Relocation in Kawal Tiger Reserve may face hurdles

Hyderabad. December 12, 2015. S. Harpal Singh

he incidence of tiger sightings and its attacks on humans having propped the district up in news headlines, Adilabad seems to be set to regain its former glory as a prime wild habitat.

Making the Kawal Tiger Reserve an ‘inviolate’ area for the big cat to thrive will therefore a natural corollary of the events unfolding here.

One of the major tasks facing authorities in making the park a much safer place for the tiger is to relocate at least those villages in the core area of KTR where the inhabitants are by and large dependent upon the forest.

The government has constituted committees at district and State levels to look into the process of relocation which, according to the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, has to be wilful.

“The first meeting of the District Level Implementation Committee (DLIC) will take place on December 29,” revealed Jannaram Deputy Director of KTR, B. Ravinder.

“The meeting will deliberate upon the steps to be taken in the backdrop of some villages having expressed their readiness to be relocated,” he added. The relocation compensation package as per the guidelines of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 will have every family getting Rs. 10 lakh on voluntarily agreeing to the proposition.

“So far we have villagers from Maisampet, Dongapalli, Alinagar and Mallial located in the core area expressing willingness for relocation,” Mr. Ravinder disclosed.

While the villagers of Maisampet and Mallial have already represented their consent for relocation to the government, but there is some doubt with regard to the inhabitants of Dongapalli and Alinagar.

The DLIC should also consider offering the compensation package to villagers of Ramnagar, who too have expressed willingness to be relocated.

The authorities are likely to face hurdles in getting the consent of the villagers in Dongapalli and Alinagar, as every individual in the villages happens to earn between Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 selling bamboo mats and no one would like to jettison such a lucrative livelihood inside the jungle.

Some of Adivasi groups are also reportedly preparing for a struggle against relocation of Adivasi villages.

The relocation compensation package as per the norms will have each family getting Rs. 10 lakh on voluntarily agreeing to the proposition

(The Hindu, Hyderabad. December 12, 2015)