By Karanja Njoroge

The Government decision to evict Mau settlers has been replayed into what has become a familiar cycle of political reaction

The commencement of the eviction last week has been met with criticism by Rift Valley leaders who have accused the Government of creating a new set of Internally Displaced Persons.

Some of the leaders are accusing the Government of employing double standards by resettling IDPs and creating a crisis similar to the one resolved when post election IDPs were resettled.

Over the weekend, Rift Valley leaders led by Agriculture Minister William Ruto demanded that the Government allocates land to all the settlers being evicted from the forest.

The leaders have been calling for funds to be set aside for the resettlement of all evictees, inckuding those without title deeds.

The Mau Forest Interim Co-ordinating Secretariat, however says the more than 1,690 families targeted in the first phase of eviction do not posses any papers and are not eligible for compensation.

Environmentalists says the full effect of destruction in the Mau complex is taking its toll on local rivers and streams especially in the South Rift region.

A sharp decline on the water levels in the major rivers and streams has been registered due to unchecked human activities in the forest.

Planting of eucalyptus trees for domestic and commercial scale along the rivers, streams and swamps has also been cited as a cause of the reduced water levels.