Villagers clash with cops, want nomads evicted

Solan, December 30

Hundreds of villagers today protested outside the range forest office at Girinagar in Paonta Sahib subdivision of Sirmaur district demanding immediate eviction of nomadic Gujjars from the government land.

The agitation, which began around 9.30 am, continued till afternoon and the villagers later held a dharna outside the forest office.

A large number of men and women gheraoed the Girinagar range forest office and broke the gate while trying to enter it. Heated exchanges occurred among villagers, forest staff and the policemen as the agitating villagers said the administration had failed to check encroachments on government land by nomadic Gujjars.

They clashed with the policemen who were trying to stop them. No one was, however, injured in the incident.

The villagers have been protesting since December 12. They have threatened to intensify their stir, if the Gujjars are not evicted from there. They said Gujjars were causing hardship to the local residents. They said their animals were deprived of fodder while their natural sources of water were being contaminated as the Gujjars defecated in the open. They alleged the Gujjars had encroached upon the government land beyond the area for which they were issued permits.

Paonta Sahib DFO Aishwarya Raj said three of the nine Gujjar families that had encroached upon government land in the Girinagar forest range were evicted in September, while the process was on to evict the others.