against all officials aiding such acts.
A state-level special committee has been formed to investigate all encroachments on forest land and efforts are underway to reclaim illegally occupied land across Andhra Pradesh.
He added that as per the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Forests and Environment K. Pawan Kalyan, details of all forest land and survey results will soon be published on the official website of the ministry for public transparency.
Published – 13 Nov 2025 22:55 IST
