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Tribal communities in the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha are concerned about being denied their rights to practice traditional rituals and access sacred groves after being relocated. The Munda tribe, displaced from Jamunagarh, protested, claiming their community forest rights are compromised due to a tiger supplementation initiative involving a relocated tiger from Maharashtra.
Since January, STR authorities have barred them from their sacred sites, alleging that machinery is being used to dismantle these areas for a tiger enclosure. Villagers, relocated in phases in 2015 and 2022, assert that despite having community forest rights under the Forest Rights Act of 2006 and PESA of 1996, they are denied access to their forests and sacred sites.
They received a letter on January 22 prohibiting visits to Jamunagarh for rituals, as the land is now designated for the tiger program. Tribal representatives expressed dismay over the lack of consultation regarding the use of their lands and the destruction of their sacred groves and burial sites.
(Newsroom staff only edited this story for style from a syndicated feed)
