Govt initiates relocation of Talewadi forest dwellers

Belagavi: The forest department has initiated the documentation process to relocate families from Talewadi, a hamlet in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) in Khanapur taluk of Belagavi district. There are 13 hamlets in the BWS that the forest department plans to relocate outside the forest.During the legislature session in Belagavi in Dec 2024, forest minister Eshwar Khandre visited Talewadi and interacted with the families residing there. He assured them that the govt was ready to pay Rs 15 lakh compensation to each family and rehabilitate them if they agreed to relocate voluntarily.Prior to this, Belagavi DC Mohammad Roshan and SP Bhimashankar Guled visited Talewadi and discussed the relocation with the residents. Talewadi is the first hamlet in BWS where the majority of families showed interest in relocating voluntarily.Belagavi deputy conservator of forests, Maria Christu Raja D, confirmed the commencement of the relocation process. Some wildlife activists have objected to the relocation without the consent of the concerned gram sabha. However, the DCF clarified that the relocation is voluntary. "The applicants who want to relocate provide a no objection certificate (NOC). We don't take it directly from the gram panchayat. We are facilitating the implementation of the programme and helping the families relocate," the DCF said.The central govt declared BWS a wildlife sanctuary in 2011. Since then, the relocation of hamlets has been pending. According to department sources, there are currently 754 families with a population of 3,059 in the 13 hamlets. These residents face significant hardship, including a lack of proper road connectivity, inadequate schooling, cattle and crop depredation by wild animals, human-animal conflict, and restrictions on development activities in the forest.A considerable number of families from these hamlets migrate to the adjacent state of Goa in search of employment. Those who remain practice subsistence agriculture, growing paddy and other millets. The agriculture practised is very primitive and uneconomical, and the cattle herds kept are less productive and pose a risk of transmitting diseases to the wildlife in the sanctuary.