First Ever Bird Documentation Survey in Gupteswar Forests of Odisha

The forest near Gupteswar in Koraput district of Odisha are one of the finest and last remaining patches of pristine sal forest of the country. However owing to its geographic location or the apathy and ignorance of our conservationists and naturalists this biological wonderland has remained literally unexplored. No proper documentation has ever been carried out in these forests to learn about the flora and fauna of this region. Being a Koraputia myself this neglect by our front-line naturalist and conservationists deeply pains and astonishes me. That's why I decided to take matters into my own hand and started with the simple task of documenting the bird life of these little known forests myself. For this I visited the Dandrakhol Reserved forest area on 13.01.13 and spent a full day in the forest observing and recording the birds. My plan was to spend at least two days in the forests. But due to logistics and other constraints I limited the visit to one day. However I plan to do such short trips to this forest at various times of the year to collect an exhaustive list of birds found in the area. Before visiting the forests I had marked a trail on Google earth which I later followed on the ground.

On 13.01.13 me and my brother Sidharth Sankar Patra started for Gupteswar forest from Jeypore early in the morning before sunrise. We reached the edge of the proper forest at around 6.30 am. We started the process of noting down each species spotted from near Ramagiri village which happens to be at the edge of the forest. We were carrying two high-zoom point-and-shoot camera's. We made it a point to take the record shots of each bird spotted wherever it was possible. We left our bike at a village named Malipadar which is nearly 7 kms from Ramagiri. Thereafter we followed a hilly nallah which skirts the village towards its south and flows inside dense sal forest before emptying into river Kolab/Saveri about 1 km downstream of Gupteswar caves. We kept a slow pace and scanned the dense canopy for movement of birds and the early morning birding attempt yielded the maximum result. We followed the nallah till its confluence with Kolab/Saveri. There we had our bath and an all dry lunch of rusks, biscuits and mixture. Then we retraced our steps to the Malipadar village along the same trail and proceeded to Gupteswar caves. A little snack and cups of tea were refreshments good enough to charge us up for our second trek along a valley parallel to river Kolab. We set out for our second trek at around 4 o'clock. This same trail on my last visit was teeming with bird life. This time there were very fewer birds and less interesting ones. We reached the place I had pre-designated on Google-earth and returned to the Gupteswar shrine. On the way we visited the '"Parabhaadi" cave also which is home to many Blue Rock Pigeons. But there were no pigeons around this time.

A SURPRISE FIND - RUBY CHEEKED SUNBIRD 

BROWN-CHEEKED FULVETTA

LESSER FLAMEBACK WOODPECKER 

BLACK-CRESTED BULBUL

BAR-WINGED FLYCATCHER SHRIKE: DO YOU SEE THE BAR?

Here below I have given a list of birds I encountered(either saw or heard the call) during the course of the day.(sunrise to sundown). The indicative list contains only the birds I saw/heard on that particular day. Other common species that ought to be present in the forest have not found entry.

Cattle Egret 

Black Eagle

Oriental Turtle Dove

Spotted Dove

Laughing Dove

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Alexandrine Parakeet

Plum-headed Parakeet

Common Hawk Cuckoo

Green-billed Malkoha

Greater Coucal

Creseted Tree Swift

Malabar Trogon

Indian Roller

Common Kingfisher

Small Green Bee-eater

Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

Brown-headed Barbet/Large Green Barbet

Copper Smith Barbet

Rufous Woodpecker

Greater Goldenback

Lesser Goldenback

Speckled Piculet

Brown-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

Common Iora

Scarlet Minivet

Small Minivet

Brown Shrike

Bay-backed Shrike

Long-tailed Shrike

Common Woodshrike

Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike

Black Drongo

Ashy Drongo

White-bellied Drongo

Bronzed Drongo

Black-hooded Oriole

Indian Golden Oriole

White-throated Fantail

Black-naped Monarch

Indian Jungle Crow

Rufous Treepie

Barn Swallow

Red-rumped Swallow

Black-crested Bulbul

Red-vented Bulbul

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Grey-breasted Prinia

Ashy Prinia

Plain Prinia

Common Tailor Bird

Greenish Warbler

Jungle Babbler

Yellow-billed Babbler

Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

Oriental White-eye

Indian Nuthatch

Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

Spotted Creeper ?

