Coffee In Koraput

The almost denuded slopes of the undulating low hills of Eastern Ghat hill range may present the onlooker with a specter no less beautiful than the fabled English country side. The less steep slopes blanketed with various crops like niger, raagi, paddy, lentils etc. depending on the season. Large trees like Mango, Banyan, Fig, Mahua, Semul and perhaps a stray Sal dot the landscape. Here and there crop up tissue cultured eucalyptus plantations and break the monotony of smaller crops. The landscape exhibits a unique array of colour with each passing season. The steep hill slopes which are spared from podu cultivation host scrub forest of mixed variety where trees are not very big. A careful look at the satellite map of Podagad and Kakrigumma area of Koraput will reveal patches of dark greenery in the otherwise barren looking carpet of brown. Some of these are remaining pockets of dense forests and the others are the painstaking effort of some of the entrepreneur who have taken up cultivation of shade grown coffee with pepper. The tall and straight growing silver oak trees host the pepper creeper, afford the much need shade for the coffee bushes and more importantly add up to the green cover of the area.

History of coffee in Koraput district can be traced back to the times of Maharaja Ram Chandra Deo of Jeypore who had set up silviculture stations to take up cultivation of coffee plants on an experimental basis near present day Mohulbhata village and Peta ghat. The experiment was successful to some extent as well.  The erstwhile ruler had foreseen the suitability of Koraput climate for rearing of coffee plants. Though the real head way was made post independence when soil conservation department of government of Odisha, to mitigate soil erosion, decided to take up large scale plantation of coffee in the catchment area of Machkund reservoir. Further some private entrepreneurs from within and outside state acquired land and started cultivation of coffee with pepper in Kasipur, Dasmantpur, Kakrigumma, Podagada , Pottangi area as a cash crop. These areas being located on the 900 mtr plateau of Eastern Ghat mountain range offer suitable climate for coffee rearing.

In 1970s and 1980s nearly 200 aspiring planters raised coffee plantations in different areas of Koraput district to reap the benefits of the conducive climate. Coffee Board of India  set up a research station near Koraput town to promote, develop and assist agronomy of coffee in the district. And thirty years later only 10-20 planters have been able to carry through.

Absence of any market linkages, labour shortage, increased labour cost, lack of any support or stimuli from state government has forced many of the planters either to abandon the cultivation or move on to other agronomy. However steadily high demand of coffee and pepper in international markets at present has made cultivation of these commodities a more lucrative proposition than ever before. Traditional areas of Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala where coffee had been grown over the years have been facing problems in plenty which include high labour costs, pest/diseases like berry borer and coffee rust, unavailability of new land for expansion etc.    

Sri Susanto Panda, a planter from Jeypore, has persevered hard to tide over the lean period and has established himself as one of the successful coffee planters of the district. He ventured into the business of coffee in the year 1997, quite late compared to other planters of the district. With sustained effort and his conviction he has succeeded in reaping good profit. From among the two variety of coffee that is grown in Indian sub-continent viz Arabica and Robusta Sri Panda grows the former at his 30 acres plantation near Rajuguda village in Dasmantpur block of Koraput district.

He opines “Climate, soil condition, rainfall etc. are very conducive for coffee in Koraput district. With a little hard work, dedication and sustained effort one can get good profit from coffee and black pepper. When I started I had very little access to information and technology related to the crop but now everything is so readily available. However for any agricultural success story some push and support from government is very much necessary in the form of technical know-how, financial aid and market linkage etc.”

“For the overall development of our region coffee cultivation can be an effective tool. Being labour intensive it provides employment to poor tribal folks. The shade and host trees increase the green  cover and check soil erosion. Coffee plantations also act as a safe heaven for the biodiversity of the region if environment friendly practices are adopted.” says the 45 years old agriculturist. 

Importers of coffee from Europe are looking up to non-traditional area such as Odisha and Andhra Pradesh for better quality coffee beans as the beans produced in these areas have not been affected by berry borer or other such disease. But the production from Odisha is not sufficient to carve a niche for itself in the international market. Ruing the lackadaisical attitude of the state he says “Government of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state is vigorously promoting the coffee from Paderu and Araku area internationally and have targeted to increase area under coffee cultivation by upto 1.5 Lakh hectare where as due to lack of any encouragement from state government the area under coffee is gradually decreasing in Odisha.”   

