It was 1999 and the air was filled with the tension of uncertainty. I was sitting with more than 50 tribal leaders on the bank of the Kabini river discussing what our next move should be. The past few years had seen us battle it out with the local forest department and the Karnataka government, demanding proper rehabilitation post formation of the Bandipur National Park and the construction of the Kabini dam. The dam was built in the Sixties and the declaration of intent for forming the National Park was issued in the early Seventies.
We had petitioned. . .