Jungle Myna

Common Myna

Asian Pied Starling

Chestnut-tailed Starling

Tickell's Thrush

Indian Robin

Oriental Magpie Robin

White-rumped Shama

Ultramarine Flycatcher

Verditer Flycatcher

Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

Jerdon's Leafbird

Purple-rumped Sunbird

Puple Sunbird

Ruby-cheeked Sunbird

Red Avadavat

White-rumped Munia

Black-headed Munia

Indian Silverbill

Grey Wagtail

Chestnut-shouldered Petronia/Yellow-throated Sparrow

White-wagtail

The above list is a testimony to the richness and astounding birdlife of the region.

I firmly believe that this small effort of mine will provide the required impetus for further studies in this neglected region and will be helpful in drawing the attention of the people who matter. I would like to add a note of caution here that unless drastic measures are taken up immediately to protect them, whatever is left of the once virgin forest will be lost forever. I would like to draw the attention of readers and bird lovers of the state to join hands with us in the conservation of this little known yet rich habitat.

Regards

PARTHA PRATIM PATRA

Mob: 09160100990

Email : parthapratim25@gmail.com 

Re-discovering Koraput : Day-5

Route : Jeypore-Balia-Boipariguda-Ramagiri-Gupteswar

            And return via the same route.

The trek up and down Duduma waterfall on day-4 had left us high and dry. We were sleeping on the verandah of our farmhouse. It was nearly 7 when we woke up and someone handed me a glass of steaming hot decoction of tea dust and sugar, a very good beverage to refresh the senses. Thankfully the fatigue of the previous day was gone to a great extent. I wasn't feeling tired from the muscle anymore. The morning was bright and chilly. Birds were singing their morning songs everywhere around. A pair of black-hooded oriole and the magpie robin were singing much closer to us on the two Mohua(Madhuca indica) tree in-front of the house. Listening to the bird calls Udayan remembered the promise I had made to him earlier. He had not yet seen the Red Avadavat or Red Munia(a small and colourful bird of the size of a sparrow, males are bright blood red in colour with white dots). I had promised to show him the birds in our farm where they are found in very good numbers. The parts of the farm which is left uncultivated is always invaded by weed and wild grass and the flock of these Munia are very fond of feeding on the seed of these grasses. I have seen flocks numbering 200 birds feeding in our farm. These flocks generally consists of  more than three or four species of Munias. We set off on a walk through the fields in the hope of finding the munias. Though there was grass in some patches of the field but the birds were not there. 

Here let me tell you something about the location of our farm. Our farm is situated 12 kms south-west of Jeypore town, near the place where the gorge of river Kolab ends and the river runs off out to the flatter parts of the plateau. One has to take a right turn from the state highway at the end of Patraput village and traverse exactly 1.8 kms towards the village Durgabhatta and our farm house appears on the right hand side. My maternal uncle bought 15 acres of land in the year 1997-98 here. Later in year 2003 my father bought another 15 acres adjacent to it. River Kolab flows 200 mtr south of our farm and we draw water from the river for irrigation purpose. My uncle and my brother look after the farm. We grow a variety of crop here. Aromatic plants such as Jamarosa, Vetiver, Lemon Grass and Citronella are major crops at the farm. A small distillation unit has been set up there to extract the oil from these plants. These aromatic oils find various use in cosmetic and other such consumable goods.

