The State government issued an order on Thursday to refund a sum of ₹2 crore for the voluntary relocation project in Chetyalthur hamlet inside the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary.
The Hindu had published the plight of the 232 families in the settlement on Wednesday.
The farmers alleged that the project was in limbo after the State government diverted a sum of ₹18.5 crore granted by the governments, including Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), in March last year to relocate as many as 232 families, including 77 tribal families of the Chettyalathur settlement under the sanctuary.
It was planned to provide ₹6 lakh each to selected eligible family as a compensation in the first phase and the remaining amount would be provided later.
Funds unutilised
Though the amount was transferred to the joint account of Wayanad District Collector and ITDP officer, Kalpetta, on 13 March , 2017, the amount was kept unutilised for around 10 months.
Later, the implementing committee, chaired by the District Collector, had disbursed cheques, each worth ₹6 lakh, last month to 65 beneficiaries as per a priority list.
Farmers’ plight
But the farmers who got the cheques could not encash the same owing to diversion of fund.
However, the amount repaid by the State government could be utilised to provide a compensation of ₹6 lakh each to nearly 33 beneficiaries, sanctuary officials said.
The farmers had decided to launch an agitation by erecting huts either in front of the Collectorate or the office of the wildlife warden, in protest against the alleged laxity of the government.
