Reuters Kashmir to enact India s forest rights law 14 years on, in boost for nomads
Forest dwellers in Kashmir are pinning their hopes on the implementation of a 14-year-old law to save their land and homes, as the government announces plans to evict tens of thousands of people it says are encroaching on protected land. );
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Last month, the forest department of the Indian-administered territory published a list of about 63,000 people it says are living and farming illegally on a total of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of forest land.
Now the tribal communities living in the region s forests are looking for protection under India s Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, which is coming into effect in the region more than a decade after it was enacted elsewhere in India.
15 Jan 2021 / 09:03 H.
By Athar Parvaiz
SRINAGAR, India, Jan 15 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - F orest dwellers in Kashmir are pinning their hopes on the implementation of a 14-year-old law to save their land and homes, as the government announces plans to evict tens of thousands of people it says are encroaching on protected land.
Last month, the forest department of the Indian-administered territory published a list of about 63,000 people it says are living and farming illegally on a total of 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of forest land.
Now the tribal communities living in the region s forests are looking for protection under India s Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006, which is coming into effect in the region more than a decade after it was enacted elsewhere in India.
The demolition drive and the eviction notices, Khatana says now puts the future of thousands of such families under a threat.
Many Gujjar families across Kashmir have received show-cause notices to “leave the unauthorised occupation of the forest land”.
“We have been living in the forests in peace with all the creatures here. We are here because our great grandfathers were born here,” Khatana said.
Bajad and Khatana are from the Gujjar community considered some of the most impoverished groups in Kashmir – home to 12 million people.
Back in Kanidajan village, tucked in a forest land surrounded with pine trees, people said their livelihood is dependent on the cultivation of apples – the core of the disputed region’s economy – and potatoes.