Forest rights: tribals demand land for dwelling

 The tribals, who are residing inside the forest for generations and are protecting the forest for years, are yet to get a permanent place to dwell.

The district has 154 tribal colonies (Haadis) with a population of more than 14,000 people. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, every cultivator inside the forest can be given four hectares of land. However, only 1,392 families in the district have been given ‘land rights’ under the act. There are charges on failure of the authorities to implement the act effectively in the district.

The demand of Soligas, Eravas, Jenukurubas, Kaadukurubas on revising the land limits to five acres for every tribal family has not been heard so far. About 130 tribal families who have been shifted from line houses inside the coffee estate to Diddadahalli have started a protest demanding sanctioning of land. However, the district administration and the forest department are bent on not sanctioning land within the reserve forest area. As a result, the tribals have failed to get a permanent place to live. They have been residing amid the threat of wild animals attack and fear of eviction in the district.

The tribal community members accused the officials of failing to act against those rich encroachers who have encroached hundreds of acre forest land and converted it into coffee estates. “The officials  are failing to guarantee rights to the forest dwellers as per the act,” the tribal leaders charged.

Kodagu has 1.17 lakh hectares of forest land. “A conspiracy has been hatched against granting land to tribals in the name of sacred groves. Land should be sanctioned to those who are residing inside the sacred grove,” Aranya Moola Budakattu Samudayagala Okkuta district convener Y P Thammayya said.

An ITDP official said, “The survey of families residing in line houses have not been conducted so far. If the land is sanctioned as per the demand of the tribals, the land is not sufficient in the district. There is also a legal hurdle in sanctioning land under reserve forest limits. Under Jenukuruba community development scheme and Erava, Soliga community development scheme, houses are provided for those who wish to come out of the forest.

There is a target to construct 1,350 houses under rehabilitation. In this, the work on 340 houses have been completed. A total of 3,613 applications have been received under Forest Rights Act in the district. A total of 1,206 applications were rejected citing the reason of failure to produce cultivation chits. Land has been distributed among 45 benefiaciries under community rights.”