The Odisha Human Rights Commission has directed the state government to set up a high-level inquiry to examine serious violations of statutory protections and human rights in the relocation of people from villages surrounding the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and has directed that no further relocations take place until the right to a buffer, edge or ring-outgram is fully recognised. The decision of the meeting is received.
(Above) A tiger from Odisha, Gujarat. Satkosia Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve covering an area of 963.87 km2 in Angul and Nayagarh districts of Odisha, India. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1976 and a tiger reserve in 2007. (PTI)The panel was responding to a complaint filed by Satkosia Sanctuary and Praja Suraksha Samiti president Navkishore Bisoi and other affected persons challenging the legality and arbitrariness of the transfer process from Bhurukundi, Asanbahl, Kataranga, Tuluka, Tikrapada, and other customary villages in Gopal.
“In many cases, transfers were initiated or completed without prior recognition and settlement of forest rights of individuals and communities under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Absence of such settlement strikes at the core of voluntarism and renders consent, if any, legally weak,” the commission said.
It said the inquiry should be completed within six months and asked the chief secretary to give his consent on setting up a high-level inquiry committee within six weeks.
It noted that gram sabha meetings were either not held at all or conducted without proper notice and quorum. “Many competent adult residents were absent, and the circumstances under which the resolution was obtained do not inspire confidence in their free and informed nature,” the order said.
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The commission found that enumeration of beneficiaries was done in a “non-transparent manner”, lists were not properly published and cut-off dates were fixed arbitrarily. This resulted in the exclusion of eligible persons, including married daughters, persons with disabilities and long-term residents, while ineligible persons were included without due verification.
Regarding the compensation, the commission noted that the payment was made “without fair and scientific valuation of houses, land, trees, livestock and livelihood assets”, causing severe hardship to the displaced families.
“While the creation of unsanitary areas for tiger conservation serves the larger interest of society and the ecological balance, such objectives cannot be pursued in disregard of statutory protection and human dignity,” the commission observed.
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The order states that the affected villages do not fall within core or important tiger habitats but ring-out areas within the forest. Although NTCA guidelines do not mandate relocation from such areas, once a state chooses to implement a relocation program under its 2016 resolution, the process must comply with constitutional safeguards and statutory requirements.
The commission directed the government to set up a high-level inquiry committee within four weeks headed by the secretary of the forest and environment department, along with the secretaries of the ST and SC development, revenue and disaster management and law departments along with an independent expert on wildlife law and forest rights law.
The committee is tasked with examining the entire village-wise resettlement process, verifying compliance with statutory provisions, identifying wrongful exclusions or inclusions, assessing adequacy of compensation and recommending corrective measures including differential compensation and restoration of rights. It must identify officials responsible for violations and recommend departmental and criminal action wherever necessary.
