Forest rights being granted in Melghat core under pressure

Nagpur: At a time when crores of rupees are being spent to create inviolate spaces for tigers by relocating villages inside Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Amravati, the district administration is doing something exactly the opposite-- distributing land under Forest Rights Act in the core area of tiger reserve.
It is indeed shocking that district collector is granting claims in the heart of tiger reserve that has spent over Rs200 crore to relocate nine villages in the last four years.Since 2003, 14 villages have been relocated from MTR and 19 more remaining. There are 35-40 tigers in 2,000 sqkm Melghat.
“The villages are being relocated to create inviolate spaces for tigers, but in contrast, administration has granted individual rights on 93.295 hectares tiger bearing land in three ranges under Gugamal wildlife division,” highly placed sources told TOI. Of these, 52.298 hectares is in Harisal range, 34.402 hectares in Chaurakund and 5.595 hectares in Jarida. The five claims from Rora and 19 claims from Malur in Gugamal come under critical tiger habitat (CTH). These claims have been granted by district level committee.
Top sources said an IAS officer in state Governor’s office is mounting pressure on collectors to grant pattas inside core area of tiger reserve while National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has already made it clear no rights could be granted in tiger reserve as they are finally notified after rights have been already settled.
They said cases that were rejected earlier were also being cleared under pressure. This is despite the fact that on November 9, 2015, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at a seminar on 'Conservation of forests and rural livelihood security’ at Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini (RMP) at Uttan (Thane), ordered action against encroachers under FRA and scrap invalid claims.
CM has made it clear no traditional rights on forest land under FRA would be entertained after the cut-off date of December 13, 2005. In Melghat, there have been many encroachments and forest officials removing these encroachments are being targeted by local MLAs.
Amravati district collector Kiran Gitte told TOI, “I will verify the claims. If rights have been granted in core area we will review them.”
TOI is in possession of a letter issued by Melghat MLA Prabudas Bhilavekar on June 29, 2016, asking forest officials not to remove encroachments on forest land without consulting him. Though this letter explains select cases of Mangia villagers, the letter has been sent to all officials working in Melghat. TOI had earlier exposed how forest officials were being attacked by villagers as they have local political backing to grab forest land under FRA.
Anticipating tribals will get rights on forest land, many tribals and non-tribals have encroached upon hundreds of acres of forest in the state. Yet, no action has been taken against them by officials.
HOW FRA WORKS
* Eligibility criteria: Eligibility for rights under FRA is confined to those who are Scheduled Tribes/forest dwellers of that area and have been residing in the forest for 75 years
* Process: Section 6(1) of the Act provides that the gram sabha, or village assembly, will initially pass a resolution recommending cases as per Dec 13, 2005, cut-off date
* Wildlife conservation: Section 4(2) of the Act lays out a procedure by which people can be resettled from areas if found necessary for wildlife conservation