R Haldorai TRADERS downed shutters in support of the bandh called by Opposition parties and private organisations condemning the Nilgiris district administration's ban on sale of private forestlands, at Gudalur on Tuesday. A protest rally led by former tourism minister A Miller (AIADMK) and Gudalur town secretary Raja Thangavelu was taken out. Traders and activists from the CPM, CPI, CITU, AITUC and BJP participated. Recently, the district administration had issued an order banning the sale of private forestlands under the Private Forest Act 1949. There was a general feeling that this order might affect the entire Gualur belt bordering Kerala and Karnataka. For the past one week, there have been agitations in this regard in the Gudalur and Pandalur taluks. Meanwhile, the agitators have expressed concern that almost no lands including houses could be sold or purchased in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks as most of the areas were situated in the vicinity of forests.Further, they felt that the real estate value would come down drastically. They claimed that the district administration revived the same order issued by the then Nilgiris Collector Leena Nair in 1991, though after some agitations the order was diluted. Sensing the gravity of the Gudalur bandh, Collector Anandarao Patil clarified the order on the protection of private forests on Tuesday. He said that it was not a new order and according to a section under the Private Forest Preservation Act lands (with particular survey numbers) cannot be sold without prior permission from a committee led by the district collector.