While looking at old photographs
taken years ago in the jungles of McCluskiegunj, I could find a huge difference
between the photos of the eighties and recent ones. The forest. That’s the
difference. It reflects how in the past forty years McCluskiegunj has lost most
of its beauty.
I began thinking of the various
ways that made the Gunj almost bald. Some reasons that were public were also
known to me. Such as; huge trees were cut and stripped in the forest illegally
and were sold by the powerful locals earlier when the forest was dense. But
later when the Maoist arrived in around 1987 they began looking after the jungles and gradually put a stop to it. They needed the jungles for hiding. Those who disobeyed were punished physically/monetarily.
In the past decades the
population of the Gunj has increased tremendously. Most of the new population
are villagers from nearby areas out of the Gunj. They build huts/houses on
forest, railway and no man’s land, cultivate a bit and keep cattle (goats, cows, buffaloes, pigs). Most of
them are daily labourers, vendors, drivers, and many in the illegal alcohol
business having the latest bikes and jazzy mobile phones per person in the
family but can’t afford toilets and cooking gas.
These villagers treat the forest
as their father’s property. They need wood to build, they need firewood, they
need fencing to protect their vegetable fields, and they need to feed their
cattle. They get all their needs for free from the forests.
The Forest Department has failed
to protect the forests, the wild animals such as the deer, wild boar, bear,
leopard and tiger over the years and is still in the same situation so now the
remaining forest is being attacked. No leopards or tigers have been reported of
for over half a century.
Though local residents do inform Forest
Officials via verbal conversations over phones, sms and WhatsApp with pictures
of people taking freshly cut trees. But no action is taken so far.
There is need to educate the
villagers of the area to use dried leaves and twigs or even dried and fallen
branches or trees as firewood if they prefer not to use government subsidized
cooking gas. They should also be made aware of the law concerning forests and
wild animals. Notice Boards, Warning Boards etc should be put at areas where
hardly any forest remains. The Forest Department MUST do their job.