Re-discovering Koraput : Day-3

Route : 

Forenoon : Semliguda-Nadapur-Balda-Nageshwari Cave-Padua and back to Semliguda

Afternoon : Semliguda-Kunduli-Deomali and Back to Semliguda and then to Jeypore late in the evening.

It was the last week of October and winter had not yet taken the higher plateau of Koraput in its wintry embrace. Even so the morning was too chilly. Coming out from beneath the cosy warmth of my blanket on such a morning was not a very welcoming proposition. But we were on a road trip. I had to leave the bed, very reluctantly though, after several nudge from Udayan. When we came out of the hotel the sun of 29th October 2012 was shining bright in its rising path and had left the rim of Eastern ghat hills a little below. The morning air felt crisp and devoid of moisture. Perfecto. Most of the things I said about the food in Berhampur hold good for Koraput as well, with a few deviations. Today's breakfast consisted of puri and upma. It was nearing 9 am when we left Semliguda.

                                    Blanket of niger flower on the slopes of Koraput 

                                                   Agave plantation on the bare hill slopes.

Not even out of Semliguda town and the landscape around pressed into action their force of beckoning and there was no escaping. We stopped every now and then to click. We stopped and we clicked, we clicked and we stopped. Our ride was along a major district road. The country around was mostly undulating. Hills, as far as the vision went. Most of the low hills on the plateau are devoid of forest. Cultivation of niger seed(Guizotia abyssinica), Finger Millet(raagi)(Eleusine coracana) and Maize is taken up very industriously by the people on these hill slopes. Apart from these crops Cashew nut and agave are planted on many hill slopes. Cashew nut and agave have important role in the economy of the district. Cashew nuts and the fibre from agave are two important agricultural harvests from this region of the district. Apart from the harvest they aid the soil conservation on the hill slopes. Niger seed is also a major produce from this region of the state. The highlands are suitable for cultivation of this exotic plant. The niger flower blooms with the onset of winter and we were travelling right around that time. The hill slope blanketed with niger flower is a sight for sore eyes and offer irresistible frames for a shutter bug. The landscape to our right was bathing in the morning sunlight and looked incredible and to our left the hills had a trace of haze on them but looked equally amazing against the light. For me, the road had many memories attached to it. This is the same road that leads to Padua where we lived for six years between 1990 and 1996. Memories, irrepressible as they are, came floating. When we had to come to Jeypore from Padua we used to catch the bus at 7 o'clock at Padua. Irrespective of the season Maa would wrap us(me and my younger brother Sidharth) in warm clothes, because mornings used to be chilly in Padua, even in the summer back then. My favourite place in the bus would be the window seat or the one nearer to the driver as they offered the best view of the surroundings. I would be staring at the landscape passing by the window in great amusement. Typical Nadeem-Shravan or Anand-Milind songs of the 90's would be blaring from the cassette player in the bus. I was not grown up enough to appreciate the beauty around then. During the early nineties there was only a fair weather bridge across the river at Pitaguda. The bridge would submerge for six months of the year when the back waters of Kolab river swelled and two humongous boats ferried people across the river during this period. The boats were large enough to ferry a Tata 407 along with a horde of other loads. Crossing the river by that ferry was an adventure sort of for Sidhu and me. 

                                                            Agave flower buddings

Coming back to the trip, we reached Balda at about 10.30 am. Balda is a small village at the foot of the hill on which the Nageshwari caves are situated. It is nearly 35 kilometres from Semliguda. We found our way through the village to the caves. Here let me give you a rough idea of the hill we were ascending. It is a table top hill. The flat top is nearly 4 square kilometres in extent and stands at 1260 mtrs above sea level i.e more than 4100 feet. The Nageshwari cave is located on the south-eastern corner of this flat topped hill. The slopes are covered with dense moist deciduous vegetation. The road to the top of the hill winds through the forest on these slopes. When we were planning for a visit to these caves I took the help of Google earth to trace the road and found that there was a decent looking road leading up to the caves from Balda village. However the real picture was something far from what it looked like in Google imagery. The road we were riding on was no road at all. It looked like a well used boulder-strewn mountain path. The lone testimony to it being a road were the bushes which were cleared off by the people using it and gave it the look of a road. The first challenge the trip threw on us. I was leading the way. The first quarter of mile was not a big deal for me or the Classic. The torque that RE had packed into the engine was showing its apparent advantage. I was loving every bit of it. My hands gripping the handle bars firmly, my gaze fixed on the road and an in-suppressible smile on my face. I reached at the top of the first gradient and stopped to look back how Udayan and his TBTS were faring and found them not trailing far behind. A turn and there was the second gradient and the roads worsened. 

