The officials of the Rajaji tiger reserve went into action after some people whose lands were acquired for widening of the highway at Prateet Nagar, Raiwala began clearing the bushes in a reserve forest area stating that the land was allocated to them. The Rajaji authorities prevented the people from taking any further action stressing that the land in question is a reserved forest area. The highway is being widened at Raiwala and for this task, the lands of some families in Prateet Nagar, Raiwala were acquired by the authorities.
On Thursday, about a dozen women and men reached the site in question situated in Motichur range of Rajaji. They began clearing the land of bushes claiming that the land had been allocated to them by the State in lieu of their acquired land. However, according to the Rajaji director Neena Grewal, the land is notified reserved forest area under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act since 1972. Stressing that no construction can be allowed on the reserved forest land, she said that she had already written to the sub-divisional magistrate about it.