By IANS,
New Delhi : A monitoring committee set up by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Friday emphasised the need of meticulous planning for relocation of villages from core critical areas in the country’s 37 tiger reserves.
The three member monitoring committee, formed in September 2008 to oversee village relocation and eco-tourism strategy in Project Tiger reserves across the country, held discussions in the capital with the chief wildlife wardens of several states and heads of various tiger reserves.
“In India, there are people living inside reserves and these people need to be relocated so that the space is made inviolate and undisturbed for tigers. We have to prioritise their relocation in a planned manner,” said Sunita Narain, chairperson of the committee.
According to the committee, there were an estimated 1,500 villages or 65,000 families inside the core and buffer zones of tiger reserves.
“We have asked officials of all tiger reserves to provide us with approximate figures of people who need to be relocated,” said Rajesh Gopal, member secretary NTCA.
Gopal said they would be able to collect the required data by June.
“The government in 2008 has increased the relocation package from Rs.100,000 to Rs.1 million to give incentive to the people who have to vacate the tiger reserves,” Gopal said.