                                                There was a "Road" that was not There

                                                     Udayan and his Thunderbird fight the hill

                                          Terrain we rode on.

                                                         View from Nageshwari Hill

Rain water had washed away the soil from the surface, leaving behind a litter of boulders and deep furrows. I made it to the top of the second gradient with much difficulty. But Udayan struggled a lot with his bike. At one point his engine stopped and he started skidding downhill but somehow managed to find a foothold. I went back to help him with the kick start. Because he could not have started the bike himself. I held his bike from behind while he kick started it. The Thunderbird was a little low on power compared to the Classic as it had a slightly lighter crank than the Classic. On the way we saw a group of wood cutters and asked them whether the bikes can go to the top on this road. They said yes but not with much conviction. We decided to proceed, taking it as a challenge. But the hill made it more difficult. I somehow managed to proceed a little further. Udayan stopped at a place and said his bikes clutch wire felt loose and he said it may snap any-time.Shit, I thought. We had another one kilometre to the cave and had no idea what was the condition of the road ahead. Then it dawned upon me what a situation we had run into. If Udayan's bike's clutch wire snapped it could possibly take the whole day to take the bike back to civilization and which meant we will have to postpone the Deomali visit to the next day which we obviously did not want to. We parked our bikes and sat beneath the shade of a mango tree. The sun was shining brightly and we started to feel the heat.Relieving myself from the jacket and camera I started pondering over the situation. Then we agreed mutually that proceeding further will be too risky given the state of road. Trekking to the top was neither a practicable proposition as we would be late for the Deomali drive. So discretion proved to be the better part of valour and we retraced from there after fifteen minutes.

                                                                 The Point of Return

The view from the place, where we were sitting, was serene. The sun midway on the sky felt a little hot for comfort. The back-waters of Jalaput reservoir gleamed in the distance. The vista helped a lot to bring the adrenalin levels down and meanwhile the bike engines also cooled off. The bikes had to be turned around the 50 degree slope very carefully and one at a time. I held for support while Udayan turned his bike and he supported me while I turned mine. I decided to descend first. I descended the slope with my engine running and put the Classic in first gear. I pushed the bike forward inches at a time and Udayan did the same with his engine off. Though climbing down was not very easy, our bikes were saved of the torture this time. But we had to perform a pretty good balancing act on the boulder-strewn mountain path. A stream on the way was good place to quench our thirst. With a promise to return once again and scale to its top we bade good by to the Nageshwari hills and proceeded to Padua.

                                                     The view that soothed our Senses

Roads or No Roads, My Bull took me there, where other mortal bikes fear to Tread

Padua is quaint little village in the remote part of Koraput with immensely beautiful landscape around and a climate that is exceptional. It came into little prominence during the Dandakaranya project. Homeless Bengali refugees were given transient accommodation here before being resettled in other parts of the district. I had not visited the place even for once after we left that place in 1996. This is the place where the first threads of attachment between me and nature were tied. The place had a few government establishment such as a dispensary, a veterinary centre, two schools, branch of a rural bank(of which my father was the manager), a police station and a handful other such offices, most of which ran in the dilapidated Dandakaranya project houses. A small railway station on the base of a hill gave the place a British era charm. Life at Padua was always easy going. Mornings use to be chilly. My school was at a stone throw distance from our house. I used to roam about a lot in the village after school and I remember good thrashings from my father for my overtime wanderings, though I was not mischievous at all. Most of the people liked me a lot in the village and I had free access to every household as a cute child. Thursday used to be the weekly market. I loved accompanying Baba to the haat. Most of our evenings would be spent near the reservoir back waters with Baba. Padua being a remote village suffered from frequent power outages. But we enjoyed the power outage period very much because it disrupted study time and Sidhu and me would coax Baba to tell us jungle tales. 

First we went to the inspection bungalow situated on the top of a knoll over looking the reservoir and the surrounding plateau. This is one of the many British time bungalows that are still there in undivided Koraput district. The location and architecture of the the bungalow fascinated me a lot and I dreamt of constructing my own bungalow in the same fashion as this one when I was a school boy. The bungalow compound and its adjoining scrub forest used to be a favourite haunt of ours. My father used to bring us here for a evenings birding and we would sit on the verandah of the house to see the sun set below the reservoir and hills. The rear portion of the bungalow had been damaged. Buildings such as this one should be preserved for their antique as well as aesthetic values. I always hold the British in awe for the reason that they always choose the best of places to construct their house and bungalows. 

