International Tiger Day: Relocation of villagers from Palamu reserve forest begins

Ranchi/Medininagar: The Jharkhand forest department has initiated a process to relocate residents of 35 villages inside the Palamau Tiger Reserve (PTR) to ensure that big cats get a better habitat, officials said on Tuesday.

Around 160 people living in Jaigir village in the forest limits have already been relocated outside the reserved area, he said.

"People of the Jaigir village have been relocated to Polpol, located outside the reserved area, in Palamu district. The process has been initiated to relocate the people of two more villages- Kujrum and Laatu," PTR Director SR Natesh told PTI.

Around 35 villages with around 10,000 people are located in the core area of the reserve forest, which often leads to human-animal conflicts, another official said.

Of the 1,129.93 sq km area of PTR, 414.08 sq km is marked as the core area, a critical tiger habitat, and the remaining 715.85 sq km as the buffer zone.

Of the total area, 226.32 sq km is designated as Betla National Park, and in the buffer zone, 53 sq km is open for tourists.

"People of all 35 villages will be relocated outside the reserved area in a phased manner. In the first phase, residents of 10 villages - three in the south division and seven in the north of the PTR - will be shifted," PTR Deputy Director Prajesh Jena told PTI.

There are around 80 houses in Laatu and over 50 in Kujrum. Ten families from Kujrum have already been shifted to Polpol, he said.

"After shifting the people of the three villages, we will relocate seven more from the Mandal dam area to Lai-Paila Pathal village in Sarju block of Latehar district. Similarly, people of 10 villages will be shifted in the second phase," Jena said.

The PTR authorities have set a target to relocate all 35 villages in the next three years, he said.

According to the PTR relocation policy, each man, aged 18 years and above, has been considered a single unit or family and would be entitled to either Rs 15 lakh in cash or two hectares of land parcel, Jena added.

On the occasion of International Tiger Day, the PTR authority is organising various activities to spread awareness among people about tiger habitat and the protection of the big cats.

Based on camera images and other evidence, the PTR authorities are now claiming to have captured the movement of six tigers.

According to the 2023 All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) report, the reserve had one tiger.

Established in 1974 under Project Tiger, the 1,129-sq-km Palamau Tiger Reserve was once considered a habitat for a thriving population of big cats - 22 in 1972 and a peak of 71 in 1995, according to former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Jharkhand, Pradeep Kumar's 2016 book 'Main Baagh Hoon'.

Thereafter, the population of big cats declined to 44 in 1997, 34 in 2002, 10 in 2010, and 3 in 2014, according to the book.

According to wildlife experts, human interference and reduced prey base are the major hurdles to tiger growth.