The Daltonganj State Forest Environment and Climate Change Department has increased the number of notified villages in the core area of the Palamu Tiger Reserve from eight to 34. Officials said on Tuesday that until April 2022, there were only eight notified villages in the core area. The state government notified 26 villages located in the core area of the reserve on May 9 last year. The 26 villages now have an option and opportunity to get their relocation done according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines. "The Palamu Tiger Reserve management never exerts pressure on the villagers opting for relocation is purely and absolutely voluntary," said an official source. "The residents have to tell us in writing that they want relocation. They have to organize gram sabhas' during which they have to unanimously resolve their relocation. It is the choice of the residents to opt out of the core area as living in the core area of the reserve deprives them of many governmental benefits - road healthcare, children's education, irrigation." Kumar Ashish, deputy director of the south of the Palamu Tiger Reserve, said that 210 households in Latu and Kujrum are in a very advanced stage of relocation. "The proposal for relocation of three more villages - Turer Tumer
