After 40 years, forest dwellers get new houses

Chennai: After struggling for over 40 years to move out of the forests of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris, members of the Mountadan Chetty community are finally heaving a sigh of relief as the district administration is all set to relocate them to new houses outside the reserve.
One of the beneficiaries, N R Gopalan of Benne village, said, "It is a great relief for people of our community who volunteered to get rehabilitated outside the tiger reserve way back in the 1970s.
"In the last 15 years, we have faced several problems such as lack of schools for our children, threat of encountering wildlife and crop damage due to wildlife raids.
"All these problems are over now. We are eagerly awaiting the completion of our houses, which will not take more than a couple of months.
"Once we get our houses, our lives will be much more comfortable."
Wildlife authorities said a total of 701 families were living in core areas of MTR.
In the first batch, 235 families have been identified for relocation and 88 of them have been identified for receiving cash compensation or housing facilities outside the tiger reserve.
Thirty-seven families opted for housing while the remaining 51 got cash compensation of 10 lakh each for every adult in the family.
The revenue authorities have set aside 282 hectares of land in Cherangodu village, where the 37 houses have been built.
B Srinivasan of Mandhakarai village in Mudumalai, who is being rehabilitated to Cherangodu, said most of the work such as laying roads and providing water connection to the houses has been completed but electricity is yet to be supplied. "If the government expedites the work, we can come and settle down in the new place quickly," he added.
The newly constructed houses have a single bedroom, a hall and a kitchen. Restrooms have been provided outside the houses, said a senior officer in the district administration.