NEW DELHI: Over 250 tribal families who are engaged in agriculture for the last 100 years in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district should not be evicted from their lands, said the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) during its ground visit to the district on Thursday.
The Bhil tribes are facing eviction from the municipal corporation which aims to boost the water reserve capacity and enhance water supply by displacing the communities. The scheduled tribes who are engaged in agriculture around the reservoir will be stripped off their livelihood if they are evicted from their lands. On Thursday, they met the Commission to raise their concerns on the threat. The Commission also met officials of the municipal corporations.
“The NCST has said the tribal families should be given pattas or land records for the land where they have been carrying out agricultural practices for around 100 years now. Their forefathers had fought with the British for the possession of this land,” said S K Rath, joint secretary, NCST.
“The tribal families are not being allowed to continue fishing and cultivation and are facing resistance from the municipal corporations who claim the former are encroachers around the reservoir for more than 100 years now. The Commission met the tribal families and the municipal corporations. It is in complete solidarity with the tribal communities,” he added.
The Commission came to know of the issue last March. Two months back, the NCST told Nashik’s divisional commissioner to conduct a survey to assess the amount of land each tribal family possesses. “But the survey just started. So it will take at least a month before we find out how much land is occupied,” said Rath.
Interestingly, PM Narendra Modi in the 49th episode of “Mann Ki Baat”, had acknowledged that tribal cultures believe in protecting “environment, trees and tigers”, and does not shy away from fighting for their rights when the need arises.