Hyderabad, June. 24: A promise made by the former Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, to local villagers is hampering the Kolleru lake restoration. He had assured them that the boundary will be reduced to the third contour and this has prompted them to oppose the moves by forest officials the fix the boundary at fifth contour. Forest officials have been trying to construct pillars to mark the boundary in the past three days but faced stiff protests from villagers. The Conservator of Forests, Mr A.K. Sinha, sent a report to his superiors on Tuesday stating that the villagers in Eluru and Kaikulur ranges were opposing the move. Local Congress party leaders too joined the chorus for reduction of boundary hoping to get mileage in Kolleru villages in West Godavari and Krishna districts. "People are preventing us from laying pillars because of the former Chief Minister's promise that he would reduce the boundary to the third contour," said a senior forest official. He added that the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, had asked them go ahead with the boundary at the fifth contour. "However Mr Naidu's comments has created confusion among the locals which is making our job tough," said the official. "He assured that he would free 35,000 acres from the sanctuary by reducing the contour." The Chief Wild Life Warden, Mr Hitesh Malhotra, is camping at Kolleru to oversee the construction of the pillars. The AP Forest Department has borrowed around Rs 50 lakh from AP Infrastructure Development Corporation to construct the pillars.