Kosmi demolition: 12 Barela homes razed in Sehore, forest law in focus

Twelve Barela tribal families in Kosmi village, Sehore district, lost their homes after officials of the Madhya Pradesh Forest Development Corporation tore them down. The officials say the families had encroached on forest land and damaged a plantation raised in 2021. The families say they have lived on and farmed this land for generations. The clash has turned into a political storm across Madhya Pradesh.

The Union Agriculture Minister has sharply criticised the officials involved and wants action taken against them. The state government has ordered an inquiry, which will have to settle the basic facts: who occupied what, since when, and whether the correct legal steps were followed before the bulldozers arrived.

Kosmi is no one-off. Government data from the environment ministry (MoEFCC) puts recorded forest encroachment at about 13.06 lakh hectares as of March 2024. Madhya Pradesh tops the list with nearly 5.46 lakh hectares. Behind those numbers sit very different realities. Some occupation grows out of poverty, insecure livelihoods and historical exclusion. Some is organised and commercially driven, and the damage it does to forests is serious.

The Forest Rights Act (FRA) was written to fix some of that history. Since 2006, more than 24 lakh individual titles have been handed out, recognising rights over about 55 lakh acres, and community rights have been recognised over a far larger area. But unresolved claims, fresh occupation and weak governance after rights are granted keep the problem alive. The law also draws a clear line: it does not authorise new encroachment.

That leaves frontline foresters in a squeeze. Even lawful action can be painted as anti-people or anti-development. Pressure can come from local politics, and also from inside the administration, for instance when ministers criticise forest staff in review meetings. If criticism comes without backing, the analysis argues, field staff may think twice before acting against powerful encroachers. Forest officials should be accountable for their decisions, and they should be supported when they act within the law.

The flip side matters just as much. Enforcement that skips due process or ignores legally recognised community rights is not conservation; it is a fresh injustice. For the families in Kosmi, the question is simple and urgent: did they have claims that should have been heard first? For the state, the test is whether the inquiry can answer that honestly, protecting both forests and the people who depend on them, without turning either into a political weapon.

This report draws on an analysis first published by the Pioneer: The perils of politicising forest protection.

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