Forests and the tribal dwellers residing in them are inter- linked and it is not possible to disassociate one from the other. These tribal dwellers are critical stakeholders who have substantial resource rights and privileges over these forests. They are dependent on forests for its basic produce and eke out a livelihood on its products. There is another popular notion hovered around by wildlife enthusiasts, that both tigers and tribal dwellers cannot co- exist with one another. Hence, they have to be rehabilitated and resettled upon declaration of an area as Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) or Critical Wildlife Habitat (CWH). However, this is a fallacious agreement since it can be seen that many of these tribal dwellers have managed to live harmoniously with the animals for many decades now. They in fact, aid the process of conservation. Hence, to evict them primarily on the ground of protecting the tiger would be grave wrong being committed against the innocent dwellers. This has been a persistent conflict between the Ministries of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) and Environment and Forests (MOEF). Right against arbitrary relocation is one of the vital safeguards granted to the tribals by virtue of the Forest Rights Act. It is of utmost importance that viable alternative livelihood options are being made available to them before they are resettled. For example, let us take the case of Sariska National Park and TR, Rajasthan: Declared a sanctuary in 1959, a tiger reserve in 1978-79, and a national park in 1992. In 1980, one village (71 families) was removed by force to avoid conflicts with tigers . The relocation was very ineffective and some villagers even came back to their original settlements within the protected area . There are still 24...
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...in Orissa, the Dongria Kondh tribes of Niyamgiri hills were being evicted without being provided with adequate compensation or reasonable job opportunities. They were being deprived of their homes and all the other things that they depend upon for their basic sustenance. Hence, no relocation should take place until adequate basic facilities and land allocations in the new place have been completed. In some cases, the relocation package includes provisions like drinking water and irrigation facilities- Ex, in the case of relocation from Melghat protected area in Maharashtra . Some families can also have no access to landownership or land titles in the relocation process ex, in the case of relocation from Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand . This poses as an obstacle to the dwellers as they are being deprived of their titles which they are rightfully entitled to.
It had previously been the policy of the American government to remove and relocate Indians further and further west as the American population grew, but there was only so much...
Our Indian legislation generally rests on the principle, that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of tutelage and treated as wards or children of the State. …the true interests of the aborigines and of the State alike require...
The government itself said they were doing this for the survival of the Indian race and if that was the case they wouldn’t have moved them to a place they had never been, a place they didn’t know anything about, location thousands of miles away that they couldn’t survive, much less thrive in. Instead they, moved them to a dry desert like land that they did not want. The government said that they would pay for ...
Glick, J, Schaffer, C. 1991. "The Indian Homeland." U.S. News and World Report. July 8, vol.111, n2, pg26 (6)
When one hears the word “relocation”, I assume, they think of taking one thing exactly as it was and placing it in a different location, but placing it as it was and with the same resources. Relocation is a loaded term because before the word relocation came about settlers of early America were forcefully pushing native peoples off their homelands; they just didn’t have the term “relocation”. In 1838 Mireau B. Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas, “initiated a policy of ethnic cleansing to drive all Indians out of Texas.”1(p. 337). “Ethnic Cleansing” is a pretty extreme way of saying relocation, however, that is the exact idea they were implementing. The evolution of words is constant, being that familiar ideas and policies adopt new identities through the adoption of words. This is important to take into consideration because throughout the history of America and its dealing with Indian peoples many policies and agendas have been recycled through just with a different name, they never really stray far from the core objective. The U.S. evolved these words to masks the further harming of the Indians, which was dependent on the perceptions of the public’s view, but usually without the least bit of consideration for these people of whom it will affect.
Perhaps the biggest failure in the reservation system affecting current times is in the status of laws and jurisdiction. Communal land ownership and federal trust restrictions on land ownership and use inhibit economic development and many land allotments are owned collectively by groups of individuals. Multiple ownership makes it difficult to manage the lands and it reduces benefits to individuals. It is also nearly impossible to use the land as collateral for obtaining loans because of federal protection from encumbrances on trust
Ruscavage-Barz, Samantha , and Diane Albert. "INDIAN RESERVED WATER RIGHTS." Diane Albert Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. . (tags: none | edit tags)
The Korowai are one of the most endangered tribes in the world. Their traditional culture was developed thousands of years ago. They live in small family clans and are hunter-gatherers and live in a horticultural society. The natural resources have allowed them to survive in the harsh rainforest which they depend for living. As population grows in society more and more people are using the earth’s natural resources. Trees are being cut down for extraction of minerals and energy. Lands are being used to create industrialize factories. The Korowai territory is surrounded by...
