This restricted the free movement of the Adivasis in their forest habitats, prevented them from grazing their cattle, collecting firewood and food, and practicing their traditional form of agriculture called podu.
The Rampa administrative area, situated in the hills of what are now the Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, comprised around 700 square miles (1,800 km2) and had a mostly tribal population of approximately 28,000.
The traditional cultivation methods were greatly hindered when the authorities took control of the forests, mostly for commercial purposes such as produce for building railways and ships, without any regard for the needs of the tribal people.
The tribal people of the forested hills, unable to farm, graze their cattle, or collect food, faced starvation,[2] and were used as forced labour in the construction of a road in the area.
[3] The act "extend[ed] to the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu"[4] It prohibited the podu agricultural system: "And no fresh clearings for cultivation or for any other purpose shall be made on such land.