The land, on which the tiger sanctuary stands, once belonged to the raja of Travancore. The tribals claim that the king gave them 36,000 acres of land here -- they have a document in Malayalam and faded British era maps to prove their claim.
"But the forest department has burnt all our records. They just want to get rid of us," says Ganeshamoorthy.
The villagers are all registered members of the 9th ward of the Vikramasinghapuram town panchayat. They cast their votes in every election and proudly tell us that their legislator is now Speaker in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
The forest department claims that it had offered land outside the forest to these villagers, but they refused.
The forest department officials are lying, say the villagers, but admit that even if they were offered land outside the forest they would never shift.
Image: This house has a solar plate, and uses solar energy to power a radio and a torch.
Also read: Ever been face to face with the King?
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