COIMBATORE: Hardly a month after Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuary was converted as the state's fourth tiger reserve, rights activists and green groups in the region are now at loggerheads over the future of these forests. While green groups want human settlements inside the forest to be shifted out, rights groups, which represent more than 10,000 tribals inside the forest, say tiger reserve status is illegal as it violates key provisions of Forest Rights Act and Wildlife Protection Act.
Welcoming the tiger reserve status, Tamil Nadu green movement leader, S Jayachandran is demanding removal of more than 200 tourist resorts that came up in core areas of the reserve- Kongalli, Hassanur, Mavanatham and Araiya Palayam. He also said a few temples and makeshift shops came up inside the forest posing a threat to wildlife in the area. According to Jayachandran, many people gather at temples frequently, which disrupts wildlife.
Meanwhile, K Balamurugan of Tamil Nadu unit of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has openly demanded scrapping of the tiger reserve status. "The notification in this regard is fast converting the regions into a conflict area between local inhabitants and the forest department. By doing so, the government has committed several illegalities and blatant violations of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 as amended in 2006 and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006,'' he said.
"The Wildlife Protection Act was violated through the arbitrary demarcation of the reserve. The process of recognition and determination of rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 has not been initiated and completed in this area. The inhabitants were not consulted and their 'consent' was not obtained as mandated by the law. No consultation was held with 'an ecological and social scientist familiar with the area' to determine the area where there are no options for co-existence to be designated as Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) and where co-existence is possible as buffer area,'' he pointed out. "No resolution from the Gram Sabhas has been obtained as required under Forest Rights Act," he added.
Meanwhile, K Kalidasan of NGO Osai has welcomed the decision saying the tiger reserve status would help end poaching and protect rich flora and fauna of the region. "It is the culmination of a long pending demand. Other than tigers, it has a huge number of elephants and vultures which require protection. It also functions as a link between a number of forest divisions in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,'' he said.
Bhavanisagar MLA P L Sundaram said a mass agitation is in the offing as the tiger reserve status was accorded in a way affecting livelihood of traditional forest dwellers. "It is not the tribal people but the forest department itself that is becoming enemies of the tigers,'' he said.
