Seeing plight of those who have moved out of forest, families shy away to relocate

Hanagodu: While the Forest Department is spending crores of rupees every year to maintain the flora and fauna in Reserve Forests and Tiger Reserves in order to rake in the moolah through boosting safari, creating protected areas and attracting tourism, their efforts to move tribals from the forests have seen little success.

Though they have been successful in shifting a majority of tribals from the woods to settlements either in small towns or on the fringes of forests, still there are many tribes who have refused to move out as they are suspicious about the Department’s intentions and at the same time, they fear that once they move out of the forests, their life would be bereft of natural living, forest culture, resources  and happiness.

Though there is an order from the Centre that all tribals living inside the forests have to be relocated and resettled, there are exclusive settlements that have cared two hoots for the Forest Department’s move to evict them. Take Kolangere Tribal Hamlet for example. 

Though over 25 families have already moved out to settlements in other areas like Hebballa, Shettihalli and Nagapura resettlements in Hunsur taluk, over 10 families are still inside the jungles and have refused to move out and have rejected the  Government package of fixed deposits and land.

The Kolangere tribal hamlet is located about 20 kms from Veeranahosahalli check-post gate at the entry of Nagarahole from Hunsur side and around 35 kms from Nanachi gate from Kutta side in Kodagu. They are Jenu Kurubas, an indigenous tribal community. 

Cultural destruction

For over a century, conservation has resulted in cultural destruction and large-scale displacements of tribal people from their ancestral lands.

In a majority of eviction cases, State authorities did not follow due process established by national and international standards and many affected families did not receive compensation and rehabilitation benefits as assured by the Government. 

Once the tribal families agree to shift from the forests, each family is given three-acre land and sowing seeds are supplied for three years apart  from depositing Rs. 10 lakh in their bank accounts. A pucca house is built in the rehabilitated area and basic amenities are provided too.

Lack of trust

However, Jenu Kurubas who have been relocated from the forests to Nagapura at Veeranahosahalli complain that there is severe drinking water scarcity, lack of basic healthcare and educational facilities in the rehabilitation areas. Also, unemployment plagues them even  after relocation. 

The tribal people who volunteered to be relocated in 1998 were promised 5 acres of land as compensation but the policy is yet to be fully implemented. “We have lost trust in the Government and successive leaders have failed us and they come here only for votes,” is their common grouse. 

Successive Governments are to blame for the sad state of affairs as the tribals are left begging and pleading for basic amenities. Even after the tribals are allotted some land and money is deposited in their bank accounts, many depend on daily wages for living and their children have no access to education.

Efforts on to convince

But the tribals of Kolangere are not living a peaceful life inside the jungle too. Their houses are dilapidated and several of them are covered primitively with haystacks and tarpaulins. The tribals depend on coffee estate work at Kutta, Moorkal, Balele, Karmad and surrounding areas in Kodagu district. There is not a single school for the education of their children. 

The low-carbon-footprint lifestyle of the tribal people has conserved the global environment for millennia and their wisdom and sustainable methods deserve to be recognised, adopted and promoted to effectively mitigate climate change.

“We know the value of tribals in forest conservation. As such, we have not forcibly evicted them. But the convincing tactics are on. We will continue to coax them to move out,” Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Satish said.

Demand more land, more money

Seeing the plight of those who have already shifted from the Kolangere hamlet and realising the ‘betrayal’ of the Government, the 10 existing families have refused to move out of the woods. To put pressure on the Government and the Forest Department, the tribals are demanding bigger houses than those that have been allotted to earlier settlers, four-acre land and also deposit Rs. 30 lakh instead of Rs. 10 lakh. 

“We have seen the condition of all the families that have been shifted from the forests. Our friends often narrate their sad state of affairs to us. We are at least in the middle of forests and are carrying on with our trade in forest produce and also depend on estate work. We are happy here and we do not want to be in neither here nor there situation as our friends are after they agreed to relocate,” Mutha, a tribal youth said.