Mon Mar 03 15:01:30 UTC 2025: ## Wayanad Villagers Protest Stalled Relocation Project
**Kozhikode, March 3, 2025** – Residents of Chettiyalathur village in Wayanad district, Kerala, are demanding the immediate completion of a long-delayed relocation project. The project, initiated in 2011 by the State Forest Department in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, aims to move residents of 14 villages situated within the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
While approximately 600 families from 10 villages have already been relocated, progress has stalled in Chettiyalathur since 2018. According to villagers and representatives of the Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, at least 10 families and over 100 marginal farmers remain in the village, facing increasing risks due to wildlife encroachment.
Although relocation efforts began in 2021, around 75 families, including tribal communities and landowners, are yet to be moved. Villagers accuse the Forest Department of failing to deliver on promised compensation packages for large landowners and land acquisition for smaller landowners not originally residing in Chettiyalathur. They report increased instances of wild animals entering the village even during daylight hours.
To pressure authorities, residents plan a “satyagraha” (civil disobedience) protest outside the wildlife warden’s office in Sulthan Bathery on Thursday. The slow pace of the project has left many villagers feeling vulnerable and frustrated, highlighting the ongoing challenges in balancing wildlife conservation with the needs of local communities.
First Piper 