The people of Dobjhirna village, barely 5 kilometres (km) from the town of Semri in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad district are furious. Not without reason. The land they have tilled for 15 years is to be taken away from them to relocate people from another village, Dhai, which lies in the nearby Bori sanctuary.

On April 21, all the 56 families of Dobjhirna, women and children included, gathered at a mahapanchayat (a big gathering) to collectively voice their rage at the decision of the forest department which, if implemented, would snatch away from the villagers their sole means of livelihood