                                                       The British Time Bungalow at Padua

                                                              View from the Bungalow

                                                                      British Charm

Just when we were about to leave the bungalow I spotted a flock of birds which flew from one tree to another as I watched them. I identified them as babblers. Of course they were babblers but babblers that whistled as they flew. Yes, there they were, a flock of Yellow-billed babblers. Yellow-billed babblers are a species of babblers(known as Kundakhia pakhi or Sat Bhai in Odisha). They were the birds I was looking for since a few months. The northern most range of this bird according to the field guides is up to the northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. These birds had never been reported from Odisha. Few months ago I had come across a babbler near Jeypore which looked like a yellow billed babbler. I had not got the confirmation as I had not heard the bird call. But this time I saw them in broad day light and also heard them whistle. The common and jungle babblers make raucous chatter or a metallic '"Ttich" '"Ttich" sound but yellow billed babblers have a sweet whistle like vocalization. We took a few photographs of these birds as a record so that Koraput can be included in their range of distribution later. Then we rode about in the village to see the place where we lived and the school where I started my formal education. The house where we lived was in a very dilapidated condition but the school where I studied had expanded and was in good state. The scenery around looked as beautiful as it used to 16 years ago. Nostalgia. That is what I had come here for. I showed Udayan the above places and told him in brief how my childhood days had passed in this beautiful place. I recognized a few familiar faces in the village but they could not recognize me for obvious reasons. I had left the place when I was a boy of 10 and now there I was as a man of 26 sporting a French beard and riding a Royal Enfield. I preferred not to startle them by divulging my identity and left Padua. 

We returned to Semliguda by 2 o'clock. A hasty bath and a quick lunch followed. I had asked a few of my friends from Jeypore and Sidhu(my younger brother) to accompany us to the top of Deomali. However others failed to turn up and Sidhu delayed his start from Jeypore. It was getting too late. I called him up and told him not to come and we started from Semliguda to Deomali at 3.15 in the afternoon. The plateau looked resplendent in the afternoon light of the sun, the right setting for photography. We took a left turn from the Kundli haat. This haat is famous through out the district for vegetables. The Mali tribe who inhabit the valleys near Deomali are very laborious people and they grow the best vegetables of the region using the traditional organic practices. Kundli haat is where all the vegetables are traded and then make their way to different parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The arch at Kundli haat welcomes all the visitors to Deomali peak. From Kundli onwards the road passes through a scenic valley with high and bare hills on two sides and cultivation and crystal clear streams in the middle. Anybody passing through this valley with a camera in hand cannot help but stop many times on this road to click pictures. So did we. The afternoon golden light had made the valley even more alluring. Though we were getting late we could not resist the temptation to take pictures. 

                     Deomali Peak, 1672 Mtrs from mean sea level as seen from the road leading to it

                                                      Deomali peak as seen from the valley below.

                                                                       Deomali Here I come

We reach Thuria, the village at the base of Deomali. The road from Thuria to Deomali is a riders delight. The zig-zagging mountain road felt awesome to ride on. As we rode up hill I felt the temperature dipping and the light fading. We reached at the shoulder of Deomali which offers a panoramic view of most of the hills and valleys around it. There is a 3 km stretch of road that runs on the shoulder of the hill and is the most scenic part of the road. The road ends at a place from where the peak is 2 kms away. We could see the sun fast disappearing behind the distant hills. We had to make it to the top of Deomali before darkness. But that seemed an impossible feat now. It was nearing five o'clock and the sun almost ready to go for the night. We were almost two hundred meters below the summit. A family was out there picnicking when we reached. Apart from them there was old cow-herder, smoking a rolled tobacco leaf. He asked for alms with a wide grin to which I could not say no. We decided to trek as far up as possible towards the peak before darkness. The picnicking family left the place as we started our trek, so did the cow-herder along with his custody. 