When we didn't find our target species of bird we proceeded towards the small perennial stream that skirts our farm towards the north boundary. The bank of this stream is overgrown with scrub and shelters many passerines. The birds that I always spot near the stream are Long-tailed Shrike, Common Hoopoe, Scaley-breasted Munia, Indian Silverbill, Yellow-eyed Babblers, Ashy Prinia, Common Tailor Bird, Common Quail,  Grey Francolin, Black-shouldered Kite , Indian Nightjar, White-throated and Common kingfishers and many more. A pond was dug out nearer to the stream, half an acre in area. It dries up as soon as the rains are gone but the deepest part of the pond remains wet till early summers and it is this wet part that is overgrown with Ipomoea weed and many small birds have made it their safe heaven. We did not have to search too far. There they were. The Red Munia's. A few males and females were going in and out of the Ipomoea bushes. A small blue kingfisher was also perched on a Ipomoea branch. Udayan went after the munias to take a record shot. I sat on the bank of the pond, basking my back in the morning sun. I kept my promise, Udayan saw his bird. It was time to leave for Jeypore.

A frugal breakfast was awaiting us at Purunagarh(my ancestral home). We lost no time in finishing off whatever was served. Our ancestral home at Purunagarh was built by my grand father way back in 1970's. The house is more like an old British bungalow with a porch and large garden space. All living quarters and bedroom doors open to the verandah, the kitchen and store have entry from the back yard. The garden borders the house on the east and north. The garden to the east is a jasmine garden that was very lovingly planted by my great grandmother way back in the 70's and it continues to bloom every summer without exception. To the south of this jasmine garden there are two mango trees, two tamarind trees, one neem tree and two coconut trees. One of the mango trees is much older than the house itself. Though its fruits are not so great to taste but it provides the much needed shelter to many birds of the garden. A colony of common myna and a jungle owlet share the tree. The jungle owlet being nocturnal uses the dense foliage and the hollows of the mangifera as a day time resort. The mynas do not mind sharing their territory with the owlet as it doesn't harm them or their fledglings. But they are at constant threat from the pair of shikra who nest close by on the bigger tamarind tree or the silver oak in our neighbours compound. The jungle owlet was also a bird that I had promised to show to Udayan. It didn't take us long to find the bird as it was sitting on an open branch of the neem tree, doing up its feather in the sun after a busy nights wandering.

We returned to Bada Maa's house to snatch an hours nap and then got ready for our ride to Gupteswar. Since we had a late breakfast we decided to have lunch either at Boipariguda or Gupteswar. We left Jeypore close to 1 o'clock. The sky looked fantastically blue with blotches of clouds in the western horizon. Sidhu was accompanying us this time and was riding my Enfield and I retired to the pillion to take pictures. We reached Boipariguda and bought some refreshments there. Then we rode on to Ramgiri village which is a sizeable village at the fringe of Gupteswar forests. Gupteswar is exactly 13 kms from Ramgiri. The road from Boipariguda bifurcates at the beginning  of Ramgiri village. The right one leads to Kundra and the left one proceeds to Gupteswar. I had visited Gupteswar on two occasions earlier. Once from Jeypore and from Kundra on another. Due to my misjudgement we proceeded a furlong along the road branching off to Kundra but the open farmlands and the absence of a police outpost made me realize that we had been going in the wrong direction. I signaled Udayan to turn back and we were once again on the right path. The police outpost of Ramgiri was blown up by the naxalites a few years ago and a small company of BSF jawans now man the outpost. Few sentries are always kept on guard in the bonkers and they keep their assault rifles aimed on to the road all day and all night. The sentries gave us penetrating looks as we passed on the road. Forest proper begins a couple of kilometers from the police outpost.

"The sky looked fantastically blue with blotches of clouds in the western horizon"

"An Abandoned iron suspension on Sati river on the way between Jeypore and Boipariguda"

SIDHU WITH THE CLASSIC 350

LANDSCAPE BETWEEN BOIPARIGUDA AND RAMGIRI

Gupteswar forests are the remnants of a vast forest scape that was known as Dandakaranya. The loot of forest resources from Koraput, by natives as well as outsiders, in the last few decades has reduced this forest to a mere few hundred square kilometers of dis-integrated forests dotted with numerous human habitations, leaving little or no room for the diverse wildlife that once inhabited them. Notwithstanding these facts wildlife has subsisted in the remaining patches of less disturbed forests. The pristine vegetation is one of the few remaining patches left in India today of its kind and the birdlife is astoundingly rich. My subsequent birding ventures in these forest has yielded as many as 100 species during the span of a single day.

