Adilabad: The state forest department plans to develop plantations on so-called “retrieved” podu lands as part of an effort to connect fragmented forests and establish a corridor between the Tadoba Andhari and Kawal Tiger Reserves. According to forest officials, these reclaimed areas will help fill gaps in the landscape, ensuring continuity of forest cover and creating a safe passage for tigers.
Forest officials clarify that non-tribal cultivators can only receive pattas for podu lands under the Recognition of Forest Rights (ROFR) Act if they prove cultivation for more than 70 years, or over three generations. Without such proof, these lands are treated as encroached forest territory.
The department aims to raise plantations with a mix of plant species to create a habitat conducive to tigers. In the last three years, officials have developed a plantation on approximately 400 hectares at the Itikalpahad beat of the Makidi section in the Sirpur (T) forest range, near the state borders. This land was sourced from local non-tribals without ROFR pattas, and a large portion was obtained in 2024.
Authorities have intensified their focus on Itikalpahad due to significant tiger movement in the area, located just 5 km from the state boundary. Tigers frequently enter Itikalpahad from Amruthguda, Anthergaon, and Annur villages along the Maharashtra border. To further facilitate tiger migration, officials are now considering relocating Itikalpahad village, contingent upon villagers’ consent and recognition of their rights. If the relocation occurs, the vacated land may host another patch of plantation.
The forest department’s broader strategy involves retrieving podu lands without valid pattas and developing them as plantations to strengthen existing corridors. By removing obstacles to tiger movement and converting this corridor into a conservation reserve within the Kagznagar forest division, officials hope to offer safe passage for the big cats and improve their freedom of movement toward the Kawal Tiger Reserve.
To support this effort, forest officials are gathering a decade’s worth of data on tiger migrations, including entry and exit points, routes, and potential disturbances. These insights will inform a targeted action plan for tiger conservation, ensuring the corridor can serve as a reliable and secure pathway.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) R.M. Dobriyal told this newspaper that tigers have already begun utilising the plantations as a route, resting in them at Itikalpahad. He described this scenario as an ideal example of converting encroached land into beneficial wildlife corridors. Tigers have even killed cattle within the plantations, illustrating the area’s integration into their territory. Dobriyal assured that lands with legitimate revenue or ROFR pattas would not be taken over by the department.
Local villagers, however, express concerns. Nanaji, a resident of Itikalpahad, noted that the village’s 194 families once cultivated about 1,054 acres of podu lands. The forest department took nearly 600 acres from them over time, classifying these tracts as encroached forest land and raising plantations on them.
Three months ago, villagers approached forest minister Konda Surekha and in-charge minister Seethakka, highlighting their grievances. Initially, officials promised each family four acres of land, but have since reportedly reduced the offer to three acres. Many families insist they have been cultivating these lands for more than half a century, and the reduced allocation has generated concerns about their livelihoods and longstanding connections to the land.
