After 6-year Gap, Plans Afoot To Shift Village From Ranthambore Reserve | Jaipur News

Jaipur: After a gap of six years, the forest administration is carrying out a survey to relocate a village situated on the periphery of zone-10 of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR).
This village, Bherupura, will be the first to be shifted from the park’s boundary after the state government enhanced in April the cash compensation for relocation of the villages from the core and buffer area. A senior forest official said, “There are a total of 110 families in the village. Now, as a cash compensation, the state government will provide Rs 15 lakh instead of Rs 10 lakh for each adult member of a family or a land package. After the survey, it will be known if villagers opt for land or a cash package.”
“Villagers who opt for land package will get six bighas of agriculture land, a residential plot and Rs 2.5 lakh as compensation per family to settle outside the reserve. The forest department has identified a location near Amali to shift these families,” said the official.
The forest department has shortlisted 24 villages in the buffer area and periphery of RTR, which are to be relocated. The last village relocation occurred in 2016, and families of two villages, Gadhi and Kali Bhaat bhata, were shifted.
Sources said the relocation of Bherupura has been taken on the ‘priority list’ as the village has gained notoriety for poaching. Two years ago, poachers were caught on a trap camera. Also, T-42 went missing from the Bherupura area at the same time.
Shifting of villages from the RTR’s periphery is the need of the hour as the reserve has seen a 45% growth in the big cat population in the last eight years. A dozen of big cats have no territory and have been pushed out to the periphery, posing a threat to the nearby human habitations. Officials claimed if Bherupura village is shifted, the department will reclaim 52 hectares. Similarly, attempts are made to shift Talada village in Phalodi and forest team visited the site to appease villagers.
“Tigers in Ranthambore are living in a 700-750 sqkm. At present, seven male and four young females aged between 2 and 3.5 years are struggling to find their own territory. Similarly, five sub-adult cubs, which are 21 months old, will soon separate from their mother. As there is a space crunch, these big cats are forced to live on the periphery. To avoid a man-animal conflict, relocation of villages is required,” said an official.