Palamu Tiger Reserve: Adivasi residents of village in core sanctuary area to be relocated

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a day ago

'Look how beautiful our village is,' says Dhanu Lohara as we arrive in Jaigir, deep in the sal forests of Palamu Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand. The 56-year-old, dressed in a coloured T-shirt and dhoti soaked in sweat from the long uphill walk, is visibly tired but no less excited to be back.
The village sits among green hills, quiet and scattered. A few mud houses still stand, while others lie broken or levelled by construction and demolition machines. Some village residents are still around, but many have already left, taking their livestock and belongings down the narrow forest trail.
The village lies in the Garu block of the Latehar district in Jharkhand. To reach this village is not an easy task; the people must trek 15 km, climbing uphill for three hours, passing trails through dense forests home to wild animals, before reaching this village.
For generations, the wild and humans have coexisted in Jaigir, but now the residents are being relocated to a new place as the forest department is trying to remove human habitation from the core areas so that wildlife can thrive.
Palamu Tiger Reserve is home to keystone species, including mammals, birds, medicinal herbs, and more. 'Keeping this zone free of settlements is essential if we want these species to breed, range, and recover undisturbed,' says Kumar Ashish, Deputy Director of reserve.
After years of effort and communication between the village residents and the forest department, 22 families from Jaigir, belonging to the Biroh, Lohara, and Oraon tribes, have mutually agreed to relocate to a new place.
Jaigir therefore became the first village in the Palamu Tiger Reserve to relocate from the core area. Their new homes are in Polpol, a village in the neighbouring Palamu district. Before moving, the residents spent months building concrete houses and preparing farmland about 75 km away from Jaigir.
'This is the only way to reach here; there is no road,' explains Lohara, looking back to his old home. His face carried a complex mix of nostalgia, relief and quiet grief. 'If someone got sick or a woman went into labour, we had to make a bamboo stretcher and carry them down the hill. Many in the village have also died.'
The village residents say that they have been sustainably living here for decades, way before the existence of the Palamu Tiger Reserve. 'Our family has lived here for three generations. We even have land records dating back to 1932. We used to get everything we needed from the forest,' says Lohara as he gathers the wooden beams and other valuable materials from his old house to reuse in the new one.
Coexistence, until now
The tiger reserve in Palamu was the first wildlife sanctuary in the world where a tiger census was conducted using pugmark tracking in 1932. Palamu Tiger Reserve was one of India's first nine tiger projects in 1973 and remains Jharkhand's only reserve. It covers 1,306.79 sq km: 576 sq km core and 731 sq km buffer. Under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the core is solely for wildlife; the buffer allows limited human use.
Over 5,000 families from 35 villages remain in the core area, sparking human-animal interactions and conflicts. By law, relocation must be voluntary, with full consent from Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers. 'Relocation efforts began soon after PTR was created when only a few families lived here,' says Kumar Ashish.
'Now the (human) population has swelled, and every day brings crop losses due to boars and elephants, and close calls with tigers. With so much wildlife at stake, we urgently need this core to be a true refuge,' he adds.
'In Jaigir, we used to grow two paddy crops each year. There was never a water shortage, and we met all our needs, including firewood, medicinal herbs, roots, and wild fruits from the forest,' says Sitan Birijya, who is among the people who moved. He cultivated on six acres of land. He admits, however, that life in Jaigir was far from easy.
'Wild elephants, boars, monkeys, and even parrots would regularly damage our fields,' says a 68-year-old farmer. 'The forest department has given us crackers to drive wild animals away.' Several times, village residents have spotted tigers, he adds; not one (human) in Jaigir has been harmed so far.
Hoping for better medical care and connectivity, all 22 families, some initially hesitant, finally agreed to relocate after years of discussion.
A new chapter
Under the National Tiger Conservation Authority relocation scheme, there are two options. One is a one-time cash settlement of Rs 15 lakh. The other is a land-based package that includes two hectares (about five acres) of farmland, a new home, and basic amenities. Every person over 18 is considered a separate unit, so a single household can have three or four units.
'However, most villagers prefer getting land since they depend entirely on agriculture,' says Ashish. This has become difficult because each family now has multiple claimants, and allocating land to everyone is not feasible. 'That is why we are negotiating with the villagers. Some will take land, and others may opt for the cash settlement,' he concludes.
The negotiations are still ongoing, the paperwork is pending, and local residents remain skeptical about which option they will ultimately choose.
'Though the process began in 2019, securing land took nearly five years as initial talks with 40 families faltered within months, but steady negotiations have renewed hope,' adds Ashish.
'For the relocation, the forest department has acquired 330 acres in Palamu and 400 acres in Latehar district. One of our biggest challenges is that, when we talk with villagers, we have no example to show them because we have never done this before,' says Ashish.