The roads on Deomali

Right there where it was Made to be

                                                              Eastern side of Deomali

                                                          The magical sunset at Deomali

                                                                 While trekking up Deomali

The only time the tripod was of used

There we were on the mountain, just two of us. With the light fading away rapidly we trekked at a brisk pace. The anabatic mountain breeze was sweeping across the hill side. We reached an observation tower(view point). By now we were a little out of breath. It was almost dark now. To reach the peak was our target, but given the terrain we were walking on it would have been very difficult to come back from the summit unhurt in the dark. The mountain side was full of loose boulders and scrub. There were also many sloth bears on the other face of the hills which we might unknowingly stumble upon inadvertently. I always carry a small Maglite torch with me but that would not have been of much use while trekking up or down. We stop at the watch tower to enjoy the vista for a while before going downhill again. We sat on the tower enjoying the serenity and tranquillity of Deomali. We decided to keep mum for sometime. I inhaled and filled my lungs with the clean and cold mountain air and it had its own magical effect on the body. Every muscle and nerve felt extremely relaxed. A few insects chirped under some boulder or in some bush, a red-wattle lapwing gave its did-you-do-it , did-you-do-it call at some distance, a few birds sang their evening songs to bid adieu to the departing day. To the west, behind the hill, the sun had already sank into a slumber. Only the golden glow of its fading rays lit up the western sky like a golden canvas. To the east I could see the full moon(it was a full moon day) lazily rising above the rim of distant hills. Down below in the valleys to my right and left a thick mist was descending on the villages. We sat there for quite a while. The tower was half broken, some of the steel rods used in its construction had been stolen, the place was littered with polythene wrappers, cigarette packs etc. The tower's walls and pillars served as the "wall of fame" or I must say "wall of name" for many lovers of the district. This has to stop somehow. 

The Vista from the top most watch tower of Deomali

Deomali Landscape 

I was not at all feeling like leaving that place. The only thought that bothered me while sitting there was in case one of our bikes broke down on the way or got a flat tyre we could be in real trouble. I kept that thought to myself and prayed for a safe ride back up to Semliguda. We started our walk back to the place where our REs were parked below. We collected dry brushwood along the way and made a small bonfire on the road for ourselves. The bonfire was a token celebration for having made it to Deomali at last. It was an end to years of waiting, years of yearning and here I was at the Deomali, the highest hill in the whole of Eastern Ghat mountain range. Lighting the fire was not easy though on the windy mountain top. Lighting up the fire we sat there for a while, posed for a few photographs near it. The road on which we were sitting had Maoist slogans and messages written all over it. We call it a day. As the fire died down we started on our way back. The full moon in its full glory lit up the bare mountain side in a ghostly shade. On the way back we saw Barn Owls sitting on the ground, probably the red wattle lapwing which was calling did-you-do-it a few minutes ago and a fox. On one of the U-turns on the way down a few men suddenly appeared with long staves in their hand and gave quite a shock to both of us. Udayan was leading this time. One of the man raised his arm to ask for lift but we did not stop for obvious reasons. I sighed in relief when we reached Thuria village. From then on we drove faster. On the way between Thuria and Kundli Udayan told me there was four-wheeler which was trying to catch up with us. I told him to accelerate and in two minutes we were to far ahead to be caught up with. 

The Bonfire

We reached Semliguda at about 8 o'clock. After having a little snack break there we checked out of the hotel and proceeded on our way to Jeypore, my home town. The journey to Jeypore was uneventful. We reached Jeypore around 9.30pm. That was the end to Day-3. The off road biking earlier in the day gave us the high we were looking for. Deomali without a doubt was the literal high point of our trip. These two beautiful places along with many other in Koraput hold a lot of potential to be promoted as tourist destination. But sometimes it amazes me that many people of Odisha don't have the slightest idea that places like Deomali exist in their own state. Vigorous promotion and good tourist facilities at the right places by the tourism department can definitely help to increase visitors foot fall. Deomali as I noticed has scope for adventure sports such as trekking and para-gliding. My word for any one reading this : Deomali is definitely a place you must see in Odisha. 

Hope you enjoyed the travelogue as much as I loved the travel.

Day-4: To Continue, Trek to the base of 160 mtr high Duduma water fall in the next post. Till then these photographs will keep you company.

