Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 8 (PTI) In a concerning revelation in the Kerala Forest department's annual administrative report of 2021-22, over 5,000 hectares of forested land in the state has been encroached upon.

Of the 5,024.535 hectares of forest land encroached upon, the largest chunk -- of 1,998.03 -- is in the Kottayam High Range Circle which includes the Kothamangalam, Kottayam, Munnar, Marayoor and Mankulam divisions, according to the report released late last year.

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The second highest portion -- 1,599.61 hectares -- of encroached forest land is in the Palakkad Eastern Circle and the Kannur Northern Circle comes third with 1,085.67 hectares under encroachment, according to the report.

The least amount of encroachment -- 2.634 hectares -- of forest land in the state was in the Aralam and Wayanad wildlife divisions which come under the Palakkad Wildlife Circle.

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(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)