Still waiting: 25 years of promises in Naya Balarpur
Twenty-five years after relocation, 39 Sahariya families in Naya Balarpur still await promised farmland, compensation and rehabilitation.
In 2000, 100 Sahariya Adivasi families were relocated from Balarpur village, inside what is now Madhav National Park, to Naya Balarpur under a government relocation and rehabilitation scheme. These families, who had lived sustainably with forest resources, were promised land and basic amenities to resettle and find new livelihoods.
Each family was to receive a pucca house, water, electricity, two hectares of farmland and a village school. However, after relocation authorities discovered the new site was also reserved forest land, not revenue land as assumed. This halted further land allotments.
Today, 25 years later, only 61 families have land. The remaining 39 families were told to wait and adjust with others. Deprived of farmland and livelihood, many were forced to labour at hazardous stone mines nearby. Several men developed tuberculosis, silicosis and other ailments and died young. Their families received only meagre widow pensions pushing them further into poverty.
In 2016, following media attention, the Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission recommended compensation of INR 3 lakh per affected family and an additional INR 2 lakh for widows of those who died due to hazardous work. Implementation stalled and in 2021, a Tehsildar's letter cited arbitrary reasons for land denial, including that some were now too old to farm, had died, or had migrated.
Zenith responded with awareness drives, complaints, and legal action, securing drinking water for the village via the Court of Public Utility Services. Efforts for compensation and land through the High Court and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes remain unresolved. Zenith’s public interest litigation was dismissed, with the court suggesting affected individuals file cases themselves.
The 39 families of Naya Balarpur still await justice, land, and dignity. Their trust in the government has eroded. As one elderly woman said,
"There is nothing here, but the government has thrown us here. We are suffering here. Tomorrow, they might throw us somewhere else — you can’t trust the government."
Zenith continues to fight, but we need your support to push for long-overdue rights for these families.
Reach out to our team at zenithssle.communications@gmail.com
