A Madras High Court-appointed committee, comprising of three district Collectors and forest officials, will hold consultations with the people of Thengumarahada village in The Nilgiris on March 6, to ascertain their views on relocation, so that the forest area could be made available for free wildlife movement.
Hearing a batch of writ petitions, a Bench comprising Justice V. Bharathidasan and Justice N. Sathish Kumar had, on January 29, 2022, formed a committee comprising of the District Collectors of Erode, Coimbatore and Nilgiris, the District Forest Officers of Erode, Coimbatore and Nilgiris as well as the Field Directors of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). The Field Director, STR, is the convener of the committee.
The court had asked the committee to interact with the people in the village and explain the factual and legal position regarding their occupation to them, and also ascertain their views on relocation. The committee was asked to file its report before the court on March 10 and the next hearing has been posted for March 14.
The village comes under Kotagiri taluk, and is located on the northern slopes of the Nilgiris that can be reached after via a 30 km forest mud road that passes through the STR from Karachikorai forest check post in the Bhavanisagar Forest Range. In 1948, 100 acres of reserve forest land were leased out to 142 members to promote food crop cultivation. In 1952, the village was formed and all the members were registered with a cooperative farming society. Again, more than 500 acres of land were leased to the society with conditions that the land remains the property of the society and the land cannot be sold or gifted to others. Also, the government, if required, can take away the land without paying any compensation to the users.
As on record, only 10 legal representatives of the original assignees are occupying the land that falls under the Bhavanisagar Range of STR, while others are using the land in violation of the conditions.
The reserve is located in a crucial space interconnecting biodiversity in the Nilgiris with that of the Eastern Ghats, and is also an important connecting corridor for many long-ranging wild animals. The village prevents free movement of wild animals and hence, the court observed that the villagers, who number over 400 now, should be relocated.
