A large area of Chure forest land at Chulachuli, Sakphara, Banjho, Mahamai, Danabari, Chisapani, Shantipur, Laxmipur, Kolbung, Irautar and Jirmale in Ilam is shrinking due to encroachment, the District Forest Office (DFO) said.

According to the data at the DFO, 1,824 hectares of forest land in several community and national forests have been occupied by illegal settlers for the past several years. The encroachers have built settlements and started growing crops in an area that covers 29 VDCs of Ilam.

There is 80,923 hectares of forest land, including community and national forests, in Ilam. District Forest Officer Bharatbabu Shrestha said 60 community forests have been encroached.

Most of the people living on encroached forest land have said that they will not leave unless the concerned authorities provide them with proper shelters. The Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation has decided to evict the illegal settlers from in five years. To that end, a committee has been formed under chief district officer. The committee, however, has not made much progress towards its objective.