A month after 700 landless tribals illegally occupied the protected Muthanga wildlife sanctuary in Wynad district of Kerala, little is being done by the state government to move them out. Worse, the tribals seem to be obstructing the Elephant Corridor, the path used by roaming elephant herds.The 334 sq km forest, two-and-half hours by road from Kozhikode, is one of the prime elephant habitats. The sanctuary itself is on the critical tri-junction between Muthanga, Wynad and Bandipur National Parks and forms part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.But a strongly-worded letter from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to the state chief secretary has had little effect because the government there seems to be buying time as the issue of tribal entry into the forest has begun to acquire political overtones.It all started on January 4 when prominent adivasi leader C K Janu led the tribals into the forest, protesting the promise of land Chief Minister A K Antony never kept. She was followed by another group led by the CPI(M). ‘‘This is a political issue and has to be handled by politicians not administrators,’’ says Kerala’s wildlife secretary Bharat Bhushan.For the time being, the state government has adopted a wait-and-watch policy, hoping the tribals run out of steam and leave the forest on their own. But this lack of action has prompted the Wildlife Trust of India, a Delhi-based NGO, to file a petition before the Central Empowered Committee, created by the Supreme Court to rid the forest of encroachments.Despite the ecological importance of the area, the state government finds itself in a bind. Because it was Antony who had promised five acres each to the tribals last year. He visited Delhi twice to meet the secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests. His request was turned down by the Ministry on the ground that it would set a wrong precedent.Reports from the state speak of nearly 100 families erecting plastic sheet shelters and opening a temporary office in an eucalyptus plantation in the forest. Stretches have been cleared to construct permanent huts, wells have been dug and provisions to last six months are being stocked. A bhoomipujan was also performed at the site on January 10.The Forest department, which is camping there to monitor the situation, has thrown up its hands, saying it does not have the necessary manpower to evict the tribals. They say they have also been directed not to use force. ‘If we do not see anything being done to evict them, we will appeal to Congress president Sonia Gandhi (Antony belongs to the party) to do something,’’ says Vivek Menon, Wildlife Trust of India’s executive director. Until then, the stand-off continues.
