LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Daltonganj, Aug. 9: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC), Government of India has approved the relocation of a village falling under the core area of the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR).
A letter to this effect has been sent by the Assistant Inspector General of Forests (AIGF) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Suneet Bhardwaj to the Principal Secretary of Forests, Government of Jharkhand. The letter is dated August 7. Lagatar24.com has a copy of the Assistant Inspector General of Forests’ letter.
The AIGF letter said that the MEFCC has cleared stage two of the relocation of the human habitation from inside the core area of the PTR to outside the tiger reserve quite far away from it.
Clearance of stage two is officially seen as the final approval for the relocation of the human habitation.
PTR South division Deputy Director Kumar Ashish has confirmed the receipt of clearance of stage two for the relocation.
He said the PTR now has tremendous human pressure, their cattle pressure etc here leaving a trail of discomfort and unease to the wildlife.
Ashish made it very clear that it is the villagers who are to move out willingly and without any pressure, as PTR never pressures, coerces and no temptations are given for it.
The villagers’ Gram Sabha is the supreme body to take a final call on the relocation of human habitation from the core area of the PTR.
The MEFCC has approved 166 hectares of land at Lai Paila Patthar under the Latehar district.
Ashish further clarified that 166 hectares of land is no ‘gairmajrua’ land. This 166 hectares of land is forest land. With this stage two clearance, this 166 hectares of forest land must first be de-notified as non-forest land. The de-notification for non-forest land from the forest land is to come from the Governor.
