The Chhattisgarh High Court ruled in favor of the Forest Department to remove 30 encroachers from the buffer area of Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, including 23 from Odisha. The encroachers claimed forest rights but failed to provide evidence or ownership documents. Satellite imagery showed that the area was once dense forest. The Ministry of Forest and Environment upheld the evidence and directed the encroachers to vacate the area. The Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve is distributing resource ownership documents to villages and implementing measures to prevent human-wildlife conflict.