Defying law to uproot tribals from their habitat

Forest officials in the Agency area of East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh allegedly ransacked a settlement of Kondareddy tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), at Ukkurluru around 18 km away from Maredmilli mandal headquarters, and burnt down their huts a few days ago in gross violation of human rights. They forced evictions from their habitat in the reserved forests.

On June 1 when the men were not at home, the forest officials of Rampachodavaram range encircled their huts and set fire and went away, destroying the property, said a victim, Bachala Veerapureddy. The frightened children and women ran into nearby forests. Men returned to their homes during the night and witnessed the panicked family members and heaps of ashes in place of their huts.

All the adivasi households had to spend in the enclave of reserve forests and exposed to the heavy downpour of rain during that whole night. The victims next day rebuilt their temporary huts with polythene sheets in the same place to protect from the sun and wild animals.

Veerapureddy says that the forest officials are continuing threats of eviction even today. The complaint lodged with the Maredumilli Police Station by the victims on 2nd June, along with the officials of ITDA, seeking justice not yet resulted.

Seven Kondareddy households migrated six years back from their original settlement, a remote village namely Lingavaram in Daragadda Gram Panchayat in Y Ramavaram mandal, 40 km away from their present settlement. As many as 25 Kondareddy households were living on the top of the Lingavaram hill and eking out their livelihood by slash and burn cultivation (podu).

Extent of podu fields was insufficient to survive, and the adivasi households came down from the hill and initiated podu cultivation on the hill slope of the nearby hills

However, due to heavy land degradation and inadequate forest cover on the hills, the pulse crops raised by them were washed away due to heavy rains.

To cope up with the situation, they tried taking land on lease from the other tribes, Valmikis, by paying Rs 2,000 per acre for dry lands and Rs 5,000 for the fields suitable for raising paddy. Unfortunately, it was not a fruitful attempt due heavy input costs expenses of hiring two plough bullocks for Rs 5000.

As there was no escape from distress situation, in 2011 the adivasi households migrated to Ukkuluru forest area and spotted a field of six acres and started raising small millets for bare survival. They have been cultivating the forest land without any interruption for all these years. There are about 30 people, including 15 children below 14 years.

On 1st June, a few tribal men came to Rampachodavaram to meet the public representatives ITDA and officials to apprise them of recent atrocities and threats of eviction by forest officials. In the absence of the men in the settlement, the furious forest

officials came down heavily on the habitation and set ablaze the huts. The forest officials indulged in illegal action without any notice, consultation and assurance of alternative accommodation.

In December 2006, the Indian Parliament passed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act to undo historic injustice done to the forest-dwelling communities and recognise their right to forest land tenure and habitat right exclusively for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).

The District Committee chaired by the District Collector is under legal obligation under the amended RoFR Rules 2012 to ensure the habitat right of PVTGs in view of their differential vulnerability.

As per the local adivasis of Ukkuluru, the forest lands which are under the present occupation of victims, were earlier under the occupation of some other adivasis of their clan prior to the cut-off year 2005 under the RoFR Act 2006.

Whatever the legality of their occupation in the forests, the ITDA should provide adequate accommodation, ensure food security and freedom from eviction threats of forest officials.

A fair enquiry into the complaint lodged with the officials is necessary to prosecute the offenders who indulged in serious human rights violations.

By:Dr Palla Trinadha Rao