Sattari Taluka residents confront the distressing possibility of losing their homes following the Forest Department’s recent notice to all Sattari panchayats. The notice mandates that individuals residing in wildlife areas must furnish documentation under the Forest Rights Act within the next two months.
Failure to comply could lead to eviction from the area, intensifying worries and uncertainties about the future among the affected populace.
One resident expressed concern, stating, “Only a few residents have the documentation; the rest do not. Of the 15 houses in our ward, only three have it, including us.”
For families entrenched in the area for generations, the situation brings deep uncertainty. “We don’t know what to do. We grow cashews on government land, and here, we don’t know where we’ll go or what we’ll do as we don’t have documents,” shared another distressed villager.
The imminent risk of displacement has left residents in a state of unease, grappling with the impending threat to their homes and traditional ways of life, with their futures hanging in the balance.
