Adivasi women from several States share their travails

A meeting organised by Dhaatri Trust had Adivasi women and their representatives coming from across the country to speak about their rights, agency and livelihood, here on Thursday.

The two-day event saw women speak about the oppression and marginalisation they face on all fronts, especially from the Forest department officials when it came to implementation of forest rights, and habitations inside the protected areas.

Namrata from Watershed Support Services and Activities Network made a presentation about the travails faced by the Chenchu tribesmen and women when travelling from Nallamala Hills to the Krishna district grazing cattle. The Chenchus, while not owning the cattle, take up the task for a payment from the other forest-dwelling communities. With grazing prohibited inside the protected areas by the foresters, they are often on the receiving end of harassment by the Forest Department officials. While foresters often show forest fires started by cattle grazers as an excuse, through her presentation, Namrata explained that the cattle are actually beneficial for the forest, as they feed on the grass that helps the fire spread. Besides, the grazing also arrests the weed growth.

A group of tribals from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra spoke about a host of issues ranging from payment of compensation for relocation, and lost livelihoods and foraging opportunity for women. In the notifications of relocation, the authorities did not give a reason for the relocation, and the exercise did not take into consideration the community forest rights. No consultations are being conducted for declaring critical wildlife habitats, they said.

The only narrative supplied is about the human-wildlife conflict supported by evidences of human deaths, animal deaths, grazing and resource extraction. However, the traditional regulations towards conservation of natural resources are not mentioned anywhere. No proof is supplied to the claim that the human habitations disturbed wildlife.

Women of Chenchu Tribe from Amrabad Tiger Reserve said the Forest officials pulled down their homes in Raileti Penta and Rollabanda Penta hamlets without any notice.

“We were staying here for ages. Our elders were buried here. But we were told to go away to Vatuvarlapally, as it is a protected area. We had neither land nor home at Vatuvarlapally, so we returned here and built homes. They were pulled down when we went for employment guarantee works,” Chigurla Eedamma said.

Aravind, an activist from Dhaatri Trust explained that while 15 forest rights claims were shown as settled by the Forest department, the title documents are yet to be given.

“We are getting Rythu Bharosa money in the accounts, but there is no trace of title documents,” Eedamma Mandli, another woman farmer said.

Aadivasi women from Karnataka’s Nagarhole, Telangana’s Kawal Tiger Reserve and Madhya Pradesh too spoke at the meeting, which will continue on Friday too.