Protected Area Network in Orissa - Vasundhara

Panchayat have been obstructed by the sanctuary authorities. Even some ofthe earthwork, panchayat roads, land development works have beenprevented. During the construction of Water Harvesting Structureundertaken by Chakutia Bhunjia Development Authority through theWestern Orissa Rural Livelihood Project at Soseng Panchayat, the Sanctuaryauthorities delayed the process by not allowing the stones to be picked upfrom within the Sanctuary. Some of the minor construction works undertakenby the Panchayat are obstructed by not allowing the building materials topass through the check gates deliberately.• Restrictions on Mobility and Grazing:There are a number of instances where the local people were severely beatenup and harassed by the local staff of wildlife division. For instance, On 25 thJuly 2002, two forest guards and fourteen hired goons beat up eight Tribalgrazers severely in Sunabeda Panchayat and destroyed large quantity of milkproducts. This incident came to limelight, when a local daily published thenews on 7 th August 2002 (Oriya Daily, Samay, Dated 7 th August, 2002).Similarly, an old women from Kermeli village had gone to forest andcollected some harida and medicinal roots for her terribly sick son. On theway of return to her village the local forest guard snatched the collected fruitsand roots and destroyed it. In the same village another women Marin Majhiaged around 60 years was beaten up severely by Wildlife officials whiletrying to take some NTFPs outside the checkgate. These incidents of extremeharassment by wild life officials had set the stage for a major conflict, whichlater broke out in the form of destruction of check gates by the local residentsin April 2001.The restriction on mobility of people through the check gates has alsowitnessed many conflicts. Nal Singh Majhi of Bhaumunda had a major scufflewith the guards on 1 st March 2004, while bringing the emergency feedingmaterial for one Anganwadi center located inside the Sanctuary.102