Nearly three in four villages still remain inside tiger reserve core areas despite decades of relocation efforts
India’s ambitious programme to create inviolate habitats for tigers has relocated 298 villages and over 32,000 families from the country’s critical tiger habitats but the scale of the challenge ahead remains immense.
According to the latest assessment by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), 742 villages and nearly 98,000 families continue to live inside the core areas of tiger reserves, underscoring the long road ahead in balancing conservation goals with the rights and livelihoods of forest-dwelling communities.
The findings are part of the NTCA’s 2026 STRIDES report, which reviewed governance, ecological and social parameters across India’s 58 tiger reserves. The report notes that voluntary relocation remains a key strategy to secure breeding habitats for tigers while simultaneously providing better development opportunities to local communities.
India’s tiger reserves comprise core or Critical Tiger Habitats (CTHs) and buffer zones. Scientific studies cited in the report indicate that inviolate habitats spanning 800-1,200 sq km, supported by compatible landscapes, are essential for maintaining viable tiger populations and ensuring ecological connectivity.
The report stresses that relocation is voluntary and governed by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the Forest Rights Act, 2006. Before any village is relocated, authorities must recognise and settle forest rights, obtain informed consent from gram sabhas and provide rehabilitation packages after exploring all possibilities for coexistence.
According to the NTCA, there were 1,040 villages located within notified critical tiger habitats across the country. Of these, only 298 villages – about 28 per cent - have been relocated, while 72 per cent remain inside core areas. At the household level, the notified tiger habitats contained 1,29,984 families, of whom 32,198 families have been relocated and 97,786 continue to reside inside forests.
Village relocation has been carried out in 27 tiger reserves, while 18 reserves reported that no villages currently remain within their core areas. Forty tiger reserves, however, continue to have settlements inside critical habitats.
Among the reserves, Madhya Pradesh’s Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve has recorded the highest number of relocated villages at 43, followed by Kanha with 37 villages and Satpura with 36. Maharashtra’s Sahyadri Tiger Reserve has relocated 29 villages, while Melghat has relocated 25. Sanjay-Dubri, Panna, Bhadra, Nagarahole and Madhav have also reported significant progress. The data also reveal regional disparities. Veerangana Durgavati tops the list in terms of relocated families, with 5,701 households moved out of core habitats. It is followed by Melghat with 4,711 relocated families and Satpura with 3,981. Kanha has relocated 2,190 families, while Sahyadri has shifted 2,056 families.
Yet several reserves continue to host large populations inside their core areas. Telangana’s Amrabad Tiger Reserve has the highest number of villages still located within critical habitats at 61, followed closely by Rajasthan’s Ranthambore with 60 villages. Chhattisgarh’s Indravati has 56 villages inside its core area, while Udanti-Sitanadi has 51.
Veerangana Durgavati still has 50 villages awaiting relocation, and Guru Ghasidas–Tamor Pingla has 42. At the family level, the challenge is even more evident. Amrabad alone accounts for 20,435 families still living inside core tiger habitats — the highest in the country. Veerangana Durgavati follows with 8,800 families, while Ranthambore has 7,373 families within its core area. Sanjay-Dubri has 5,639 families, Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam 4,700 and Achanakmar 4,686. Melghat, Udanti-Sitanadi and Dandeli-Anshi also continue to have substantial populations residing within critical tiger landscapes.
The southern tiger reserves present a mixed picture. Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu has relocated six villages comprising 588 families, but one village with 395 families remains inside the core area.
Anamalai continues to have 36 villages and 1,917 families inside its critical habitat, while Sathyamangalam has 10 villages and 656 families. Srivilliputhur-Megamalai still has five villages with 1,000 families and Kalakad-Mundanthurai has six villages and 221 families within its core landscape.
The NTCA describes voluntary relocation as a twin-purpose programme, one that seeks to empower forest communities through better access to infrastructure, healthcare and education while simultaneously securing inviolate spaces for tigers. However, the numbers suggest that achieving these twin goals will require sustained political commitment, funding and community engagement.