'Jaigir was so remote that no one married their daughters there, and it had no basic facilities. Now, we're turning it into a model village to show other villagers exactly which services we can provide. We've already connected Jaigir to the power grid. Some house constructions are finished, and others are almost complete.'
Ashish also said that plans were underway to build a canal branch for irrigation, set up lift-irrigation systems, and lay all-weather roads. Over the next two to three years, the forest department would support resettled families through skills training and job linkages, establish a primary school – while 15 children would continue studying at a nearby village school – and improve healthcare access via the Palamu district hospital. He added that they also intended to collaborate with the agriculture department to promote both rain-fed and irrigated farming, aiming to ensure that the relocation benefits both wildlife and people.
Negotiations are going on with at least 13 villages, but progress has been slow. 'Jaigir's relocation will free nearly 100 sq km of forest. This is a significant step towards tiger conservation,' says Ashish.
Jaigir is one of the three villages – along with Latu and Kujurum – whose relocation will clear nearly half the reserve's core area of human settlements. The remaining area is still occupied by 32 other villages.
In two other villages, Kujurum and Latu, about 60% of residents have agreed to relocate, while 40% still resist. Once our new site is fully operational, we hope to bring them on board, too. 'Our work isn't just for wildlife,' says Ashish. 'We're committed to human development as well. We will stay alongside these families for at least two to three years – only when they're fully confident in their new lives will we step back,' he adds.
But not all villages are happy to move. Mongabay India spoke with residents of Kujurum and Latu, which are also in the core area of the Palamu Tiger Reserve.
'Our home is here, our fields are here, our livelihood is here. Now the government wants us to leave everything and go to Palamu,' says a resident of Latu, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'We will not give up our home at any cost.'
Hope for the tiger
Across India, the tiger population has been growing at an annual rate of 6%, as per the All India Tiger Estimation of 2022. However, tiger numbers in Jharkhand have steadily declined – from 10 in 2010 to just one recorded in 2022. The Palamu Tiger Reserve has been dubbed a 'tiger-less tiger reserve' for years until a lone tiger was photographed in 2022.
Kumar Ashish acknowledges the situation, 'We don't have a resident tiger in PTR. Most of the tigers we record are transient – coming in from Madhya Pradesh, mainly from Bandhavgarh. Madhya Pradesh has over 700 tigers now, and territorial fights among them are common. Every tiger needs its own space. When a weaker one is pushed out, it wanders into neighbouring forests like ours.'
According to him, six tigers were captured on the Palamu Tiger Reserve's camera traps last year. 'But these are not permanent residents. Some stay for a month or two, others for a year, and then vanish. They weren't born here; they are just passing through,' he explains.
For a tiger to establish a territory, two conditions must be met: prey base and minimal disturbance.
'Prey is low here, especially in Betla and adjoining ranges, due to human settlement and poaching. Besides, roads cut through core areas, and vehicular movement disturbs the wildlife,' he adds.
Another challenge is the lack of female tigers. 'All six tigers spotted recently were males. Without females, there's no chance of breeding. Plus, with limited prey and too much disturbance, they don't stay. A male tiger instinctively searches for a mate. If it doesn't find one, it moves on,' says Ashish.
Before 2010, tiger counting in Palamu Tiger Reserve was done using pugmark tracking, often leading to overestimation. 'The same tiger might be counted multiple times. But since 2015-'16, camera traps have given us a clearer picture, and we now accept that the reserve lacks a stable tiger population,' adds Kumar.
One tiger had stayed in Jaigir for nearly a year, but it's no longer there. With the village now relocated, the forest department is hopeful. 'The habitat is ideal. We're installing camera traps, and if a tiger returns and stays, it'll validate our efforts.'
'Our aim isn't just to capture an occasional photograph,' he adds. 'We want tigers to reside here permanently.'
Last time, the forest department at Garu block that encompasses Jaigir, found one tiger in October 2024. 'As of June 2025, we have over 18 camera traps active in the Garu area,' the official says. 'Once a cast (a replica of a pugmark) is made, we update our records seasonally – typically once a year – to monitor changes in tiger presence and movement patterns,' said Oraon. This combination of traditional tracking and modern camera technology helps ensure that Palamu Tiger Reserve's tiger population is diligently observed and protected.
With Jaigir relocated and new monitoring systems in place, forest officials hope that Palamu can one day support a stable, breeding tiger population – a vital step toward reversing decades of decline. Meanwhile, the fate of the thousands of families still living in the reserve's core hangs in the balance: asked to leave the land that has fed them for generations, they cling to their ancestral forests as the source of livelihood and identity.
'Officials call this just a forest, but this forest is our home. Our fathers and grandfathers have lived here,' says Sitan Birijya with a sense of disappointment.