Authorities in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana claim Salwa Judum displaced from Chhatisgarh are destroying forest land
About 55,000 families fled the dense forests of Abujhmar, currently under Maoist control, and took refuge in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Photo: The New Peace Process-in Central India Ermaya now lives in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and is a first year college student fluent in English.
Ermaya was not the name his parents gave him. It was changed from ‘Erma’ during admission to a school in Andhra, he recollected.
His parents somehow managed to escape Abujhmar and settle in Konta tehsil, Sukma district of Chhatisgarh. They are small farmers. “They sent us here as they wanted the next generation to survive,” said Ermaya.
About 55,000 internally displaced people fled the dense forests of Abujhmar that is currently controlled by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and took refuge in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, according to Jagdalpur-based social activist Shubhranshu Choudhary. In the absence of land, many were forced to clear forests for cultivation and build houses. But their lives are miserable.
There is only one borewell in his village Kothuru to cater to 30 displaced families and no power connection, said Ermaya. “Moreover, forest department officers destroy our houses and go away. It happens every year and in February three houses were demolished.”
They have also started forestry for timber in our lands where many cultivate paddy, he added.
Tortured existence
Legally speaking, these internally displaced people from Chhattisgarh have encroached upon forests and cut down trees for cultivation in the states they have migrated to, Choudhary said. “But they do not have the means to survive otherwise.” As it is a serious matter of human-rights violation, all the three states involved in the matter should hold a discussion, he added.
These people are encroaching only because of violence, and cannot be thrown out, Choudhary said. “They are too frightened to go back and feel that their lives may be in danger.”.
Ermaya doesn’t want to return to Chhattisgarh even though he, like many other displaced people, are forced to live in mud houses that are damaged after a few years and have to be constructed all over again.
“We pass our days in darkness and somehow survive by growing paddy on a few acres,” he added. Still, many would rather endure all kinds of difficulties to stay alive.
Farmer Sodi Sukaiya fled to Bhadradri Kothagudem district in Telangana around 2002, three years before Salwa Judum started. He admitted clearing forest land for survival.
Despite a 2018 Telangana high court order, lands were taken back in some 75 villages of the state, according to Choudhary. “JCB machines have damaged lands by digging up earth,” said Sukaiya.
Fear of Maoist dominance
Both the southern states face grave security threats from Maoists who are already under pressure in Chhattisgarh. The apprehension is that they may enter Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “The internally displaced can be used as their launching ground,” Choudhary said.
But there are genuine concerns over forest land encroachment. A ranger-level forest officer from Andhra said on the condition of anonymity that these people enter teak plantations, clear forests and prepare land for agriculture, without ever going for revenue lands.
This is not all. Every year, new people cross over from Chhattisgarh and get accommodation on the basis of payment from these displaced people. They are greatly disturbing our forests, the officer added.
Saibaba, the divisional forest officer of Chintur in East Godavari, said that the situation in his division is different. “These people themselves go elsewhere after encroaching on our lands and then blame the department. The encroachments are old and fresh ones aren’t allowed.”
Sori Ganga moved to Kranti Nagar village in Telangana’s Kothagudem at the age of 12 and settled down there. Refugees like him who fled insurgency would be under threat in Chhatisgarh, he said. His house in Bijapur may have been occupied by another family.
Problems are mounting in the south for many, Ganga admitted. “Since the past two years, no land has being given to us. We are facing eviction from both states currently. On return, however, all of us would be sandwiched between government forces on one side and insurgents on the other.”
A government official from Chhattisgarh, not authorised to speak to the media, said 95 per cent of the internally displaced people have no wish to return. But they want to prepare a report on how many are left behind in Telangana.
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