Adivasi organisations observe bandh against GO 49 in Telangana's tribal heartland of Adilabad district
The GO 49, dated May 30, 2025, declared the tiger corridor straddling between the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Telangana and the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra as the conservation reserve.
Adivasi organisations like Tudum Debba have been vociferously opposing the GO 49, saying the proposed conservation reserve will lead to largescale displacement of Adivasis from their traditional habitat and loss of their forest-based livelihoods, leaving them with uncertain future. The bandh evoked good response in the agency areas of Telangana's tribal heartland of former composite Adilabad district with shops and other business establishments downing their shutters voluntarily in response to the bandh call.
The impact of the bandh was felt in most parts of Kumram Bheem Asifabad and Adilabad districts. Normal life was cripped in several agency mandals in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district. The TGSRTC bus services were disrupted for a few hours on Monday morning.
The bandh evoked partial response in Mancherial and Nirmal districts, sources said.
Members of various Adivasi organisations staged a sit-in at the bus depot in Adilabad town on Monday morning.
Addressing the demonstrators, Tudum Debba State leader Godam Ganesh alleged that the GO 49 is violative of the rights of Adivasi communities in scheduled areas protected by special legislations like the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act.
The proposed conservation reserve will not only lead to largescale displacement of Adivasis from more than 300 tribal settlements along the fringes of forests in the erstwhile Adilabad district but also snatch away their traditional livelihoods and threaten their age-old traditions and customs, he said.
He demanded that the GO 49 be immediately scrapped to protect the interests of tribal people.
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