Centre seeks report on alleged irregularities in Karnataka’s Kali Tiger Reserve relocation project

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Karnataka, to inquire and submit a report on the alleged irregularities in the relocation of forest dwellers from Kali (Dandeli–Anshi) Tiger Reserve in the State.

This follows a complaint filed by V.M. Pramod, an activist based in Maharashtra, who approached the Ministry and the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).

The Ministry, which has acknowledged the receipt of the complaint, has also forwarded it to the CEO, Karnataka CAMPA, on Thursday, September 4, for necessary action and the submission of a report on a priority basis.

The complainant has called for an “immediate halt’’ to the disbursement of CAMPA funds for the project apart from seeking an independent probe into the alleged irregularities in relocation.

The relocation project, pegged at nearly ₹152 crore as per a 2021 report, aimed to move about 450 families from forest areas in Uttara Kannada district.

But the petitioner has contended that CAMPA funds have been “misused”, statutory safeguards violated, and several relocations carried out illegally.

The complaint to MoEF&CC states that relocation benefits were extended to individuals not entitled under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), including encroachers on forest and revenue land. The mandatory consent of gram sabhas was allegedly bypassed, even though both FRA and the CAF Rules, 2018, explicitly require such approval, said Mr. Pramod.

He has also stated that there is a pattern of procedural lapses and failure to follow safeguards, and alleged that there is an absence of social impact assessment, lack of transparency in identifying beneficiaries, and absence of independent verification on whether the families relocated voluntarily.

Citing legal provisions under the FRA, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and NTCA guidelines, the complainant said that the Forest Department in Karnataka was undermining conservation and working at cross purposes by simultaneously proposing trekking routes in vacated areas, thus opening them up for tourism.

Calling for immediate suspension of CAMPA funds for relocation, the complainant has sought an independent and high-level inquiry involving representatives from CAMPA, MoEF&CC, the Tribal Ministry, judicial officials, etc., to examine whether the relocation was really voluntary; whether gram sabha consent was secured in such cases; whether FRA claims of those resettled were pending or settled prior to relocation, and whether those relocated were lawful beneficiaries and not illegal encroachers.