Damoh- In Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, villagers have taken to the streets demanding that their villages should not be displaced from the Nauradehi Sanctuary area. On Wednesday, people staged a sit-in strike in front of the Collector's office under the banner of the Nauradehi Displacement Sangharsh Committee. The villagers had informed the administration a day earlier that they should not be displaced; otherwise, they would initiate an indefinite strike. The four villages facing displacement are predominantly tribal.

When the administration did not respond, hundreds of villagers reached the Collectorate premises in the morning. After submitting a memorandum to the Collector, they sat on strike, expressing concern that their villages are being sacrificed for the development of the Nauradehi Sanctuary.

The protesting villagers emphasize that their ancestors have lived in these villages for generations, earning their livelihoods. They vehemently oppose the administration's decision to remove them and demand an immediate halt to the displacement process. They declare their intent to continue the protest until the displacement process is stopped. Notably, a significant number of women have joined the protest alongside the men. Damoh SDM RL Bagri received a memorandum from the villagers at the Collectorate and assured them that he would convey their views to the administration.

The need for the tiger reserve's expansion has led to a target of displacing a total of 90 villages around the sanctuary. The Forest Department is allocated a budget of crores of rupees annually for this purpose. According to Forest Department officials, each displaced family will receive Rs 15 lakh. In cases where fathers, sons, and their families are separate entities, they will be counted as two units.

The six villages to be displaced in the core zone of Nauradehi Sanctuary span three districts: Patna Mohali, Ghana, and Malkuti in Narsinghpur, Khapra Kheda in Sagar district, and Sarrabarai and Munali Kheda villages in Damoh district. It is noteworthy that 22 out of the planned 90 villages have already been displaced.

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