Adivasis Clash Over Reallocated Rehab Land In Kawal Tiger Reserve
Relocated families threaten to return to their original villages: Reports
ADILABAD: Some landless Adivasis of Gondguda in Nachanellapur village are claiming rights to the land recently allocated for families relocated from Maisampet and Rampur to Maddipadaga, in the core area of Kawal Tiger Reserve, Kadam mandal, Nirmal district.
The local Adivasis objected to granting this land to the rehabilitated families. Forest officials say they de-notified the forest land, which had been earmarked for relocation, and reallocated it to the new occupants. The dispute has since escalated into a major controversy. Disappointed by the turn of events, the relocated families have threatened to return to their original villages.
On Saturday, the state government issued GO Ms No. 43, granting alienable rights, equivalent to patta lands, over a total of 276 acres to 94 families relocated from the core area of Kawal Tiger Reserve. However, the forest department has not yet issued the corresponding patta pass books. Each of the 94 families was allotted 2 acres and 32 guntas in Maisampet, Dharmajipet, and Rampur as part of land-based rehabilitation.
Following a careful review, the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration ordered that 243.24 acres in survey number 114 of Nachanellapur village and 32.19 acres in survey number 217 of Maddipadaga village be treated as alienable government land, on par with patta holdings, for the relocated families.
These relocations took place on April 15, 2024 under the NTCA’s voluntary package: 48 families opted for a ₹15 lakh compensation (option 1) and the remaining 94 chose land-based rehabilitation (option 2). To date, a few eligible families have received their pattas, and much of the land remains uncultivated, stony, overgrown, and uneven. The forest department has levelled only a small portion to make it arable.
Nirmal RDO Rathna Kalyani said a revenue survey is underway to demarcate and fix boundaries around Nachanellapur village. She added that forest officials have handed the de-notified land to the revenue department for formal allocation, and appealed to locals to cooperate with the boundary survey.
Vedma Laxman of Gondguda said villagers once practised podu cultivation on these outskirts in hopes of receiving ROFR pattas, but the forest department never issued them. He questioned how that same forest land could now be de-notified and granted to relocated families, and urged the government to allocate agricultural plots to the 20 landless Adivasi families of Gondguda.
An NGO, Hyticos, has levelled only 110 acres out of the 263 acres assigned at Maddipadaga, further delaying cultivation efforts.
