The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body governing all tiger reserves in the country, on Tuesday said that no rights under Forest Rights Act 2006 shall be allowed in critical tiger habitats (CTHs). The direction comes a day after TOI reported on March 27 that sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Ramtek had allowed fishing under community forest rights (CFR) to 425 Wadamba villagers living on the fringes of Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), which is a CTH. The NTCA, in a letter issued to chief wildlife wardens of all states, has said that in the absence of guidelines for notification of critical wildlife habitats (CWHs), no rights shall be conferred in CTHs, which are duly notified under Section 38 V (4) (I) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. The SDO, in his recommendation sent to Nagpur district collector, recently granted CFR for fishing in Pench’s 11 reserved forest compartments to Wadamba villagers. Though final call on SDO’s recommendation will be taken by a committee headed by district collector, SDO’s decision has come in for sharp criticism and local NGOs have formed a pressure group to ensure that the proposal is rejected. Sanjay Deshpande, president of environment protection NGO Srushti Paryavaran Mandal, said it is really sickening that villagers who were encroachers inside Pench, and actually had no traditional rights, are being considered for CFRs. “We will meet the district collector and urge him to reject the proposal. The SDO has even over-ruled the Supreme Court and high court orders, which amounts to contempt,” said Deshpande. Another member of Srushti, Vinit Arora, said Pench has already suffered a lot due to illegal fishing in Totladoh reservoir. For full report, log on to www.timesofindia.com The Wadamba village doesn’t have any proof to show that they are traditional dwellers of Wadamba. “These villagers were basically labourers evicted in 2002 from Pench following high court orders. How can they be granted CFRs? Considering the NTCA directive, the SDO recommendation should be rejected outright,” Arora said. The villagers also don’t have nistar rights. The SDO granted them nistar under Nehru Yuva Fishermen Cooperative, which was registered in 1994-95, and was involved in fishing. The SDO considered this evidence of Wadamba villagers to consider them traditional dwellers of Totladoh, which was inside Pench then. Deshpande says these fishermen have already played havoc on Pench and if at all they are given fishing rights, considering livelihood option, it should be in some alternative water body like Bawanthadi dam. State’s chief wildlife warden Shree Bhagwan and state wildlife board member Kishor Rithe have already informed the district collector about their opposition to the SDO’s move. Srushti members will also meet the collector in a day or two.