India, Sept. 15 -- The Centre has asked the Odisha government to urgently look into allegations of gross violations of constitutional and legal rights of tribal villagers in Odidha's Similipal Tiger Reserve, where forest-dwellers from Bakua village in Mayurbhanj district claim they are being forcibly evicted without their consent.

In a letter dated September 4, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) forwarded a complaint from Bakua Gram Sabha to the state government, pointing to possible violations of multiple laws - including the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Ministry has ...