One of the major problems facing crop production here is loss of agricultural land due to rampant plantation of Nilagiri trees all around Umarkote tehsil.
According sources, hundreds of acres of agricultural land are under the Nilagiri tree plantation here and that too, a majority of land either belongs to the tribals or is Government land. Some mafias are doing the illegal Nilagiri plantation in violation of the Orissa Prevention of land Encroachment Act (OPlE Act) and the Orissa Scheduled Area Transfer of Immovable Property Act (OSATIP Act).
The OSATIP Act strictly prohibits that under no circumstances can the land of tribals be transferred, mortgaged or handed over to any non-tribal people and any deviation in it will be liable for prosecution. But the local revenue officials are yet to take any action against the mafias.
Sources say the tribals are the scapegoat in the mater as mafias who by taking the opportunity of the former’s gullibility have motivated them to lease out their land for 3 to 4 years for Nilagiri plantation.
By this way, the tribals have become jobless for the entire lease period and are forced to migrate for labour.
When asked, local Tehsildar Runu lakra said he had no information about the illegal plantation in the locality.