HYDERABAD, May 15: Residents of katcha area, union council Sekhat have appealed to the district government of Matiari to save Khebrani forest from land grabbers as their livelihood depends on this forest.

Mohammad Murad Khebar, Abdul Ghani Khebar, Bashir Ahmed Khebar, Ghulam Hussain Khoso and others speaking at a press conference on Tuesday said that they and their ancestors were grazing cattle in the Khebrani forest since long.

They said that in the last two years some influential people destroyed this forest on the pretext of lease while trees were being chopped by them for cultivation of land. Millions of trees were cut down despite hue and cry but nobody took notice, they stated.

Even senior officers of the Forest Department, they said were helpless before such people while poor people of katcha area, whose livelihood depended on these forests were facing starvation.

They said that they were successful in saving some forest from land grabbers but now that too was under threat as trees were being cut down openly and loaded on trucks in the presence of police and other authorities.

They have appealed to the Sindh government, chief minister, officials of the Forest Department and district government to save the remaining forest from land grabbers.

They said that if the government was helpless then the people of katcha area should be given powers to protect the remaining area which had not been given on lease, so far. They said that if the practice was not stopped then the residents of Khebrani forests and surrounding villages will resort to protest.

EXAMS: Regular examinations of 3rd term 2006 batch, Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of City and Regional Planning and Bachelor of Architecture in 16 disciplines of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology Jamshoro began on Tuesday.