As many as 601 non-tribal families living in settlements inside forests have been relocated under the “Navakiranam” voluntary relocation scheme implemented by the Kerala Forest department. According to data available with the department, as many as 894 more families will be shifted under the scheme.
The State government announced the project in 2019 to relocate people facing wild animal attacks and landslide threats in isolated locations in forests. As per the scheme that is being implemented under the Rebuild Kerala Initiative (RKI), a couple owning up to two hectares of land with title deeds will get ₹15 lakh as compensation.
“A single piece of land will be counted as a unit. A unit can be up to two hectares. A family can provide three units through the scheme. Each unmarried adult above the age of 18 will get ₹15 lakh each, while each differently abled member of the family will get an additional ₹15 lakh, irrespective of age,” Prakriti Srivastava, Principal chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Special Officer of Rebuild Kerala Development Programme (RKDP), told The Hindu.
Ms. Srivastava said that the project had been implemented in 26 out of 34 forest divisions in the State. “After implementing the project, the Forest department received over 4,000 applications from various parts of the State. A total of 894 applications are in the final stages and the families will be relocated within two months. Within a year, over 2,000 families will be relocated from the forest through the scheme,” said Ms. Srivastava.
The department has added an area of 131.41 hectares of land to forest through the “Navakiranam” project, says Forest department officials.
According to Forest department data, a proposal to include 185 forest enclosures or difficult regions as project areas that span 7 Forest Circles, 26 Forest Divisions, and 13 districts (except Alappuzha) in the State has been submitted.
RKDP Implementation Committee State-level Deputy Conservator Saby Varghese said that only those who were willing to relocate would be considered for the project. “The project mainly caters to people who live on private lands inside the forest and seek to relocate due to wild animal attacks and natural calamities,” said Mr. Varghese.
“In addition, the Forest department will provide ₹25,000-worth of skill training to each relocated family. They will be trained in skills such as stitching, tailoring and carpentry among others,” Mr Varghese said.
According to officials, through the project, 111 families relocated from Kattilappara and Rosemala areas under Shendurney wildlife area in Kollam district.
