One village left for shifting from Simlipal Park

The State Government has relocated almost all villages, excepting Bakua, from the core area of the Simlipal National Park.

“While 11 villages have already been shifted from the core area of the park recently, a village named Bakua needs to be evacuated from the 12,000 sq km park as the Simlipal National Park,” said a senior officer in the Forests and Environment Department.

He said about 400 villagers have been shifted and rehabilitated recently by the Government and this rehabilitation has been applauded by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe.

A State Assembly sub-ordinate committee led by MLA Debendra Behera also visited the Similpal Park area recently and expressed satisfaction over displacement and rehabilitation.

The Mayurbhanj Collector has already been given Rs 50 crore for rehabilitation of villagers of Bakua. Each male person reaching above 18 years of age would be treated as a family and each family would be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation, the official said.

Regarding the Royal Bengal tiger, Kanha, the official said the big cat has already adapted to the environment. CCTV cameras have been installed at different places and officials are watching movement of the tiger every now and then, he said.