This is necessary as the vast majority of individuals migrating from rural to urban centers has been steadily increasing with the level of economic growth seen within the past twenty years as mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, this situation has further shown the structural issues and inequalities of cities, as most migrants end up having a poor quality of life living in informal settlements as highlight substantially by Boo. As a means of tackling this, however, the Indian government has turned its focus on investing rural regions, developing the agricultural sector. Specifically, Boo mentions that “the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had come down from Delhi to express his concern for the farmers’ hardships, and the central government’s determination to relieve it” (p. 138). While this is definitely important funds are not being divided justly. For starters, between rural and urban areas almost all investments are being targeting towards rural regions, which is only addressing issues of inequality in one section of the country. Furthermore, across rural areas inequalities of investment are quite often overlooked. Although, “one of the governments hopes was to stop villagers from abandoning their farms and further inundating cities like Mumbai, but Asha’s relatives knew nothing of these celebrated relief programs” (p. 138). Therefore, even though
The Office of the Ombudsman has found that the Lands Department has been aware of the irregularities in 1995 and the "waiver" of the village house was abolished in 2004. After 10 years, the resumption of operations was carried out. Nine times
The right to affordable housing for low-income households in various cities of India is the main concern in the right to city discourse. It is a right that facilitates all citizens to have the benefits that the city has to offer. The United Nations defines the “right to city” with the outline of ‘equality’ rights i.e social, cultural, political and economical, emphasizing the rights to basic needs ( UN, 2008, P57). Two of the similar concepts concerning the right to housing are participation and citizenship. At the center of urban residency, the privilege to housing comes together with ration cards and electricity bills that benefits the poor and assures the rights to education and other benefits. The challenge that India faces is, while officially all Indian are citizens and have rights but in the case of downgraded settlements they are “Citizens Without a city” (Arjun Appadurai, 2001). The lack of the participation of the citizens is the second major aspect of the right of housing. Thus it is through the practice of official rights and conversion of those rights into collective capabilities can one talk about the rights to city.
As noted in the previous sections resettlement and relocation often force individuals from their original location to other areas. According to Maldonado (2011) often these resettlements have more impacts on the lives of those affect and in some cases can negatively affect the social, economic, cultural and physical aspect of people’s lives. Often through resettlement people are left vulnerable and may induce further poverty struggles in the particular area. Through the expropriation of land the productive land assets of people are often disturbed. This can result in further affecting communities and potentially negatively affecting the lives of all individuals in the community. The section that follows seeks to unpack the Motlhotlo resettlement and understand the impacts, both positive and negative, that it has on the community.
Loss of biodiversity is an environmental issue that is causing a lot of global concern. Some of the main causes for loss in biodiversity are alteration of habitats, increasing levels of pollution and human population growth. There are measures that are being taken worldwide to prevent loss of biodiversity. Many wildlife sanctuaries have been built worldwide to preserve the lives of various endangered species. However, it is important to remember that every individual has a role in the protection of wildlife and biodiversity. Every human being should play his part of the role by following simple rules such as stopping others from the hunting of endangered species, preventing deforestation, encouraging reforestation and creating awareness among fellow human beings.
The mushrooming ofslums near the cities/urban centers, due to continuous flowof migrants from rural area to the urban area is consideredas a big challenge. A study done by economic and socialcommission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP, 1991)observed that “migration from rural to urban areas continuesat a rapid pace in many countries of the region, and it wasoften beyond the capacity of towns, cities and metropolitanareas to cope with the increasing numbers. The increasingtrends of rural to urban migration should be seriouslyreviewed in the context of development of slums in urbanarea. No doubt, migration is essential for development and itis a desirable phenomenon but what is not desirable is theincreasing flow of distressed migrates from rural to urbanarea which results into overcrowding of cities anddevelopment of slums. Migration and slums are inextricablylinked, as labor demand in cities and the resulting rural to urban migration creates greater pressures to accommodatemore people. Much of the growth of slums is due to themigration of people of economically weaker sections fromrural area to urban area. It has been observed that rural labormigrates towards urban areas and settled down in slum. Thegreat slums of India are predominantly created because largenumbers of individuals or families move to the urbancenters of their dreams, usually in search of better economicprospects. As per census 2011, 68 million Indians lived inslums, comprising one-quarter of the population of India’s19 cities with more than 1 million residents. In Mumbaialmost 50 percent population lives in slums and in Kolkata32percent of the population lives in slums. The slum growthin the cities through fresh arrivals from the countrysideincreases competition for limited resources. Twenty-five percent of urban households have no access to drinking waterwithin their premises, 22 per cent have no bathroom,
(2) All the economically important organisms in protected areas should be identified and conserved as protected areas are an extremely important part of programs to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems, mainly for sensitive habitats. (3) Species in critical habitats should be identified and safeguarded. (4) Priority should be given at its outmost level to preserve ecosystems which appear to be unique. (5) There should be sustainable utilisation of natural resources. (6) International trade in wild life should be prohibited and highly regulated. (7) The poaching and hunting of wildlife should be prevented as far as practicable. For example in Assam on horned rhinos are facing extinction on account of poachers trading them at an international level for monetary gains. (8) Care should be taken for the development and improvement of reserves and protected areas. (9) Efforts should be made to reduce the level of pollutants in the environment which causes an adverse