Chhattisgarh
,
Patpara
,
Korba
Published : 12 July, 2014   |   Last updated - 24 Jun, 2024
Dhanwar Tribe in Chhattisgarh's Patpara Village gets Community Forest Rights
Reported by
Asha Verma
Legal Review by
Anmol Gupta
Updated by
Anupa Kujur
Households affected
320
People Affected
2016
Year started
121
Land area affected
Households affected
320
People Affected
2016
Year started
121
Land area affected
Key Insights
Sector
Conservation and Forestry
Reason/Cause of conflict
Forest Administration (Other than Protected Areas)
Conflict Status
Ongoing
Ended
Legal Status
Region Classification
Rural
Ended
1
Summary

Bakhai is a village in Patpara panchayat in Korba district where the Dhanwar tribe lives in a small settlement. Dhanwars are a forestdependent community engaged in the collection of minor forest produce like chaar, mahua, tendu and harra. The village has no road connectivity and faces water scarcity.  The residents of Bakhai filed an application to claim community forest rights in December 2016 under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. However, soon after they filed their claims, the forest department allegedly started to cut teak trees in the forestland for which the community had filed claims, without the approval of the Gram Sabha, which was necessary as the village falls in the Schedule Area. When the community members questioned the officials, they did not get a clear response.   Subsequently, they filed an application under the Right to Information Act, asking under which notification the forest was being cleared and whether the Gram Sabha's permission had been sought or not. To this, the forest department replied that no official notification had been issued for tree felling in Bakhai village and later suspended two lowerranking officials.  But the damage had already been done. About 20,000 teak trees were chopped in a week, leaving the community in a lurch. They submitted evidence to the district administration, tribal department, forest department, governor and even to the Prime Ministers Office. The governor replied with an assurance of investigation and action. In July 2021, a local activist, Benipuri Goswami, told LCW that the District Level Committee had finally approved the CFR claims. He informed that the documentation was currently with the district collector and was yet to be handed over to the villagers.

2
Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for legal recognition of land rights

Complaint against procedural violations

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Rural

Type of Land

Common

Forest

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

Type of investment:

Year of Estimation

Page Number In Investment Document:

Has the Conflict Ended?

Yes

When did it end?

Why did the conflict end?

Author
Reported by
Asha Verma

Chhattisgarh

Kumar Sambhav is a social entrepreneur and award-winning journalist, leading innovative research in accountability investigations. He is the founder of Land Conflict Watch and is currently working as India Research Lead with Princeton University’s Digital Witness Lab.

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Fact sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for legal recognition of land rights

Complaint against procedural violations

Dhanwar Tribe in Chhattisgarh's Patpara Village gets Community Forest Rights

Reported by

Asha Verma

Legal Review by

Edited by

Updated by

Updated by

Published on

June 9, 2017

May 17, 2022

Edited on

June 9, 2017

Sector

Conservation and Forestry

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Forest Administration (Other than Protected Areas)

Starting Year

2016

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

121

ha

Households Affected by Conflict

People Affected by Conflict

320

State

Chhattisgarh

Sector

Conservation and Forestry

People Affected by Conflict

320

Households Affected by Conflict

Land Area Affected (in Hectares)

121

ha

Starting Year

2016

Location of Conflict

Patpara

Korba

Reason or Cause of Conflict

Forest Administration (Other than Protected Areas)

Land Conflict Summary

Bakhai is a village in Patpara panchayat in Korba district where the Dhanwar tribe lives in a small settlement. Dhanwars are a forestdependent community engaged in the collection of minor forest produce like chaar, mahua, tendu and harra. The village has no road connectivity and faces water scarcity.  The residents of Bakhai filed an application to claim community forest rights in December 2016 under the Forest Rights Act, 2006. However, soon after they filed their claims, the forest department allegedly started to cut teak trees in the forestland for which the community had filed claims, without the approval of the Gram Sabha, which was necessary as the village falls in the Schedule Area. When the community members questioned the officials, they did not get a clear response.   Subsequently, they filed an application under the Right to Information Act, asking under which notification the forest was being cleared and whether the Gram Sabha's permission had been sought or not. To this, the forest department replied that no official notification had been issued for tree felling in Bakhai village and later suspended two lowerranking officials.  But the damage had already been done. About 20,000 teak trees were chopped in a week, leaving the community in a lurch. They submitted evidence to the district administration, tribal department, forest department, governor and even to the Prime Ministers Office. The governor replied with an assurance of investigation and action. In July 2021, a local activist, Benipuri Goswami, told LCW that the District Level Committee had finally approved the CFR claims. He informed that the documentation was currently with the district collector and was yet to be handed over to the villagers.

Fact Sheet

Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Opposition against environmental degradation

Demand for legal recognition of land rights

Complaint against procedural violations

Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community

Region Classification

Rural

Type of Land

Common

Type of Common Land

Forest

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)

Status of Project

Original Project Deadline

Whether the Project has been Delayed

Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users

Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict

Source/Reference

Total investment involved (in Crores):

Type of investment:

Year of Estimation

Page Number In Investment Document:

Has the Conflict Ended?

Yes

When did it end?

Why did the conflict end?

Legal Data

Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict

Forest and Scheduled Area Governance Laws

Legislations/Policies Involved

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Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute

What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?

What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?

Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:

Non-implementation/violation of FRA

Lack of legal protection over land rights

Violation of free prior informed consent

Non-implementation/violation of PESA

Legal Status:

Out of Court

Status of Case In Court

Whether any adjudicatory body was approached

Name of the adjudicatory body

Name(s) of the Court(s)

Case Number

Main Reasoning/Decision of court

Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:

No items found.

Reported Details of the Violation:

Date of Violation

Location of Violation

Additional Information

Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:

Forest Department

PSUs Involved in the Conflict:

Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?

Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached

Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:

Timber Contractors

Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?

Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:

Information on the use of criminal law

What was the action taken by the police?

How many people did the police detain or arrest?

What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?

Did the person face any violence while in police custody?

If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?

If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?

Legislation under which the accused was charged

Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?

In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?

Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?

Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?

Resources

Resources Related to Conflict

  • News Articles Related to the Conflict:
  • Documents Related to the Conflict:
  • Links Related to the Conflict:

Images

Image Credit:  

Image Credit:  

Video

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