Simlipal:
Here is a story of successful relocation at the Simlipal reserve in Orissa. Today we look at how many families here are living comfortably after they were moved out to make way for the tiger.
Adivasis from Jenabil valley in Orissa's Simlipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in a bank for the first time in their lives to receive a part of Rs 10 lakhs that the National Tiger Conservation Authority has promised each of the 61 families, who have vacated their forest home.
Although their rehabilitation from the core area of the park was on the cards for years, no serious attempt was made until a new director took over last August.
"That itself shows that things could have been done much earlier and we could have got back all those valleys for wild life much earlier. In fact Jenabil would get back its former glory. We expect it to become a meadow, which will be frequented by herbivores and tigers naturally," says Biswajit Mohanty, member, National Board for Wildlife.
For the displaced people who have never lived outside the forests, it's the beginning of a new life. Their children can finally go to school.
"The government promised us Rs 10 lakhs and land. They have said they will give us Rs 1 lakh to build a house and the rest Rs 9 lakh will be in the form of fixed deposits. If our rehabilitation is proper, then others will also leave Simlipal," says Ganga, displaced Jenabil villager.
There are still three more villages in the tiger core area that need to be evacuated. Thanks to the good package people are willing to reconsider their views.
"We will take all care to train them in agriculture, horticulture and all those things. It's no longer the job of the Forest Department of the Simlipal Tiger Reserve, the whole of district administration has adopted it," says HS Upadhyay, director, STR.
Reducing human interference is key to increasing tiger numbers. The successful rehabilitation of the people of Jenabil will go a long way in bringing the big cat back to these meadows.