Tribal communities and activists in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) have asked the district administration to hold gram sabha meetings before giving approval to the fibre optic cable project.
According to Forest Department officials, Reliance Jio had filed an application with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change seeking approval to lay fibre optic cables in around 15 km of the tiger reserve encompassing Theppakadu, Masinagudi and Moyar. “The Forest Department is of the opinion that the project will have no impact on the environment, and as such the department has not objected to the project being implemented in the reserve,” said a top official from MTR. Since the cables would be laid underground, there would be no hindrance to the movement of wildlife or any environmental impact, the official added.
However, tribal communities living in the reserve said they had not been consulted about the project. They fear that if it is approved, it will set a precedent for approval of future projects.
M. Senthil Kumar, general secretary of the Mudumalai Pazhangudiyinar Nala Sangam in Bokkapuram in MTR, said the Forest Rights Act of 2006 clearly stipulated that diversion of forest land for electric and telecommunication lines could only be undertaken if these projects fulfilled certain conditions which include local gram sabha consent for the clearance of the project. “It is our belief that any certificate issued in favour of the project violates the Forest Rights Act, 2006,” he said.
“None of the tribal communities even knew of the project. They learned about it from in a newspaper article,” said Mr. Kumar. Proper procedures should be followed and forest people’s protection ensured before giving approvals to the projects that could threaten their livelihoods, he said.
When contacted, Nilgiris district Collector J. Innocent Divya said the file for the project had not yet reached her and so she was not fully aware of the project. Forest department officials said they did not hold any grab sabha meetings or seek the consent of local communities as the project implementation area was outside the jurisdiction of the gram sabhas.
C.R. Bijoy, from the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a nation-wide coalition of Adivasi and forest dwellers organisations, said that for forest diversion to take place, it must first have been ascertained whether the claims made by the communities living in the reserve had been settled. “Unless all individual claims and community claims have been settled, it will be impossible to even ascertain whether the project area incurs into the gram sabha’s jurisdiction,” he said.
