Tribal Homes Demolished in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh: Forest Rights Claims and Forest Corporations Under Scrutiny
On the night of 11 October 2026, a team from the Madhya Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation came with four excavators and four tractors to Kosmi village (Singpur gram panchayat, Sehore district), south of Bhopal towards the Narmada valley.
The team demolished the temporary huts of 12 families of the Barela Adivasi community (a sub-group of the Bhil tribe), saying they had encroached on forest land. Standing maize and pigeon pea crops were destroyed, and an irrigation well was filled with earth and stones.
At least one affected resident had a pending individual forest rights claim under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. It was registered in December 2025, the land was verified in July 2026, and the sub-divisional committee sent it to the district committee in August 2026. It was still undecided when the homes were razed.
The State government ordered the district collector to inquire. The inquiry report says nine people occupied 31.48 hectares after destroying 78,700 teak saplings planted by the corporation, and that the occupation began in 2022, based on satellite imagery. Residents say they hold documents from 2006 onwards. The report does not mention examining the pending FRA claims.
In 2020, 186.96 hectares of forest land in Kosmi were handed to the corporation for teak plantations. Residents say this land lies within the village's traditional boundaries, which raises questions about community forest resource rights under the FRA.
Affected communities planned a march on foot to Bhopal, but postponed it after talks at the highest level of the State and Union governments. Suggestions include publishing old satellite images, forest working plans and pre-2005 encroachment registers, and sharing them with gram sabhas.
Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006
The Forest Rights Act, 2006 (full name: the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006) gives legal rights over forest land and forest resources to tribal people and other communities who have lived in and depended on forests for generations. It "recognises" rights that already existed in practice but were never written down. Claims are decided through a three-level process that begins with the Gram Sabha (the meeting of all adult villagers).
A resident of Kosmi had a claim that had already crossed the Gram Sabha and the sub-divisional committee and was waiting at the district level. Under Section 4(5), he should not have been evicted while the claim was pending. The case also raises a CFR question, because land handed to a forest corporation may lie within the village's customary forest boundary.
State Forest Development Corporations (FDCs)
A State Forest Development Corporation (FDC) is a government-owned company set up by a State to run the commercial side of forestry. It raises plantations of valuable trees like teak, bamboo and eucalyptus, cuts and sells timber, poles, fuelwood and bamboo, and supplies wood to industries. You can think of the Forest Department as the "guardian" of the forest and the FDC as its "business arm".
The demolitions in Kosmi were carried out by the MP State Forest Development Corporation, which was given 186.96 hectares of forest land in the village in 2020 for teak plantations. The clash shows the classic conflict between commercial plantation forestry and the forest rights of tribal communities living on the same land.
Bhil Tribe: India's Largest Tribal Community
The Bhils are one of India's oldest and largest tribal communities. They live mainly in western and central India, in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. The Census 2011 counted about 1.7 crore Bhils (including their many sub-groups), which makes them the largest Scheduled Tribe group in India. They are known for their archery, their colourful festivals and paintings, and their long history of resisting outside control over their land and forests.
The families whose homes were razed in Kosmi belong to the Barela community, a Bhil sub-group. Their story, of farming forest land for generations without a formal title, reflects the wider land insecurity that Bhil communities face across western and central India.
- Demolition date: night of 11 October 2026, at Kosmi village, Singpur gram panchayat, Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh
- 12 Barela Adivasi families affected; four excavators and four tractors used
- Kosmi: 2,230 hectares in total, of which 1,621 ha are forest and 509 ha agricultural land; 145 households, 998 Scheduled Tribe residents
- 186.96 ha of forest land in Kosmi transferred to the MP State Forest Development Corporation in 2020; 3,37,500 teak saplings planted across 135 ha
- Inquiry report: nine people allegedly occupied 31.48 ha and destroyed 78,700 teak saplings
- Pending FRA claim timeline: registered 11 December 2025; land verified 18 July 2026; forwarded to the district committee 7 August 2026
- FRA Section 4(5): no eviction until recognition and verification of rights is complete; occupation cut-off date 13 December 2005