Process of evacuating villages from Kawal Tiger Reserve picks up pace

Hyderabad: Chief Conservation Officer of Forest (PCCF, HOFF), RM Dobriyal, reviewed the process of evacuation of villages from Kawal Tiger Sanctuary on Sunday.

He reviewed the progress of the relocation of villages with officials in Kawal on the relocation from the core area of the forest to the resettlement of the colony. Besides visiting the rehabilitation colony along with the local officials, Dobriyal met with the beneficiaries.

The PCCF's field visit comes following State Forest and Environment Minister Konda Surekha's request in a review meeting held at the secretariat recently on the relocation of villages from the tiger sanctuary. Besides making the evacuation process transparent, she asked the officials to ensure that it would serve as an example for other villages.

The PCCF said that in the first phase, Rampur and Mysampeta villages have voluntarily agreed to resettlement. The Forest Department has taken up the work with two proposals, as per the Central Government under the NTCA norms. One proposal is to provide a lump sum compensation of Rs 15 lakh to each family as part of the relocation of villages. 48 families have agreed to this and are receiving compensation to that extent. For the 94 families who agreed to the second proposal, the government is also providing a house as part of the same Rs 15 lakh compensation and agricultural land.

Construction of a resettlement colony with all facilities in a new mud bed outside the forest area near Kawal is going at a faster pace. The colony is being built on a total of 12.36 acres. Each family was provided with a house of 333 square yards and 2.81 acres of cultivable land. Beneficiaries expressed their satisfaction with the social arrangements, and the way of working is taking shape in the colony.