Baripada: The efforts of the forest department to pave the way for national park status to Similipal sanctuary has got stuck midway as it is still struggling to relocate 63 tribal families out of the sanctuary’s core area.
According to reports, the Central government had proposed for national park status to the sanctuary, but all the human habitations are required to be vacated from the core area for this purpose.
Now, 60 families residing in Bakua and three families in Jamunagada, which are in the core area, have become a hurdle for the ambitious purpose.
Project Tiger was launched in Similipal in 1973 for conservation of the big cats, which were facing various kinds of threats worldwide. Wildlife experts were engaged to push tiger conservation efforts. To assist, guide and provide a kind of protection for the officials, local people were brought into the core areas like Barakamuda, Bahaghar, Jamunagada, Bakua and Kabataghai.
The authorities of Project Tiger with the help of the district administration have been making efforts to relocate all the inhabitants from the core area. They have succeeded in their efforts to some extent after relocating the inhabitants of Barakamuda and Bahaghar in 2013.
In September, 2015, as many as 35 families belonging to Khadia community in Jamunagada were relocated at Nabara in Bahubandh panchayat under Udala block.
A decision to relocate 47 families living in Kabataghai was taken at a gram sabha March 21, 2015. The families were shifted to Manda under Jashipur block May 28, 2015 with the help of the district administration.
As per the rehabilitation and resettlement policy, each displaced family was provided `10 lakh as compensation and 10 decimal of land. Besides, houses were provided to them under a state government-sponsored scheme.
Sprawling over 2750 sq km, Similipal was declared a sanctuary in 1979. In 1980, the Central government had made a proposal to earmark 303 sq km of the core area as national park. Later in 1986, as per a revised proposal, the government wanted to expand its core area to 845 sq km.
In the sanctuary, 845.70 sq km is prohibited area while 2129 sq km is buffer area and 1400 sq km is transitional area. PNN