Tribal villages oppose tiger reserve in Sathyamangalam

COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu forest department's push to get Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary declared a tiger reserve suffered a setback on Wednesday when grama sabhas in all 19 tribal-majority panchayats in the region passed separate resolutions against the move. The resolutions said the department had not consulted the local communities on the project, though Section 38 V of the Wildlife Protection Act makes it mandatory. The Wildlife Protection Act stipulates that approval from the grama sabha is essential before tiger reserve status is awarded to a reserve forest area. In addition, government is required to constitute an expert panel to study the impact of declaring an area a tiger reserve on the local community and the findings must be discussed in the grama sabha in the presence of forest officials, environmentalists and social scientists. Before local communities are asked to shift out of reserved area, authorities are required to seek the opinion of the grama sabha on whether it believes the people can co-exist with the wildlife. Also, relocation packages and compensation plan have to be approved by the grama sabha, which has the right to reject proposals of the government. Bhavani Sagar MLA P L Sundaram said that the forest department is all set to award tiger reserve status to Sathyamangalam and Meghamalai in Theni in the next few weeks, but the local communities have not been consulted. Sundaram had prompted the concerned grama sabhas to adopt resolutions condemning the forest department's move. He along with representatives of 10 panchayats in Thalavadi, six in Sathyamangalam and three in Bhavani Sagar will meet chief minister J Jayalalithaa on May 7 and hand over the resolutions. They would request the chief minister to restart the entire process by taking the local community in confidence and abiding by the applicable laws. The delegation would also press for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act in Sathyamangalam to protect tribals living in the forest fringes from forced eviction. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/environment/developmental-issues/tribal-villages-oppose-tiger-reserve-in-sathyamangalam/articleshow/12973853.cms