"Government will not take a stand against the interest of farmers," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting, adding, it did not consider all farmers as encroachers of forest land.
His remarks come in the backdrop of senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and KPCC Vice-President V D Satheesan coming out against the party led government stand that only forest land now protected by the Forest Department would be recommended for demarcation as Ecologically Sensitive Area.
Not only that, state government had decided years ago to provide title deeds to those who occupy forest land before January 1, 1977 and all successive governments after that had not objected to it, Chandy said.
The chief minister was responding to Satheesan's objection that it would weaken the cases filed in various courts to reclaim forest land in illegal possession of private parties.
The government had directed district collectors to submit a comprehensive report, identifying ecologically fragile lands in 119 villages by month end to prepare the state's view on the Kasturirangan report on Western Ghats.