Forest Tribes Lose Rights
Goa’s Velip tribal people are battling the Forest Department for the right to use their ancestral lands. The Forest Department has claimed Velip land as a wildlife sanctuary. But the Velip people have used the land, which they see as sacred, for as long as living memory.
Locals claim the Forest Department has named the area as a wildlife sanctuary so it can move the tribal people out and eventually hand the land over to rich mining companies. There are robust deposits of valuable minerals in the area. Mining companies operating in Goa are highly interested in expanding their operations. Many claim the Forest Department hands over protected lands in exchange for large sums of money.
The Forest Department is in the process of removing Velip rights to use the land. They have issued restrictions on Velip people’s movements, built 3-metre stone fences around the area and dug deep trenches along the Velip’s footpaths to prevent them from crossing into the area.
Velips depend on the land to cultivate cashews—a primary source of income for the tribe. Without access to these harvests, the Velips will be robbed of their ability to support their families as they have for so long. Khotigaon is a sacred worship center for Velips, where they honor their deities. To them, it is an irreplaceable space.
In this video, Devidas reports on the Velip people’s situation in Khotigaon.
Devidas Gaonkar
I am a tribal from the Velip community. Tribal people are self-dependent – we need to buy very few things from outside. People usually think of us as jungle folk, wearing no clothes and living by hunting. We are not given much respect. They think we live like animals, but this is not true and I want to show the truth through the videos I make.
The government neglects tribal communities, except during the elections when they want votes. As there are reservations for Scheduled Tribes, many tribal people have taken up government jobs and do not keep their tribal identity. Tribes are slowly mixing with the general crowd and we are losing our ways. I wish there was some way we can preserve our traditions, because they are powerful and they keep our history. Development in the outside world has affected the tribals too – illegal mining is destroying our environment and our livelihoods.
I had to drop out of secondary school because there was no money. But I loved reading and painting, and I learnt how to make crafts from polystyrene so I started earning a little on my own. Then, during a workshop, I met a journalist. I started writing articles for the local newspaper in my village. I want to excel in writing and video-making, this is my passion.
Devidas Gaonkar has produced
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Thank you for bringing the issue of Khotigão tribals to light. We will pass the word around. This is scandalous what the Forest Department is doing to the tribals. Forest Department also shuts its eyes when Seascan Project cuts mangroves over a stretch of 500 m in CRZ area in Naroa village to allow for an iron ore loading facility and port! Greed!
Dear Lias
Thank you very much for your interest in the video .I hope you will follow up some more upcoming videos on INDIAUNHEARD with similar issues.
Regards
Sameer
Project Coordinator
Video Volunteers
(India Unheard)
This whole article is laced with hypocrisy. The forest department has the right to claim territory that has lush growth of trees and biodiversity. People have forced their way in to forests without any right and in the process of habitation cut trees. This should not be allowed. The forest dept should not hand over any wildlife land to mining companies ( nor should it be given to any local. No double standards here!
Dear Wendell Vaz ,
Thank you for watching my video & commenting on it . I appreciate that you care so much for the environment. We the forest tribes also have been living in the forest without harming it (because we depend on the forest for our livelihood) for centuries. The forest has been our home for centuries, that is why we are called “forest tribes”. If you read the current Forest Act, it says that anybody living in a forest area over 75 years is a natural dweller and therefore permitted to stay wherever he has lived . So it is totally unfair to compare us the forest dwellers with illegal miners who destroy the environment , nature and livlihood sources .We have never lived outside the forest, so how can you accuse us of being encroachers ?
-Devidas Gaonkar
its good work you doing, its right of tribal people, to use forest as a source.
the tribal people know the value of forest that’s why they conserved the forest past many years.
Why some people think that tribal are create problem to forest? its totally wrong to say that forest being lose because of tribal.
not because o tribal because of other interferace.
Forests are natural habitats of wild life> It is their home. I cannot understand how Devidas Gaonkar is saying that humans can co-exist with wild animals in their natural domain. Will you allow a tiger or an elephant to approach your house. I dont think so. Animals have no where else to go. Humans cut trees for firewood and kill small animals as prey; this is a well known fact of all villagers living in wild life sanctuaries. I myself have been offered wild boar meat by a local on a visit which i vehemently refused. Just because there is a rule allowing some encroachers to remain does not make it right. This rule should be overturned and the land rightfully returned to the animals. Human population is multiplying with the increase in families. Therefore it is not right to allow any more humans.