For more of my pictures visit my Flickr photo stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/75813070@N08/
or My Picasa web album at  https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108824607231013281975/albums

An Appeal

In the great epic of Ramayana there is reference to a densely wooded region of India where lord Rama, his spouse Sita and his younger sibling Laxmana spent a major part of their exile from Ayodhya. This great forest was described as ‘Dandakaranya’ where many dramatic events were encountered by these three. Mythology apart but this forest were believed to be one of the densest jungles of India and harbored many wild animals. The forests of present-day Koraput, Malkangiri of Odisha, parts of East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and the Bastar district of Chattisgarh are believed to be the same as ‘Dandakaranya’ of Ramayana. Till the late fifties this vast expanse of jungle was literally untouched and virgin, aborigine tribes such as the ‘Koya’,‘Bonda’,‘Poroja’ and ‘Kondh’ being the only dwellers. It is said that just prior to independence, when a major chunk of this region was under the princely state of Jeypore, the Maharaja of Jeypore used to pay a forest revenue that was more in comparison to the agricultural revenue he was paying to the British government. You can very well imagine the forest scenario then. Though the ‘Koya’ and ‘Bonda’s mainly survived on hunting and collection but the ‘Kondh’ tribe lived on shifting cultivation or ‘Podu’ as it is known in colloquial language. Podu way of cultivation harms the jungle to a great extent. However till that time the jungles were not at all adversely affected owing to these practices by the tribes. The simple reason was-the population was meager. Then with independence came the various projects which could not have materialized without much damage to the flora and fauna.

First of its kind was the Dandakaranya project under which the Bengali refugees(displaced by the formation of new East Pakistan or existing Bangladesh) were given a new home in our big nation with even a much bigger heart. The procedure was to clear off the priceless pristine forests, convert them to agricultural land, and distribute them to the countless homeless refugees. This process of denuding the forest was very idiotically termed as ‘reclamation’. As if the forests once upon a time were fertile agricultural land and then the forest had swallowed them for some reason. In the whole process hundreds and thousands of square kilometers of Sal and bamboo forest came crashing down under bulldozers, rendering thousands of wild animals homeless and finally falling prey to the guns and arrows. Great beasts like the Tiger (Panthere Tigris), wild Buffalo (Bubalus Bubalis) and the majestic Indian Bison (Boss Gaurus) were part of this list. Better not to mention of other innumerable small creatures. The forests near Umarkot, Raighar of present day Nowrangpur district, most part of Malkangiri district and parts of Kondagaon area of Bastar almost disappeared, thanks to the Dandakaranya project. It is not possible to assess the damage that must have been done to the ecosystem throughout the process of clearing forest to settle more than five hundred villages for the rehabilitation of refugees. This was one heart ripping tale of destruction.

Second to follow was the construction of an ambitious hydroelectric and irrigation project at Balimela in existing Malkangiri district. This claimed the home of the wild buffaloes along with many other herbivores and carnivores as the Kondakamberu valley submerged after the construction of a dam at Balimela on the river Sileru. This project was being vehemently opposed by environmentalists yet the government went ahead with the project. One of the finest but lesser known tiger habitats of the country went under water and subsequently the buffaloes were wiped out of the face of the district. Gradually other wildlife such as tiger, sambhar, spotted deer etc. faced similar fate. One can refer the book authored by Er. Balkrishna Sheshadri titled ‘The Twilight of India’s Wildlife’ to have an insight to the topic. The author was a member of the Environmental Impact Assessment committee formed to report the effect of the project. 

Now whatever was left after this could have been saved. But the lack of farsightedness in the then governments was exemplary and this lacuna resulted in continuous exploitation of these forests and wildlife. Huge forest resources attracted many people to the region. Every one wanted to make a quick buck out of timber. Then some paper industries started to take advantage of the abundant bamboo that was available in the region. These semi deciduous forests constitute of a variety of trees that have many industrial and domestic utility as timber, fuel etc. Nexus between forest officials, timber mafias and some big names in local politics proved to be a force too much against Mother Nature. There are instances where some irresponsible and dim-witted politicians for the sake of vote bank gain encouraged tribals to encroach and cultivate forest land so that they can claim a right over the land and a valid right of record would be issued to them afterwards for the extent of land they have under their possession. The outcome was all but obvious. Every one wanted to have a piece of land as big as possible under their possession. Once again the forest and thousands of its denizens were at the receiving end. 

Such molestation to the forest continues till date. Another problem that has come up in recent time is the naxal menace. Fear of naxalites has adversely affected the forest conservation as the forest officials are apprehensive of going on regular beats in to the forest which has turned home to the naxalites. The poachers and timber mafia take this opportunity to carry out their depredation. 

