Thane, May 4 (PTI) Authorities have removed 279 huts which encroached upon a forest land in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Thursday.

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Nearly three hectares of the encroached land in Mumbra area was freed after the mega operation carried out on Wednesday by the forest, police and revenue officials, Deputy Conservator of Forest Santosh Sasthe told PTI.

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There was some resistance from the occupants of the huts, but the police ensured removal of the encroachments, he said.

More than 100 personnel from the forest, police and other departments and earth-movers were engaged in the anti-encroachment drive, he said.

To a question, the official said there was no need to give a notice for the removal of huts that come up on the forest land.

"But, in case of a pucca construction, we follow the due procedure of issuing a notice and removing the encroachment," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)