Residents of around 14 hamlets in the Masinagudi Panchayat observed bandh on March 9th, protesting against lack of clearances from the forest department for developmental activities. Many hamlets, being adjacent to reserve forests have been identified as elephant corridors or as tiger reserves. According to the president of the Forum against Harassment by the Forest Department, the demands include the setting aside of GO 145 (identifies Mudumalai Tiger Reserve core area as 321 sq. km) and implement GO 50 (where the core area is only 100 sq. km).
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