Apart from all these factors another thing that has a telling effect is population. Mainly the number of forest inhabitants has grown exponentially over the years and so has their demands and dependence on forest. With so many people residing inside the forest and depending on shifting cultivation, it has taken its toll on our forests. To make both ends meet people have started cutting trees for commercial sale of wood which is not at all good news. These people earn a decent sum by the sale of charcoal and young trees which are transported clandestinely to urban centers for house construction. All these activities are carried out right under the nose of enforcing authorities and sometimes with their aid. Had the dependence on forest been confined only to fire wood collection and house hold use of the forest dwellers, the forest would have recuperated itself easily. However the commercial exploitation has made matters still worse. In the month of March-April every year people set to fire the forest carpet which is full of dry leaves owing to the fall. This is a practice rampant in most part of the Dandakaranya region. These fires play a very detrimental role for the health of the forest as they turn the dry leaves and undergrowth to raw ash which otherwise, on decomposing, could have nourished bigger trees as rich bio fertilizer. Apart from being a major source of Carbon dioxide the fires kill innumerable other organisms of the forest floor which are the foundations of the crucial food chain of which we are also a part. Sometimes these fires take the shape of inferno and result in the destruction of hectares of prime forestland and countless wildlife, small and large. 

All these things collectively have led the Dandakaranya to shrink only to a few pockets. But still there is a lot that can be saved and protected. The pronouncement of Kanger Valley of Chattisgarh as a National Park really was a commendable gesture in this regard. More than 200 square kms of virgin forest has been protected under this park. This forest still is the roaming ground for tigers and herds of bison. A healthy population of bison and a considerable number of tigers can be encountered here. The park harbors a rich biodiversity. This is evident from the presence of a balanced mix of herbivores and carnivores .The river Saveri or Kolab forms the eastern boundary of the park and also serves as the border of Chattisgarh and Odisha states. Though the forest on Chattisgarh side is highly under protection, situation on the Odisha side is too gloomy. If we follow the river downstream from the Kotpad block of Odisha it has a very good forest growth on both banks. For the first 10-15 kms the river flows through Odisha. After this it traverses a good 30 kms through dense forest and crossing a few rapids in the course. The holy limestone cave of Gupteswar is situated on the eastern bank and mid way on this 30km stretch. On the Odisha side there is a contiguous belt of dense forest that follows the river from north to south. First comes the Sindhigaon RF. Bordering it and separated only by the road from Boipariguda to Gupteswar is the Dandarkol, Dharamgarh RF, adjacent to these is the Sarangapalle RF. Dandarkol, Dharamgarh and Sarangapalle are the name given to three different areas of a single tract of forest by the forest department to lay down the jurisdictions. The first four reserve forests are in Koraput district. Tulsi RF belongs to Malkangiri district. Except the Tulsi RF, the other four lie on the Eastern bank of the river. The landscape here is breathtakingly beautiful. From the plateau at an altitude of 600 mtrs above mean sea level, the undulating hills after a series of descent give way to the 200 meter plateau on the western side of the great eastern ghat mountains. These hills are a major source of water that feed the important river of Godavari that is a life line of south India. Sal is the predominant tree in these forests. There is also representation of valuable timber like bamboo, Mahogany, Indian Rose wood, Ivory Wood, Ptero Carpus, Sterculia etc. Put together these forest cover a good five to six hundred square kms of contiguous forest, which is rare to be found anywhere in the country today. Small hamlets and villages are scattered in remote corners of these forests. Clearings have been made in between for cultivation but mostly on grounds that are relatively flatter. A major chunk of Dharamgarh RF has, over the years, fallen casualty to the-hunt-for-cultivable-land. Only the hills have been spared from this denudation. Main river that drains the plateau is Saveri. Saptadhara is a major tributary of Saveri. Saprtadhara itself is fed by numerous hilly streams and flows in a roughly east-west direction before it empties into the main Saveri river at the end of the Sarangapalle RF. It can be said to have formed the southern boundary of the Sarangapalle RF and also the vast stretch of forest we are talking about. 

And to talk of wildlife there are still considerable number of Leopards(Panthera Pardus), Wild Boars, Barking Deers, few Sambhars, Sloth Bears, Hyenas and Langurs. Tigers occasionally visit the adjacent parts of Kanger Valley NP. Spotted deer are found in small numbers upstream and downstream of Gupteswar and in the Sarangapalle region. Smaller animals such as Porcupine, Pangolin, Indian Jungle cat, Red Indian Fox etc. are commonly found throughout. The region really is an Ornithologists paradise. Some of the rare birds like the Paradise Fly Catcher, the Racket Tailed Drongo, both the Lesser and the Pide Hornbill, the great Serpent Eagle are also seen. Peafowl and Red Indian Jungle fowl can be easily spotted foraging the clearings inside the forest. Water of river Saveri is the home to many Mugger crocodiles and they are found at various places in the river course. Entire district of Koraput is a rich biodiversity in itself. It is evident from the fact that it was very recently declared as a bio diversity hot spot by United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. It was one among the three places on earth selected for this rare distinction. 

