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RAJAJI PARK (Uttaranchal): The Government's plan to relocate a tribal community away from a protected animal reserve in Uttaranchal seems to have come unstuck with the targeted groups returning to their forest homes. Officials had made plans two years ago to shift more than 1,300 Van Gujjar tribal families from the park to prevent poaching of endangered animals and protect forest trees. The Gujjars, a cattle-herding community, moved out last year to settle in a new village 50 km away where they were given free land and built-up houses. But 900 families have now decided to come back. They say the Government has failed to fulfil its promise and did not give land for cattle-grazing. "The reason is that our cattle have died there and Government hasn't given us what it promised to us. People were starving there, that is why we came back to the park. Because we are born and brought up in these forests, we belong to these forests ," said Allauddin, a Gujjar who returned to the park. Under the package, the State Government allotted 1,050 hectares of land for tribal relocation and houses were built at a cost of Rs 13 crore. A resettlement colony was established in Pathari forest block in Hardwar district. But Talib Hussain, a tribal, said the houses were of poor quality and there were no schools for their children. "We are not saying that we won't leave the forest, neither are we asking for a separate State. We are just asking what are the basic human needs. We should get all facilities of school, proper houses and employment and land so that we can grow crops and earn. We want that our forth-coming generations should settle well," he elaborated. Officials denied that facilities were poor and said everything was offered to them as per the rehabilitation package. But the tribals misused the land given to them. "Two acres of land was allotted to them with a view that they would grow fodder for their animals. But they are not doing that, they are growing wheat. We thought they will grow fodder and their dairy business will flourish. If they had grown fodder for their animals, the problem would not have arisen," according to MM Harbola, a forest department official. Forest officials now fear that the park's greenery may once again be depleted as tribals fell trees indiscriminately for fuel and graze their cattle in the forest areas. Spread over an area of 820 sq km and ensconced in the Shivalik hills, the Rajaji National Park was declared a protected zone in 1983 to save animals like elephants, tigers and deer from poaching. Uttaranchal has six national parks with a total area of 34661 sq km of which 23826 sq km fall within the ambit of reserved forests. Home to precious timber-yielding trees like sal, teak and deodar, the forests in the State have seen widespread exploitation which have almost completely denuded the once green Himalayan slopes, triggering landslides during the rainy season. -ANI |
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