Shashikant Trivedi / New Delhi/ Churna (bori Wildlife Sanctuary) November 30, 2010, 0:01 IST
Paucity of funds and non-availability of land are still major hurdles in the state government’s path towards making Bori wild life sanctuary, India’s first reserve forest, free of human interference although tribal families have unwillingly succumbed to the state forest department’s demand to evict the area sprawling more than 500 sq km. Satpura Tiger reserve located in south Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh includes the Bori wildlife sanctuary located in its south-west region.
The local villagers inside the sanctuary are ready with an emphatic denial of not having heard tiger roars since the last decade, a strong evidence of how the tigers have disappeared from the state, yet the forest department is keeping the hope alive of attaining the “Tiger State” status once the range is freed of the villagers.
The department is in the process of eviction of the area, albeit at snail pace, having obtained the villagers’ consent. It’s a difficult task for the officials to arrange for arable land for the families of 18 villages. Alternatively, a meager compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each family seems to be the only other option.
“We are convincing them to accept this compensation, yet it requires a huge fund, Rs 32000 crore to resettle all 735 villages out of all tiger reserve,” says Sartaj Singh, state forest minister while speaking to Business Standard, “We have no option but to depend upon Union government’s release of funds.”
Interestingly the forest department has demanded permission from the Supreme Court so that it can convert the tourist town Pachmarhi, also under the Satpura Tiger reserve, into a revenue land. “Resettlement of Pachmarhi is next to impossible,” the minister says.
It took almost ten years for the department to resettle two villages namely Dhain and Bori at a new location where officials faced protest and the process reportedly claimed another forest.
Tribals in Satpura tiger sanctuary, where even radio signals are shy to reach let alone basic amenities, have withstood government decisions since British Colonial rule. Rising to an altitude of 1,300 meters above sea level, Satpura range of mountains are not only the tallest mountains but also have rich bio-diversity, wildlife species and perennial fresh water sources ideal for human settlements.
“The tribal people are suffering the most in this area since 1860, as it is yet to be ascertained how their interference has adversely affected tiger population. And who will ensure that tourism activities will not be allowed in the area when a resort and guest house has been set up by the department itself in Churna,” said Sunil, coordinator of Kisan Adivasi Sangthan, Kesala — an organisation that is fighting for the cause of the tribal people. “It is a tough task for state government to arrange arable land in the vicinity. The plain area is highly fertile, which farmer will be ready to sell his land to the forest department at a throwaway price. Most of the buyers in this area are either industrialists or influential people. You can still see the suffering of the villagers of Bori and Dhain village who have been settled at a new location near Sohagpur tehsil.”
But for the forest department eviction is an ongoing process as tiger population has dwindled to an alarmingly low rate (census results are likely to come up by this month-end). “We have resettled two villages Dhain and Bori, two more are likely to be resettled this year,” TR Sharma, additional principal chief conservator of forest said. His team is convincing the forest dwellers to accept the “Golden Handshake” package in which each family and the adult member will get Rs 10 lakh. A portion of this will be deposited in fixed deposit in any bank and the rest will be spent on arranging a developed residential plot and construction of a house on it. “We are trying to convince them to take the Golden Handshake offer as arranging five acres of land for each family is a tough task for us,” he said.
As many as 18 villages have been earmarked for eviction. Villagers of Khakrapura, Sakot, which are to be displaced and resettled soon, are ready to move out provided the government offer them a house and five acres of land. The other villages namely Kakri, Jam, Bharbhur, Podhar, Malni, Mallupura, Suplai, Jhalai, Khamda and Mana have yet to wait for another two to five years as the process of resettlement is very slow.
“One could, 20 years back, spot tigers, leopards, chital, sambhar near the Churna guest house. Today we see a decreasing number of carnivores with the poachers killing them,” says a local villager, adding, “We are ready to move out because life is too difficult for us here as we remain clueless about what is happening in the rest of the world, especially during the rainy season. The nearest town Bhawnra is 50 kms away from Churna and we often encounter wild animals there. As many as 735 villages remain to be displaced from all tiger reserve sanctuaries and national parks of Madhya Pradesh.
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