But absence of any kind of protection has facilitated indiscriminate poaching of animals and birds alike. People from the villages near forest make liberal use of their matchlocks(country made gun/muzzle loading gun) to kill Boar, Barking Deer and Spotted Deer. The difference in wildlife between a protected area and an area where no protection has been offered can remarkably noticed in a place called Kechlakadak in this region. This place is about 10 kms upstream of Gupteswar. On the Chattisgarh side of the forest, which falls with in the Kanger Valley NP boundary, there is a teeming population of Cheetals where as just on the other bank of the river, on the Odisha side, there is hardly any spotting. All that we have to do is to offer protection to the forest against felling of trees and poaching of wildlife. This can be done by declaring the forests on Odisha side as a wildlife sanctuary. This patch of forest is already there in the state government’s list of proposed wildlife sanctuaries under the name of ‘Gupteswar Wildlife Sanctuary’. This step can definitely save one of the few remaining patch of forests of Orissa. The Kanger Valley NP and this sanctuary put together will be one of the finest and largest protected forest corridors of India. Apart from protection that it would offer to the many animals and plants, this will also serve as a much crucial extended corridor to the tiger population that exists in the Kanger Valley NP. 

It’s a matter of pity that nothing noteworthy has been done so far towards conservation of forest and the diverse wildlife in the region. Rather we can say that the conservation action is in a state of doldrums. There are no sanctuaries or national parks in the very district which is known through out the country for its unique biodiversity and forest resources. This is high time that some drastic measures have to be taken by the central and state governments, without much ado and delay, to establish at least one wildlife reserve in this part of the state to protect the wilderness that otherwise will perish right before our eyes. This, from the tourism point of view, will also be an added attraction to the eco tourism of the region. The Gupteswar cave is already a famous tourist destination. A wildlife sanctuary around it will undoubtedly draw more number of tourists and more tourists mean more revenue for the state. The tribals and residents of the region will certainly reap the benefit out of it. Active involvement of NGOs and conservation forums is highly called for in this matter. Cooperation from institutions like Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Wildlife Institute of India (WII) can give a positive direction to this cause. Their help may come in the form of a master plan for the establishment of the sanctuary. Filling up of vacant post in the forest department cadre and deployment of special task force to prevent poaching and illegal timber peddling also has to be done in a resolute approach. Stern action has to be taken to prevent and discourage people from setting the forest fires. The Koraput and Malkangiri being amongst the most backward regions of the state the majority of tribals are illiterate and unaware of the dire consequences the destruction of forest and wildlife can have on their lives. To make them literate and aware will also help a lot in saving our forest resources. This is where various NGOs can play an instrumental role. 

Some governmental policies also need to be rethought of. Sustainable development is the order of the day. Governments at the centre and states are emphasizing on sustainable livelihoods, sustainable energy generation and everything sustainable. On the contrary the government also has passed an act (Forest Right Act) to provide right of record to scheduled tribes cultivating forest land. Such a step, apart from not being a sustainable way to development, will further provoke widespread destruction of forest in the lieu of agricultural land. This act should be revoked if we are to board the train to sustainable development because we are damaging the same track that can lead us to our destination. Natural forests serve as the sink for the carbon emission that occurs due to industrialization. In order to balance or neutralize the carbon emission from rapid industrialization we are bound to increase the natural forest cover and simultaneously prevent their degradation. For this We have to act well before the point of no return is attained. 

Ultimately it is us the people of Koraput and Odisha who must care for this cause. We have to save the beautiful forest and animals of our state for our descendants so that they don’t have to see them only in lifeless pictures or who knows whether they will be there to do so. We already have lost a lot but let’s not lose anymore of it. We have to make sure that, one day, lest we, the human beings, not be the only creatures left on earth. Because, Alone, we cannot survive even for a day. For all that the plant and animal kingdom has been giving us all these times, its our turn now to pay them back A little space for them on this vast earth of ours. A little space for them to live, to grow, to roam about and to make our lives a lot easier. Let us come together to protect our forests and secure a greener and blissful tomorrow for ourselves and our children and their children to come. 

A heartfelt appeal from a lover of nature and wild of Odisha. 

Partha P Patra

e-mail: parthapratim25@gmail.com