FOREST PROPER BEGINS 

As we pushed ahead the vegetation got denser. We stopped at the famous "Dalkhai" shrine that marks the beginning of a steep ghat named "Dokri Ghati", (Dokri in Koraputia means an old lady). The steep road looses elevation of nearly 100 meters within a distance of half a kilometer. This slope was even steeper in earlier days which made the ghat a treacherous road to travel on. Negotiating the ghat either way on bullock carts and other vehicles was a nightmarish experience. Even vehicles with four wheel drive found it difficult to traverse. Many of them have rolled down this ghat resulting in human or animal casualty. Travellers pay a darshan at the Dalkhai shrine and pray for a safe passage through the treacherous ghat. The obeisance is paid in the form of a small branch or a bunch of small branches that is laid at the feet of the deity "Dalkhai". This is a custom that is followed by travellers very religiously and local people sell bunch of branches, a rupee apiece, and make a small income out of it. We also paid our homage at the shrine and had a small chat with the pujari(priest) of the place and enquired about the wildlife in that locality. Since the shrine is located at the shoulder of a hill, it commands a majestic view of the surrounding forests. Forest stretches upto the horizon in the west. The hills clothed with pristine sal forests roll down up to the river Kolab. The other side of river Kolab is Chattisgarh forests. I took a few photographs from this point and we rolled down this steep ghat. I have on earlier occasions trekked in the southern aspects of this forest. Now I recall those experiences with a lot of delight. But the forest looked a whole lot different while riding through it.

DALKHAI SHRINE 

FOREST AS FAR AS YOUR EYES CAN SEE -VIEW FROM DALKHAI TEMPLE 

THE ROAD DOWNHILL-DOKRI GHATI

AT THE END OF THE STEEP DOKRI GHATI

We reached Gupteswar at around 3 o'clock and went straight to the bathing ghat on river Kolab(Sabari/Saveri). This place offers a spectacular view of the rocky river and surrounding jungles. We went for a stroll upstream along the river expecting to sight a few birds but all in vain. Except heaps of human excreta we saw nothing. Retracing our step we went to the small market place near the shrine where petty vendors sell sundry items to tourists. There are a few eateries that serve tea, snacks and frugal meals. Few shops sell the goods that is offered to lord Gupteswar as offerings and some locals also sell local forest produce such as honey and sal resin(also known as Jhoona). Here at this market place we met a person from Jeypore who has taken to the life of an ascetic and living in one of the caves near Gupteswar since last one and half decades. He used to be a computer hardware and software professional at one point of time and somehow got fed up with his banal existence and resorted to a living that he regarded diviner. He greeted us in fluent English, taking us to be tourists from far off places. But once I gave him my introduction , over cups of tea, he opened himself up through a fulsome conversation in the course of which we discussed things ranging from wildlife to computer languages. He also told me that he knew my father well. We said good bye to him and went loitering down the narrow concrete pathway that leads to the caves of ""Parabhadi"which are situated on the other western side of the same hill that houses the main Gupteswar cave. The name means "abode of pigeons".

KOLAB/SAVERI RIVER 

THE CONCRETE PATHWAY LEADING TO PARABHADI

Hardly did we know, as we ambled down the pathway, that the the next couple of hours will turn into an jamboree of bird sighting. The first bird to appear was a Velvet-fronted Nuthatch. As typical to the birds belonging to nuthatch/creeper family, this bird was also creeping upside down on the branches. A Velvet-fronted nuthatch is impossible to miss in a tree due to its bright and contrasting colouration. The sighting of this bird thrilled us.To be honest I was least expecting the bird in the vicinity of the cave as this area is mostly frequented by bipeds. The next hour or so  turned out to be a pleasant surprise as we spotted many interesting birds like Vernal Hanging Parrot, Indian Yellow Tit, Brown-capped pygmy woodpecker, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher, White-rupmed Shama etc.

