Chikmagalur:
Tigers are disappearing in India, but Karnataka is one place where the news is not as bad as elsewhere. The Bhadra Tiger Reserve - situated in the Western Ghats - is actually reporting more tigers than were present a couple of decades ago.
It helps that more than 700 families have moved out of the sanctuary over the past few years, following the implementation of a successful rehabilitation scheme.
The village of Muthodi or rather what remains of the village of Muthodi perhaps best symbolises what has happened in Bhadra in terms of the large-scale movement of people out of here. No people are left living in this area.
"It was difficult because we love our land as much as our mother. We filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against it and got a stay on the acquisition of our land. First the rehabilitation facilities were implemented, and only then did the acquisition happen and we moved," says S R Nagaraj, a relocated villager.
Most families moved to M C Halli on the Shimoga highway. They were given land based on how much land they held in Bhadra, a site to build a home, and financial compensation for the house they left behind and the cost of moving. In contrast to their forest homes they were provided with good roads, drinking water, power supply and a hospital.
"The total expenditure was about Rs 26 crore. It is India's most successful, perhaps the world's most successful experiment in relocation, resettlement and rehabilitation, says Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
People here have given up their homes, their traditional way of life so that the Indian tiger could survive.
It helps that more than 700 families have moved out of the sanctuary over the past few years, following the implementation of a successful rehabilitation scheme.
The village of Muthodi or rather what remains of the village of Muthodi perhaps best symbolises what has happened in Bhadra in terms of the large-scale movement of people out of here. No people are left living in this area.
"It was difficult because we love our land as much as our mother. We filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against it and got a stay on the acquisition of our land. First the rehabilitation facilities were implemented, and only then did the acquisition happen and we moved," says S R Nagaraj, a relocated villager.
Most families moved to M C Halli on the Shimoga highway. They were given land based on how much land they held in Bhadra, a site to build a home, and financial compensation for the house they left behind and the cost of moving. In contrast to their forest homes they were provided with good roads, drinking water, power supply and a hospital.
"The total expenditure was about Rs 26 crore. It is India's most successful, perhaps the world's most successful experiment in relocation, resettlement and rehabilitation, says Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh.
People here have given up their homes, their traditional way of life so that the Indian tiger could survive.
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