Addressing a press conference on the voluntary resettlement of the village, villagers from key areas of Amrabad Tiger Reserve said the move is based on their consent and aimed at improving access to education, healthcare, housing and livelihood, at the Press Club, Somajiguda, Hyderabad on Wednesday. | Photo credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR
A group of villagers from villages slated for resettlement from the Amrabad Tiger Reserve have confirmed that they are voluntarily moving out of the forest, largely owning the lack of facilities and opportunities.
They addressed a media conference in the city on Wednesday to refute claims by the ‘Chenchu Solidarity Forum’, a collective of NGOs and stakeholders, which said that the Chenchu Adivasis are being threatened by the forest department to force them to move.
A woman Sailamma from Kollampenta village told a press meet that the village lacks road facilities, educational opportunities and even drinking water facilities.
“We have to drink from streams which often make children sick. There is no way for an ambulance to arrive on time, leading to deaths. GCC (Girijan Cooperative Corporation) does not accept forest crops. I tried farming by borrowing ₹2,000, but the crops were eaten by wild pigs, deer and monkeys,” said Sailamma.
She said there is no cell phone signal for children to apply for higher studies. She also said that the villagers visited the relocation site where they would be allotted a house and five acres of land which would help in their development.
Chirra Errama Ramulu of Sarlapalla, who belongs to the Chenchu tribe, said several Chenchus have not been given land under the forest rights settlement, due to which they are ready to relocate. A special attraction is the compensation of ₹ 15 thousand which is also given to adult children in the family.
“Who are these people opposing? Do they assume that their children should live well, study in foreign countries, while our children cannot even study in a dormitory?” he asked, saying that their consent was also given by the proximity of the removal village to the district headquarters.
Saibaba, head of the Joint Relocation and Reorganization Committee, Amrabad Tiger Reserve, urged people who do not want to be relocated not to obstruct the relocation process.
A statement issued on behalf of the Committee and circulated by the Forest Department refuted the allegation that the Gram Sabhas did not take place and assured that the multiple Gram Sabhas were conducted transparently and the resolutions were genuine and documented and that there was no harassment by the forest officials or the police.
However, a report by an investigative team from the Forum for Human Rights and the Dalit Bahujan Front recently said that the demand for relocation comes mostly from Adivasis who have already left the villages and settled in nearby towns. The report also states that there was only one Chenchu at a recent gathering of villagers who were willing to relocate. Most resident members of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group were unwilling to relocate, it claimed.
Published – 06 May 2026, 21:18 IST