BROWN-CAPPED PYGMY WOODPECKER

BROWN-CHEEKED FULVETTA-THE SKULKER OF THE BUSHES

VELVET-FRONTED NUTHATCH- THE ULTIMATE ACROBAT

VERNAL HANGING PARROT

SONGSTER OF THE INDIAN JUNGLES 

TICKELL'S BLUE FLYCATCHER

The birding sprint drew to a close as light started to fade away rapidly. We decided to head back to the road where we had parked our motorcycles. On our way back I had an interesting chat with a elderly man who was happily puffing away at his tobacco leaf(colloquially called a "sutta", "dhungia" or "pikka"). He was a man from nearby Siribeda village which is mostly inhabited by a tribe named "Dhurua". Pointing to the hills to our west the old man told me "Babu, you see that huge rock? Last year in the month of  "Pus"(peak winter) I had seen a "bagh" and its cubs playing and basking in the sun. Not on one occasion but many times. Not only me but many people from the bazar also have seen it". Now a "bagh" in Koraputia can mean anything from a tiger to hyaena. Secondly after years of interaction with my jungle dwelling friends of Koraput, I have learnt to take their words with a pinch of salt as their narration of events is very very prone to exaggeration. Hence I assume it to be a leopard if it was a big cat at all. Because no tigress, how bold it may be, would not raise its cubs so close to human settlement and in a place that has very depleted prey base. On my part it is only wishful thinking that big cats continue to roam these beautiful forests and live in harmony with human beings.

ENTRANCE TO THE PARABHADI CAVE

TIME FOR SOME BIRDING 

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The ride back to Ramgiri and onward to Jeypore was a cherished one in complete darkness of night. Time of twilight had also elapsed by the time we were heading back. There were no stops till Ramgiri. This was not for the first time that I was running down that road at night. But this time the road had an  eerie charm of its own. Centuries old sal trees towered on both side of the road. Their huge trunks and the retro-reflective plates fixed to them by the R&B division reflected the beam of my bright motorcycle head light. The constant motion though the towering trees carried me away to the games that I used to play as a child on computer. The lone rider going through the forests of night. Not a single human soul passed us in those 13 kilometers. Only a lone jackal, a jungle cat and a fox at three different locations were all that of wildlife we saw on the way. In my class 3 books there was this true story about the chowkidar of a forest bungalow of Mathpada(very close to Ramgiri) and his blood-curdling encountered  with a tiger inside the bungalow compound. Those were the days when tigers were plenty in these forests. So naturally these were the favourite hunting grounds of  Maharaja of Jeypore and his guests. But now there is no sign of any tigers nor their prey. I will not talk about the destruction brought upon these forests here. I have written a detailed passage about it some time earlier on this blog.
Just after crossing Ramgiri we stopped on the road near Mathapada. Parked our bikes on the road side and sat right on the road to soak in some silence and tranquil environ of the sal forest. Except for the constant trill of the cicada there were no other sounds. Not even the familiar hoot of an owl. But I imagined, sitting on the lonely jungle road, somewhere deeper in the forest a Brown Fish Owl must be perched on its vantage point besides a stream, awaiting its night meal. On some high branch of the sal tree a Scops owl must be hooting away its constant childlike muffled syllable -Unh-Unh-Unh-Unh..... Not too far away a bruin must be searching and digging termite mounds to suck out the juicy white ants as there is no dearth of them in these forests. A cunning and clever jackal must have taken its position near some village hut to chance upon a chicken from the pen. A good 15 minutes we sat there in silence until a pick up van passed on the road at full speed.

