‘Mainland life’ to dawn upon villagers in core forest areas of Uttar Pradesh
At the relocation site, villagers will get agriculture land, transport, houses, pastures, access road, facilities of irrigation, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunication, places of worship, access to anganwadis/schools for children, hospitals and fair price shops, say officials
LUCKNOW Villagers living in core forest areas will get a new home outside the man-animal conflict zones, courtesy a first-of-its-kind exercise by the state government to give them a life in the mainland with proper amenities and education for kids. The first such proposal of ₹21.55 crore aimed at relocating 118 families from Bharthapur village in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) has been sent for approval, the process for which began in January.
At the relocation site, the villagers will get agriculture land, transport, houses, pastures, access road, facilities of irrigation, drinking water, sanitation, electricity, telecommunication, places of worship, access to anganwadi/school for children, access to hospitals and fair price shops, said officials.
Gradually, about 7,000 people in 16 villages in DTR will be relocated as the scheme goes ahead. For now, the beneficiaries are in two villages - Bharthapur and Chaltua - both falling in the core forest areas of DTR. The process for Chaltua has also begun and listing of families is underway.
The efforts to relocate villagers began roughly 10 years ago, but it took a long time before legal procedural formalities could be completed, including convincing the villagers. And with a list of families now prepared, UP is set to see the first 118 families moving out of DTR.
“This has two purposes. While the villagers will be away from the conflict zone and get connected to the mainland, the wild animals will get contiguous habitat,” said Lalit Verma, field director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), who is executing the first-ever initiative in the region.
Man-animal conflicts have claimed at least 17 lives in UP this year, according to forest office records.
“The district magistrate has been sent the list of those willing to relocate. Another attempt will be made to include more people and then the final process of shifting them (villagers) will be undertaken,” said SK Sharma, head of forest force, Uttar Pradesh, and principal chief conservator of forests, UP.
The first lot of villagers, who have been given the relocation offer, have had their generations living along wild animals in core forest areas of the DTR, but they do not have access to basics such as electricity and mobile connections.
“Not having mobile connectivity means inability to call for help when wild animals come. Besides, facilities available in the mainland commonly are difficult to get here,” said Verma.
The villagers have been given two options - to take a consolidated amount and value of their assets such as house, agriculture produce, and other belongings that they might not be able to shift with. The other option is to get a piece of land as part of rehabilitation and value of their assets.
“In Bharthapur, most of the people chose to take money to get settled on their own and their names have been sent to the government for approval of funds. In the second village, the process has begun and the first few rounds of meetings between officials and villagers have been conducted. There has been a positive response,” said Verma, adding there is no pressure on any villager to leave.
The villagers are being explained how the shifting will be done and the changes they might experience outside forest areas. Dudhwa is inhabited by over 7,000 people and man-animal conflicts occur here as the number of wild animals has increased. DTR has 153 tigers, up from 135, according to the Tiger Census 2022.
Across the country, around 591 villages comprising 64,801 families are located in core forest areas, as per data from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) shared in June this year.
UP has four tiger reserves – Dudhwa, Pilibhit, Amangarh, and Ranipur – and with the success of the first phase, the scheme will be floated for other tiger reserves as well, said a senior official in the department.
Under the provisions, the field director will identify the villages situated within notified core forest areas. A prioritization of villages to be relocated will be done based on man-tiger conflicts, presence of tiger den sites, grazing areas of wild ungulates, presence of water and other welfare factors, site specific attributes etc.
In case forest villagers have no tenurial rights, two bank accounts will be opened for each family. A community development plan will also be prepared for each relocated village in consultation with the respective district collector while ensuring integration of other ongoing district level schemes.
A special monitoring committee involving members of the gram sabha, relocated villagers, civil society institution, will also be created for periodic reporting to the field director, stated NTCA guidelines.