Kallar tribes protest seeking land at alternative location in ATR

Coimbatore: Twenty-three Kallar tribes families, who were moved from their settlement in the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) after heavy rain and landslips last year, protested at Theppakulamedu on Saturday urging officials to provide them land for housing in new location. All the 23 families are currently residing in six houses in the quarters of tea workers at Thaimudi estate near Valparai.
Over 50 people staged the agitation holding placards. They demanded land at Theppakulamedu, which is three kilometres away from their previous settlement. About ten people from Udumanparai settlement also joined the protest extending support to the protesters.
The Kallar tribes were originally nomadic farmers inside the ATR. Some decades ago, they settled at a piece of land which they named as Kallar settlement. They were cultivating pepper in the surrounding areas and during off seasons, they collected honey and weaved bags from forest-based products for their livelihood.
“In August 2019, our houses were damaged due to heavy rain and landslips that followed. When we attempted to construct straw huts, officials stopped us and assured us to provide us an alternative location within ten days. Until then we shifted to quarters of tea estate workers at Thaimudi estate,” said S Anish Kumar, 23, one of the protesters.
“We have been attending multiple meetings and selected Theppakulamedu as a place for our new settlement. Theppakulamedu will suitable for our lifestyle. But nothing has happened on the ground,” Anish said.
Another protester Jayalakshmi Jeyapal, 30, said with our farmland inside the forest, it has been difficult to travel to the settlement on daily basis to look after the crops. “Besides, due to practical problems, we stopped collecting honey. While we are struggling to sustain financially, the estate management has been repeatedly asking us to vacate the houses in its quarters.”
When contacted, an official from ATR said, “As per the Forest Rights Act, title deed could be given only to tribal families that had been residing in a piece of land in the forest for three generations (75 years) prior to December 2005. Accordingly, we had prepared title deeds for the families at the Kallar settlement and forwarded it to the district administration.”
“It is violation of the act to give title deed for the alternative location that the families were seeking as it was occupied only this year,” the official said, adding, “However, if the families insist on deed for the new location, we could forward their resolution passed at their committee level seeking deeds for Theppakulamedu to our superiors for consideration.”