The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Tribal people caught in conservation, rights row

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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Tribal people caught in conservation, rights row

Muralidhara Khajane

Conservationists blame tribal people for destruction of the forests
Tribal people blame forest officials for the decimation of wildlife

NAGARAHOLE FOREST AREA: The ongoing debate over the Scheduled Tribes and other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act that was passed recently, which is being challenged in the courts by “conservation” organisations on the grounds that its implementation will lead to destruction of the forests, has unsettled the lives of thousands of families living in the over 56 tribal haadis (tribal settlements) within the Nagarahole National Park.

The main concern of those supporting the Act is the historical injustice, displacement and harassment caused by forest reservation and creation of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. They are of the opinion that wildlife conservation in the country has failed miserably by not considering the plight of those affected by the process of conservation.

According to the Wildlife Protection Act, no one is allowed to live inside a national park and all traditional rights and livelihood dependencies on the forests are denied. The debate in the country has now become tribal people versus wildlife. Tribal people have been repeatedly blamed for the destruction of the forests and decimation of wildlife.

However, pinning their hopes on the implementation of the Act, forest dwelling tribal people are now not only refusing to move out of the forest area, but are also persuading those who have left their Jamma (native land) owing to alleged pressure from forest officials, and those living in the periphery of Nagarahole forest to return to their Jamma.

“Living here from generations, we have protected both forest and wildlife. In no way are we responsible for the destruction of forests and decimation of wildlife as alleged by some vested interests. It is the forest officials who are responsible for that. We will not leave the forest under any circumstances. It is true that, we need education for our children and health facility. But we want them here, where we live, not in an alien land,” said J.K. Kala of Medarakolli haadi, located in Nagarahole National Park. This is the predominant voice of the tribal people living in 56 haadis spread across Mysore and Kodagu districts.

Compensation

According to the Wild Life Protection Act, when a forest area is declared a national park, the inhabitants have a right to compensation. But Somaiah of Maranakolli haadi says that in most cases, tribal people were asked to move out of forests without adequate compensation; sometimes they were forcibly moved out. They finally ended up working in estates in and around forests. J.K. Kala is one such victim. His family was moved from Maranakolli along with 19 others around 20 years ago. “Today, my entire family, including my aged mother, works in the estates for a paltry sum,” he rued.

Even the families that were moved out and were given compensation have returned to forests as they found it difficult to sustain themselves. With the funding from forest and ecology development programme, the forest department relocated nearly 280 families inside Nagarahole to a village called Nagapura. Each family was promised compensation of Rs. 6 lakh. They were also given houses and a monthly ration. The programme which ran smoothly for over a year was stopped due to non-availability of funds. The land given to them was not conducive to agriculture and there was no other way of earning a living. Slowly they moved back in to the forests and took up menial jobs in the surrounding estates.

(To be continued)