There was high drama at a Toda village near Nanjanad, as a few tribal people who were being evicted from a piece of reserve forest they had “encroached” upon, threatened to immolate themselves by dousing kerosene on Wednesday.
Forest Department officials, along with the Nilgiris district police, had gone to Kovilmund near Nanjanad, which had a Toda tribal settlement. The Todas had been given rights to cultivate a piece of land adjoining a reserve forest. They were given rights to use a piece of the reserve forest to graze their cattle.
However, around 4.2 acres earmarked for grazing had been “encroached” upon by two Toda men, both brothers, who had grown crops, in violation of the forest rules. They had been sent notices about the encroachments by the department, but they did not get a response. A surveyor had been sent to verify if the forest had been encroached upon.
The department officials, along with the district police, went to Kovilmund to “evict” the “encroachers” from the reserve forest. An order by the District Forest Officer (South Division) had directed the department to initiate action. The Superintendent of Police and the Collector had been informed of the move.
However, when the Forest Department and the police reached the location and tried to carry out their orders, a few Toda tribesmen began protesting against the move. They then threatened to immolate themselves, prompting officials to call off their plans.
R. Rajmohan, Assistant Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris South Division), in-charge of Parson’s Valley Range, said the tribesmen who were growing crops on the land had agreed to hand it over to the department after their annual harvests. “We have arranged for a peace meeting with the community,” he said.
However, A Sathyaraj, general secretary of the Todar Samuthayam Munnetra Sangam, said rights had been granted to the Todas for 35 acres of land. “Within this piece of land, around eight acres have trees and we have been demanding that we be given permission to clear the trees for cultivation.
The department needs to give us the permission to clear the forest for our use or give us an alternative piece of land,” he added.
