Similipal Tiger Reserve: Munda Displacement Row
Why in the news
Munda tribal families in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), Odisha, say conservation measures displaced them and banned their rituals, sparking protests.
Key facts
- Displacement: Jamunagarh village families moved in 2015 and 2022; rituals, including visits to sacred groves and burial grounds, are stopped.
- Trigger: translocating tigress Zeenat from Maharashtra and closing old village habitats under the tiger supplementation programme.
- Protest: Munda men demonstrated in Bhubaneswar; leaders cite spiritual distress and ill health or deaths among elders.
The debate
- Authorities lock out outsiders while reviving tiger numbers.
- Tribal groups say their traditions do not harm wildlife and seek coexistence.
- Question of balancing conservation with rights under the Forest Rights Act.
About the Munda
- Among India’s largest scheduled tribes, mainly in the Chhotanagpur Plateau.
- Spread across Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and in Bangladesh and Nepal.
- Language: Mundari (Austro-Asiatic family).
Exam angle
- Law: Forest Rights Act. Place: Similipal Tiger Reserve.