Tigers and Tribes: Chhattisgarh's Conservation Conflict

A federation of 17 gram sabhas from Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi forests has alleged illegal evictions by tiger reserve authorities, violating several laws. The reserve's conservation efforts are clashing with the rights of indigenous communities, prompting appeals to the Tribal Affairs Ministry to stop these unlawful activities.

A federation of 17 gram sabhas in Chhattisgarh's Udanti-Sitanadi forests has accused tiger reserve authorities of illegal evictions and violations of multiple laws, in a letter to the Tribal Affairs Ministry. The authorities have allegedly disregarded the Forest Rights Act and other protective legislations.

According to the letter sent by the gram sabha representatives, officers at the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve have been unlawfully displacing people from their ancestral lands. Since 2020, families from villages like Sornamal have reportedly faced eviction without due process, alongside a controversial ban on farming, threatening their livelihoods.

Concerns over the tiger supplementation programme have also been highlighted, claiming it lacked the consent of local communities. The federation contends these conservation efforts disrupt the coexistence approach and contravene both the Forest Rights Act and the Wildlife Protection Act.

(With inputs from agencies.)