In a first, TN acquires patta land in tiger reserve for conservation
CHENNAI: In a first, the Tamil Nadu forest department has acquired 30.41 acres of erstwhile private patta land, situated in the core area of Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve (SMTR), which came into being in 2021, making it the youngest of the five tiger reserves in the state.
The land was acquired through private negotiation under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. A sum of Rs 2.33 crore was paid to seven land owners, who volunteered to surrender their land. This is the first time in India where the state government has purchased private land for non-commercial use towards forest and biodiversity conservation.
SMTR is a peculiar conservation site, as hundreds of acres of its core area are private patta lands, which are used for cultivating coffee and cardamom. During British rule, pristine forest spreads were destroyed and cultivation was promoted. Later, these lands were owned by different zamindars such as those from Gandamanaickanur, Erasakkanaickanur, Saptur and Seithur. Some of these land owners have volunteered to handover the patta lands to the department owing to labour crunch, threat of wildlife and overall poor accessibility.
One such land parcel is located near the High Wavy mountains area (as described by British explorers) in Chinnamanur, Megamalai. S Anand, deputy director of SMTR, told TNIE that this land parcel is part of a critical wildlife corridor frequently used by elephants and tigers, as evident from images sourced from camera traps.
The area is locally known as Yegan Raja Board. The titular Yegan Raja had been a lumberjack who assembled a sizable crew to work for British officers. He had exploited the forests for British officers, who in return arranged lands for him from the Gandamanur zamindar. The land has been passed on to various others since then.
“The landowners collectively conveyed the challenges they faced in cultivating their lands, citing difficulties that come with the rugged terrain, encounters with wild animals, shortage of labour, and so on. Subsequently, we initiated the process to purchase the land at a fair price. The district-level private negotiation committee led by Theni collector arrived at the compensation amount of `2.33 crore, which is three times the guideline value of the plots, along with a solatium for the physical assets,” Anand noted.
SP Kathiresan, who owned 26 out of the total 30.41 acres acquired, told TNIE, “The plot located is 5-6 km inside the tiger reserve. Labourers were unwilling to work there due to poor accessibility and the threat of wildlife encounters. There were no buyers for our land as well. Hence, I requested the forest department to take over the plot and compensate us. Additional Chief Secretary Supriya Sahu and SMTR deputy director Anand aided in fast tracking the process and secured us a fair price.”
Supriya Sahu said: “We have completed changing the land records too, about three months ago. This is a win-win situation and opens up a new chapter in wildlife protection. Owing to the success of this transaction, more land owners from the region are volunteering to surrender their lands. We will look into their requests after the Model Code of Conduct is lifted.”