The ecodevelopment project being implemented in Gir National Park has raked up a controversy on the issue of relocation of the native Maldhari community
THE ecodevelopment project being
prom6ted by the ministry of environment and forests (MEF) and the World
Bank (WB) in seven protected areas,
has' taised yet another storm regarding
the issue of forced relocation. The
venue this time is the Gir National
Park, the only home of the Asiatic lion
in India. It all began when the
Saurashtra Paryavaran Samraksha
Samiti - a local environmental group
- alleged that the forest department
(FD) was issuing fresh notices of eviction
to the Maldharis, inhabitants of the
Gir forests. The Maldharis were given a
month's time to move out. The step
was ostensibly taken to facilitate the
project and Gir is one of the pilot areas
under the project. The project's promoters claim that the entire exercise is
based on 'voluntary relocation'.
Living in small settlements of four to
five households each, called ness, the
Maldharis earn their livelihood primarily by rearing livestock and selling milk
products. The project area contains
approximately 54 nesses supporting a
population of 2,500 Maldharis with their 10,000-strong livestock. The Gir forest is also home to some 14 forest settlement
villages. According to the Delhi-based
Indian Institute of Public Administration's ecodevelopment indicative
plan, the residents of these forest villages
including the Maldharis, had been given
concessions for grazing their cattle in
the area. But a 1993 notification declared
115, 342 ha of the area as a national
park, a step that has severely curtailed
many of the traditional activities of
the communities. Over the years, the
Maldhari families that have been resettled to new locations have been encouraged to farm. But farming has not caught
on in a big way, not only because
the land is arid, but also due to the fact
that the Maldharis have no previous
experience as cultivators. As a result,
some of them are now reduced to being
wage labourers.
Although local environmental groups claim that they have documentary
evidence proving the issue of fresh
notices to many families, the FD
vehemently denies this. The conservator
of forests is reported to have said
that the three notices given were directed against 'illegal' residents of the
forests, against whom many criminal
offens cases had been registered.
Another organisation, the Aga Khan
Rural Support Programme, has
confirmed the follow-up of the issue
of relocation. Even the WB appraisal
report agrees that relocation is a key
issue in Gir and that in the long term,
11 the FD has a voluntary relocation plan
for another 361 families presently
living in the sanctuary." The ecodevelopment project endorses the blanket
rule of no human intervention in a
national park, as per the Wildlife
Protection Act, 1972. There has neither
been an attempt to assess the impact of
the people on the ecosystem, nor
have the traditional rights of the people
been recognised, before embarking on
the project.
However, matters seem to have
calmed down at present mainly because
the media has backed the strong protests
from the Maldharis and the local
groups working in Junagarh. At a meeting on ecodevelopment in New Delhi on
June I - organised jointly by the
MEF and the WB - some participants
categorically asked the latter for an
assurance that no forcible relocation
would be attempted in Gir. Although
the issue remains unresolved, at least
the fact that the FD is 'forcing a choice'
on the communities concerned, is
crystal clear.
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