A cursory visit to some of our relatives  and  a few cups of hot tea later we left Boipariguda and headed for Jeypore. On the way again a jungle cat crossed our path. I stopped the bike and Sidhu went down to the road edge to see where it had gone. The cat after seeing us approach had gone into a paddy field were paddy was almost waist high. The cat had gone into a bush and its eyes were reflecting the light of Sidhu's torch from a bush across that field. The cat had its lair in that bush where it was perhaps tending is kittens as we could hear the meowing of the small kittens and also the resentful snarls of the mother cat. Just then Sidhu tried to step down into the paddy field with the light still on the bush. The mother cat let out a shrill snarl and jumped into the paddy field and came leaping though the paddy grass like a bouncing ball, snarling repeatedly. I watched all this from the elevated road. It stopped after coming half way down the field. I called Sidhu back and told him to leave the family alone. It was really a lesson that even an animal as small as a jungle cat can charge down on human beings to protect its young.

At about 9 o'clock we reached back at Jeypore and headed straight to the famous Girija fast food joint which serves Jeyporias their daily share of chicken soup and egg roll. This small treat was to celebrate the successful close to Day-5 of the trip.

The forests of Gupteswar hold a special place in my life. I have always enjoyed trekking up and down its densely wooded hill sides the most. Watching its birds and wildlife gives me immense joy. One of my candid confessions is I wish these forests are protected and restored to their former glory, full of life and full of gods beautiful creations. So that I can drive down these forests, as an old man,  in a jeep with my grand children and point to them a sambar stag scratching its antlers against a tree, a sloth bear rubbing its back against a scaly sal tree, a colony of hill mynas whistling their sweet notes, a beautiful leopard bounding across the road and melting away into the bushes, to take them on a stroll along a stream bed and to enjoy a cold lunch of sandwiches. Is it too much to ask for? I think our coming generations have every right to these small pleasures of life. Don't they?

Predicament of Pachyderms

Undivided Koraput district of Odisha is known throughout the state for its rich forest resources and biodiversity. Most of the major fauna of peninsular India are encountered here with the only exception of the Asian elephants. The movement of elephants was confined only to Chandrapur forest range of present day Raygada district due to its proximity to forests of Phulbani and Kalahandi district where these huge beasts are found in good numbers. Strangely enough pachyderms were never sighted in any other part of the district in last hundred or more years, although the habitat is ideally suitable for them (abundance of bamboo). But in a startling turn of events few elephant herds have been found straying into the Koraput and Jeypore forest divisions in last three years. Elephants were alien to these forest divisions or at least this is what the record of forest department says. A herd of about thirteen elephants had ventured into the Koraput forest division from Kalahandi district(most likely from Karlapat WLS area). During past few months this herd caused a lot of damage to crop and property in Dasmantpur and Laxmipur block of Koraput subdivision. Even more alarming is the fact that within last one month itself four adult elephants of this herd were reported to have died. Similarly another herd was spotted depredating Borigumma and Jeypore blocks. One adult from this herd was found dead in a paddy field near Bsinghpur village of Borigumma block. At least three people have lost their lives to this herd. Most of the districts of Odisha witness similar episodes everyday. Pathetically poor and ineffective forest management by the state government is only to be blamed for this. Last one decade saw a huge loss of forest cover due to mining and shifting cultivation. Except for a few Vana Surakshya Samiti formation and planting few acres of plantations, the forest department is literally doing nothing in the state. Though the state is singing songs of own praises that forest cover has increased, the real picture is something distant from that. En bloc the forest cover might have increased but natural forest cover (pristine forest) is disappearing rapidly, especially in the districts of Koraput(Undivided) and Kandhmal. Last summer was the summer of most number of forest fires in the state. Even the well protected Similipal Biosphere reserve could not pass the worst. The elephants, in specific, are worst hit by this loss of habitat as they require large tracts of forest that can fulfill their need of green pasture. This has also resulted in widespread migration by these beasts. People from the area to which these elephants migrate resist the arrival and starving elephants have no hesitation whatever to forage on the crops of these folks. Subsequently loss of life follows from either side. If the area to which the elephants migrate turns out to be a land where elephants were never heard of or seen, then things can only get worse for the people. As people are unaware of the ways to tackle with pachyderms, they end up being the victims. On the other hand elephants also become the victim of the counter violence; either they get injured by gunshots fired by some irate villager or die due to starvation if people choose to guard their crop instead. Though region we are discussing here has forest cover but the forest is mostly fragmented and moderately dense. This directs the elephants to paddy fields and villages. Here in Koraput three of the four deceased elephants are said to have died out of hunger and dehydration. Every now and then forest official shoo away the herds towards Kalahandi forests but only to find them back after 10-15 days in the same forest. Though people have not caused any harm to the elephants so far but their patience can not be put to test for long. It is pointless to add here that such migrations have disastrous implications on man, animal and the environment equally. 

