A JCB tore through Evergreen forest at 4 AM Tuesday night, leaving fallen regenerated forest in its wake.
This event comes months after encroachers, headed by Mr. Subramanian (PKS) claimed the Auroville land as their own while holding recently acquired, questionable documents.
It has become clear that PKS intends to claim much more land than what was originally agreed upon when Auroville bought the land in 1992, as the area he is attempting to claim 30 years later falls considerably inside the Master Plan.
PKS and his hired, (at times violent) muscle have been coming to the Ami/Abri corner for months now, attempting to destroy parts of Evergreen, a dense TDEF forest which exists as a result of decades of extensive re-afforestation work.
In response to the forceful encroachment, residents have gathered each time in silent protest, and so far have managed to slow down the agrresive attempts at grabbing the land.
The violence and threats have escalated considerably the past few days. Those who have shown up to protect the land amidst the growing violent actions from PKS and his men have been threatened with FIRs.
Despite regular reports of what has been happening, the Secretary to the Auroville Foundation did not take any action in the dispute. As a result, the land in question remains under severe threat, and residents of Auroville have had to maintain a constant presence on the site in order to ensure it remains a part of Auroville.