R Krishna Das
Raipur, October 14
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is reeling under an elephantine problem. For, the issue has not been flared up by the opposition; Baghel is battling his own party men and the activists.
Literally, the Chief Minister is in dilemma. Now, if he entertained his own party leaders, the green activists would go red.
The Chhattisgarh government is considering extending the area of the proposed Lemru Elephant Reserve (LER). The move came following hectic pressure from the activist groups even as a large section of villagers were allegedly against it.
Following the villagers uprising, the local Congress leaders were left with no political option then to back.
The Bhupesh Baghel government has accepted the demand of the activists, who have been advocating the inclusion of the total catchment area of the Hasdeo river within the pachyderms’ new habitat covering some 4000 sq km.
Originally, the plan covered some 1900 square km. The BJP-led Government at the centre dropped five coal blocks for the green cause that were reserved for auction. The state government included it in the extended plan.
The matter took a twist when state’s panchayat and health minister, and a popular face of Congress party in Chhattisgarh T S Singh Deo jumped in support of villagers. Singh Deo has been acting on the line that suits Congress, politically.
After all, the entire region of Sarguja had exceptionally voted for the party in the 2018 state polls to trounce the 15-year of BJP rule. The Congress party won all the 14 seats of Sarguja—the stronghold of Singh Deo, who happens to be the titular maharaja of the erstwhile the Sarguja State with deep grass-root reach.
The initiative of the Bhupesh Baghel government to expand the reserve limit has not gone well with the villagers. They allege the revenue villages have been included in the proposed plan besides many located on the highways that did not make any sense.
What fumed the villagers is accost of the administration. The officials are reportedly visiting the villages and asking to give nod to the plan in the gram sabha—a mandatory proceeding in the scheduled areas.
“Personally, I am totally against including the villages located far-away in the elephant reserve as it has no technical logic,” Singh Deo said while interacting with villagers in Khamaria village. Never ever think that Singh Deo is organising the gram sabha, he clarified, exhorting that it was not the rule of “Raja” anymore and in democracy they (people) were free to take decision to oppose the project.
In what came as a breather for the villagers, Singh Deo assured he would join them in agitation if they resort to and they should react against the project according to their conscience without any fear.
The villagers are in no mood to give up. After all, they feel the project would displace them and also deprive them of the forest rights.
The officials are convincing the villagers that they will not be displaced. But they fail to clarify what the villagers quiz!
If there is no question of displacement, then what is the need of including the villages in the reserve. With population remaining, the tuskers-human tussle will continue and so will Chhattisgarh’s elephantine problem.
