No roaring approval in tiger country

NEW DELHI: There is perhaps nothing as beautiful as watching a tiger in the wild. And arguably, there is nothing as dangerous as living with tigers in your backyard.

But ask the forest dweller who had to abandon his home and way of life to make way for the tiger reserve. Tribal communities and forest dwellers in almost all villages dotting India’s tiger reserves have learnt that the threat to their lives doesn’t arise so much from the tigers. Instead, the threat comes from those who want to protect the big cat at all costs. Mostly at the forest dweller/ tribal’s cost.

For decades it was rather easy for planners and ‘official’ conservationists to simply order that tribal communities be dispossessed of their home turfs. But that did not happen on the ground. Forest dwellers mostly remained where they were —and were labelled ‘encroachers’ in government records. Changes in politics, aided by energetic activism, ensured that the rights of the forest dwellers were recognised under the Forest Rights Act passed in 2006. Despite that, things have hardly changed in tiger land, or for that matter in any area where an animal loved by conservationists survives.

The laws now necessitate that people in tiger reserves be moved out only with prior informed consent of the impacted villages. But recent reports from across the country suggest that life for the forest dweller is stuck in a timewarp. An internal report of Sariska Tiger Reserve points to funds meant for relocation being misused and forest communities being offered shoddy alternatives. From other places, there are reports of coercion and threats warning tribals to accept whatever option they are offered.

The anger among communities that live within the reserves and those who’ve had to abandon their homes located inside reserves is palpable. The tourism industry is doing roaring business from areas that were once the forest people’s home.