Ajjoor villagers seek Nilgiris collector’s intervention to stop forest dept’s move to evict them

Udhagamandalam: Residents of Ajjoor village in Ooty taluk have sought the intervention the Nilgiris collector to stop an eviction exercise initiated by the forest department. In their petition to collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, the villagers have stated that the Badaga village was established 300 years ago, and currently, at least 300 agrarian families reside there. At least 100 members, including women, of the village gathered in front of the Nilgiris collectorate on Monday to hand over the petition to the collector. “Recently, we have been asked to vacate the land under old survey numbers 596/1 and 596/2, citing various forest acts.

We have lived in the village and cultivated the land associated with these survey numbers for the past more than 300 years,” the petition stated. “This action poses a threat to our age-old cultural heritage and our livelihood. We hold all the proper receipts for tax payments on these properties.”R Balakrishnan, president of the Ajjoor Village Welfare Association, said, “Our request is for the issuance of pattas to the villagers for the land they have occupied for centuries, as per the Forest Rights Act of 2006.”

In 1980, over 300 acres of land in Ajjoor village were designated as a reserve forest area. A proposal under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act of 1882 was submitted by the forest department to the district administration. After a thorough review by the settlement officer, 298.20 acres were officially notified as forest land under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Forest Act in GO no. 279 dated March 7, 1980, leaving around 12 acres for public use by the villagers.In 2017, the Madras high court dismissed writ petition no. 31256, which was filed in 2005 by the villagers who were classified as encroachers. The court instructed the forest department to proceed with eviction proceedings following the law. Appeals from the villagers in 1996 and again in 2005 were rejected by the Madras high court, which emphasized the importance of maintaining the ecological balance of the Nilgiris.District forest officer S Gowtham told TOI, “We must follow the procedure for rights if they provide evidence of possessing the said land for more than 300 years.”