Protected Area Network in Orissa - Vasundhara

inquiry into the submissions and acquisition of rights has been laid out in the Act.Same provisions (section 19-26A) apply for declaration of National Parks.Thus the law provides power for acquisition or commutation of rights within the areaintended to be declared as sanctuary or National parks. The argument put forward forsuch appropriation of land and resources was the extension of eminent domain, theauthority or power of the state to acquire the property belonging to individuals forreasons of public interest, provided due compensation was paid to the formerproprietors and rights holders. It is clearly proved that a change in sovereignty doesnot imply the extinguishing of the right to domicile or other existing customary rightsenjoyed by the local communities concerning access and use of forest resources.Certain assumptions lie beneath the process of acquisition of rights. One of theimportant one is that the rights in the area to be declared are already formallyrecognized i.e. legal instruments and records exist of the rights of people in the area,both over land and other natural resources. These formal rights include ownershipover land (provided by Survey and Settlements), Nistar Rights over forest products,right of way etc. It is assumed that the state of formal rights represents justly the up todate situation of rights over natural resources in the area.However, given the ground level situation in tribal areas of Orissa, this assumptionturns out be deficient and problematic in many ways. These deficiencies lead to aperversion of the principles of natural justice and equity, drastically affect the weakestsections of society i.e. Tribal communities including PTGs having constitutionalprotection, and in many case contravention of the rights to life. Some of thesedeficiencies are as follows:4. Lack of up to Date and Proper Settlements of Land Rights:Most of the sanctuaries are in the remote tribal areas. In most of these areas, only oneround of Settlements have taken place. The current situation in terms of land tenure inthese areas is highly confused, with a major discrepancy between formal tenure andinformal land use. This includes extension of cultivation in pre 1980s periods, whichhaven’t been regularized and are therefore treated as encroachments, existence ofunsurveyed areas etc. For example, in the Sunabeda Sanctuary area, there are 30133