26 villages to move out of eco-sensitive MM Hills

Mysuru: The forest department is all set to relocate people of 26 villages which are in the eco-sensitive zone of Male Mahadeswara hills (MM hills) wildlife sanctuary in Chamarajanagar district.

To begin with, 130 families with over 800 people of Chengadi village spread over 450 acres of land, have agreed to relocate to Chikkaluru in Hanur taluk of Chamarajnagar district, where forest department has identified 1,000 acres, according to DCF, MM hills wildlife sanctuary, Mr Yedukondalu V.

He said, "on September 13, 2017, as much as 14,314 hectares of MM Hills wildlife sanctuary was declared an eco-sensitive zone by Union Ministry of environment and forests. We have held meetings with the people of Chengadi village to begin with on relocation. Forest department has offered the people of Chengadi an ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh or a house and five acres of land at Chikkaluru,” Mr Yedukondalu said.

Kariyappa of Chengadi village, said "Our village is in the interior of the forest, the roads are too narrow and only small private vehicles can enter it. We have to cross 20 kms of forest area to reach MM hills main road in case of an emergency. Mananimal conflict is quite common, they spoil our crops frequently. Recently an elephant trampled a man of a nearby village. While we have a primary school in our village, for higher studies and jobs, our children have to travel to far off places. So in the hope of a better future for our children, we had to take a tough decision though it is painful to leave our village in which we have spent all our lives," he said.

“The situation in the other 25 villages is no less hostile compared to Chengadi. All these 26 villages are inaccessible, so it is tough for the government to provide better facilities to these villages too. So villagers of Chengadi themselves have approached us for relocation,” Mr Yedukondalu said.