Under Project Tiger, the state government had classified Udanti and Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary as a composite tiger reserve in February 2009. Since then, the tribespeople living in the core area for generations have become vulnerable to displacement.

Reportedly, after the process to classify the tiger reserve started in 2004, the forest department barred the tribes from accessing and gathering minor forest produce. This severely affected the lifestyle and livelihood practices of 17 villages. Some tribeswomen also alleged that forest officials attempted to frame fake charges on them for collecting firewood from the core area of the tiger reserve. 

The villagers claimed that the forest department offered them resettlement packages to move out of the core zone. But the tribespeople demanded that their rights be recognised under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. Over the years, the Kamar, Gond and Bhunjia tribal communities have come together to demand their entitlements. 

According to a 2014 news report, the six panchayats that would be affected refused to surrender their land for the tiger reserve.

In 2014, a media report stated that over 200 villagers held a meeting where they decided to focus on increasing the forest cover and wildlife population themselves. They also drafted a petition to demand the management of the forests. They claim that they have already submitted applications to the administration for both individual and community forest rights, but the government has only granted individual forest rights to some families.

The Gram Sabhas also submitted many applications to the sub-divisional magistrate and other state officials, including the chief minister, requesting urgent attention to their problems. But the state has so far failed to address their concerns. The panchayats, under the banner of Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve Forest Jansamiti, continue to demand recognition of their rights. 

In February 2019, the Supreme Court verdict about the eviction of forest dwellers with rejected FRA claims came as a shock to the tribespeople, and it only intensified their demand for rights. 

In the same year, the new state government gave another chance to forest dwellers to reapply for their FRA titles, but this process has been delayed due to “bureaucratic hurdles”. 

A breakthrough came in August 2020 when the government granted community forest rights to a few villages in the Risgaon zone. 

The Dhamtari district collector told a newspaper that in October 2020, the Department of Tribe and Scheduled Caste had informed that “it was not possible to go on with the rights recognition process at this time.” However, the same news article also quoted a December 2020 letter by the Secretary (Tribal Affairs), which stated that the “…the Central Government hereby recognises and vests forest rights under Section 3(1) of the same [FRA] Act”. 

Based on this letter, the villagers claimed that the forest officials and the district administration were delaying the process even after receiving communication from the tribal department. 

On 19 January 2021, villagers gathered in thousands and protested outside the office of the Tiger Reserve Deputy Director. Prior to this, on 8 January, they had attended a public meeting to discuss their strategy.

Subsequently, the district administration informed the villagers that the area is classified as a Critical Wildlife Habitat and it was only following protocol.

On 16 February 2021, the villagers wrote a letter to the sub-divisional magistrate to request a special Gram Sabha to settle the rights. Meanwhile, the administration is yet to start a process to consider the claims for FRA titles, Benipuri Goswami, a local activist, told LCW.

Of the 51 villages in Dhamtari and Gariaband districts falling within the reserve's core zone, only 30 had been granted Community Forest Rights as of September 2024, leaving 21 villages without recognition despite over a decade of claims. Forest rights activist Benipuri Goswami confirmed that CFR titles have proven critical in resisting Forest Department encroachment, while villages without titles remain highly vulnerable.

Since 2020, eviction notices have been issued to Sornamal village under Koyba Gram Panchayat—home to Bhunjia, Gond, and Kamar communities—alleging post-2009 settlement based on satellite imagery, a claim communities categorically deny. In 2022, families in Ichhradi and Dashpur villages were forcibly evicted on the same basis. The tiger reserve's Deputy Director told Mongabay India that approximately 70 percent of characterised encroachments had been cleared, including eight settlements covering 200 hectares. FRA claims from Kurrubhata and Bargaon villages were rejected without due process; farming has been banned for two years in affected villages; and forest officials have entered CFR-titled areas in at least seven villages to fell trees and build salt licks without Gram Sabha consent.

On 19 August 2025, seventeen panchayats wrote to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs alleging intimidation and violations of the FRA and Wildlife Protection Act. MoTA responded on 26 September, writing to the Chhattisgarh government reaffirming that no relocation can proceed without explicit Gram Sabha consent.

The conflict reached its most recent flashpoint on 18 May 2026, when a Forest Department team led by DFO Varun Jain arrived at Jaitpuri village to carry out anti-encroachment action, booking 166 villagers. Villagers alleged assault, with women's bangles broken and clothes torn; the following day they surrounded the Dhamtari Collectorate demanding action against forest officials.