Tale of two villages deep within forests

Anagha's family in Saragodu Reserve Forest faces challenges due to wildlife encounters, but hope for a better future.

Seven-year-old Anagha of Byrigadde village studies in class 2 at the Government Primary School, Kundur, about three kilometres from her place deep in the Saragodu Reserve Forest of Mudigere taluk in Chikkamagaluru district. Every day, her father, Narayana, drops her off and picks her up from school. Narayana rides his bike in the uneven forest terrain, keeping his eyes and ears alert for any wild animal’s sudden appearance.

A few days ago, Narayana was busy at the brick kiln where he works. Anagha’s mother had the responsibility of dropping her off at school. They had just walked a few yards from their house when they found a wild tusker right in the middle of their path. “The elephant was only a few feet away from us. We managed to run back home. The elephant remained there for a while, forcing us to stay indoors. And that day, I missed my school,” said Anagha.

For the girl and other residents of the locality, encountering a wild animal is not unusual. Her grandmother, Bhagirathi, said, “We spot them regularly around our place. Over the years, the number of people living around here has come down while the number of wild animals has increased.”

She has lived in Byrigadde for more than 60 years but has never had the luxury of good roads or electricity supply. Her son, Narayana, 52, cultivates a couple of acres of land that was never registered in his name and works at a kiln to augment his income.

This family of four is one of 16 families scheduled to be shifted out of the Saragodu Reserve Forest area. On October 28, 2024, the Karnataka Cabinet cleared the proposal to rehabilitate the families in Saragodu Reserve Forest and gave consent to shift them to Haduoni village in Balur hobli of Mudigere taluk. The Chikkamagaluru district administration has identified 33 acres and 24 guntas of land for rehabilitation. Each family will get two acres of land for cultivation and four guntas each to construct a house.

Saragodu Reserve Forest, spread over 3,690 hectares, was notified in 1904. However, many families have lived within this reserved area over the years. Following the directions of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which oversees the implementation of the Supreme Court’s orders regarding forests, the Forest Department identified the families within the reserve forest for relocation.

“The department relocated 148 families in 2006. However, these 16 families were left out, as they had been staying there since before 1978. Considering them as traditional forest dwellers, they were not included in the rehabilitation package back then,” said N. Ramesh Babu, Deputy Conservator of Forests of Chikkamagaluru division.