The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have........

BY AKSHAYA KUMAR SAHOO

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 14: With the advent of winter, the picturesque and hilly Rayagada town on the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, has worn a beautiful look. Alluring greenery on the hills and the hordes buffaloes and sheep feasting

Sukru Himrika has no more any hope to live in a place where he was born 23 years ago. He has been almost starving for quite some days and now he has to feed himself and his family.
since forest officials have stopped them from entering forests and collect firewood.

With his Dhangidi (young wife), the frail and tribal youth is waiting at Rayagada railway station in Andhra-Orissa border to catch his train to Surat in Gujarat for some work.
Not sure of the nature of work there, he has just made up his mind to leave his Maa Mati (mother earth as the tribals call their beloved birth place).

“I don’t know whether I will fit into any job there or not. I know nothing except collecting firewood and some non-timber forest produces. But I have no other alternative than leaving home to feed my wife and old parents,” said Sukru in his broken Oriya, even as his other friends gathered there nodded in approval of Sukru’s statement.

“Satakatha babu. Aamar aau kichhi chara nahin. Aame kemiti banchibu se nei aamar chinta. (What Sukru is true. We do not have any alternative means of sustenance and we are worried over our future,” said Kalu Himrika, another tribal youth who along with his two children and aged father has come to the railway station to board his train to Surat, nearly 2000 km away from his home.

Sukru and Kalu are among the one crore tribals who mainly depend upon the forests for their survival. But, as they alleged, they were no more allowed by the forest officials to enter forests.

“The forest officials are harassing us for no reason. Whenever they see us in forests, they seize our axes and weapons that we use to cut branches of dead wood. They ask bribes and threaten us to send to jail if we do not comply to their demand,” Kalu said, adding, many of his fellow villagers have in the past been sent to jail for their inability to offer bribes.

The government statistics itself says that more than 10 million tribals in Orissa directly depend upon forests as a source of non timber forest produce (NTFP ) for a sustenance. The tribals collect numerous items including sal leaves, sal seed, tubers kendu leaves and various medicinal fruits and seeds like amla, harida, bahada, patalgaruda, chireita, honey and mohua.
The NTFP trade in Orissa is valued at over Rs.3,000 crores annually with the benefits directly flowing to the tribal population. Since land holdings are absent or negligible, this extra incomes are critical to their survival. Standing sal trees which would provide leaves and seeds for decades to the tribals shall disappear once forest working starts.