Karwa villagers block road over closure of old route through Mohurli gate near Tadoba
About 300 residents of Karwa in Sindewahi taluka staged a roadblock on the Karwa-Shivani road, demanding reopening of the route to Chandrapur closed by the forest department.
Navargaon: Villagers of Karwa (Sindewahi taluka), which lies on the boundary of the core and buffer zones of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, took to the Karwa-Shivani road on Saturday afternoon and staged a roadblock. They were protesting the closure of the route to Chandrapur via the Mohurli gate, which villagers had used for years. About 300 men and women took part.
The protesters have warned that if their demands are not met immediately, a "gaonbandi" (a village-wide boycott) of forest officials will be enforced.
Residents of Karwa used this old route every day to travel towards Chandrapur via Mohli. Villagers say the forest department closed it without any prior notice. They now have to take a detour of about 13 km via Shivani, which costs them more time, fuel and money. Schoolchildren and college students, farmers, patients and the elderly are among the worst affected.
According to the villagers, they submitted a written representation on the issue to the Deputy Director of Tadoba on July 14 to draw the forest administration's attention. They allege that no concrete action was taken. Angered by this neglect, a village meeting was held on Friday night and it was decided to launch the agitation.
The villagers' main demand is that the old route to Chandrapur via Karwa-Mohli-Khutwanda-Jhari-Peth and the Mohli gate be reopened immediately as before. They have also demanded that local unemployed youth be given priority, and employment on a rotation basis, in the forest department's development and conservation work. The third demand is that victims be paid prompt and fair compensation, without delay, for livestock lost to wild animal attacks in the core area.
Villagers are also unhappy that while tourism in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve earns the government large revenue, the local people living on the forest boundary have to make a 13-km detour to get around.
The agitation was led by Lavkush Pusam, Vinod Madavi, Krishna Lengure, Charandas Mankar and Suresh Ade. Women, young people and elderly residents of the Karwa area joined in large numbers.
Vinod Jambhule, the range forest officer for Karwa in the Andhari Tiger Reserve, said full details of all the villagers' demands had been sent to senior officials immediately, and that a resolution would be worked out at the senior level, within the rules, soon.