The above case is yet another reminder to us that it is us who ravage the home of wild animals first. Hence everything else that result will be considered our own handiwork. We, the Homo sapiens, are the only creatures on earth who have been blessed with the ability to think and foresee the future with deft precision. Tagged as most intelligent of all living beings, we manipulate and stage-manage things expecting results that go well with us, but unfortunately in many cases things don’t go that well as we want them to, at least not in the larger scheme of things. Our damned dams kill rivers, our industries mar wetlands, our factories poison lives in every form, our highways spell doom for wildlife, settlements we build for ourselves deny food to many other creature and the list goes long. We must ask ourselves-Is this what we should be doing to prove ourselves befitting for the Most Intelligent tag? I have this view that a Life lived is dubbed well lived only when it has succeeded, even in the smallest way, to make this world a better place for others to live in. I write this last line remembering the legendary Jim Corbett who lived his life following this simple mantra. Can’t we?

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

Killer Red-tapism

Yesterday I went to the news stand to pick a few magazines. The shopkeeper handed me a copy of one of the leading weeklies of India. For a minute I could not take my eyes off the cover of the magazine. The cover had a rare picture of a full grown Royal Bengal Tiger. Many of you may be wondering-What is rare about the picture of a full grown RBT-our national animal, the most researched animal in India, the most talked about animal in India? The photograph was that of a Tiger. Its left paw clutched viciously between the jaws of a crude looking gin trap, pain unmistakably visible in its eyes and the Tiger looked totally disheveled. Description of a Tiger is often accompanied by words such as Majestic, Royal, Large-Hearted etc. But believe me none of the preceding words find a match with the features of the Tiger in the picture. Pain, anger and sheer helplessness are all I could see in the eyes of the King of our jungles and truly helpless have become all our Tigers in their own domains. One look at the photograph is enough to evoke in one the sense of guilt that our national animal is in such vulnerable conditions. If the magazine is to be believed, the photograph was taken in one of the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh. Poachers are killing Tigers right inside our Tiger reserves and national parks which are believed to be the safe heaven for these big cats. Thanks to the insatiable demand for dead Tigers from our neighbor China. It is not only the issue of poaching of our national animal; it is a threat to our food and water security and our very own existence. How can we even think of becoming an Asian major when we are not able to protect our national animal, when we are not able to deal with a neighbor that is threatening our survival with each passing day? How can our economy keep clocking a two digit GDP growth rate when our food and water security is at stake?

The cover story of the weekly is about the undercover sting carried out to unearth the ways of organized crime that Tiger poaching has become today. It also traces the poachers- a whole community which is responsible for most of the Tiger deaths of last decade. Most shocking of all facts is that the administration knows who the real culprits are but has turned a blind eye. When our neighbor causes discomfiture to us in the slightest way we do not hesitate to point a finger, then how can we remain as silent spectators while our national animal, food, water and most importantly our survival are at stake? Does the Tiger have to beg the mercy and sympathy of the ever-non- performing Indian red-tapism? I am sure many of these questions are bound to pop-up in your mind when you see that picture. So far the large-hearted gentleman of Indian jungles has been able to pull through, defying all the prediction of its extinction, but a look at the statistics of last one decade point towards more depressing things to come. Let us see how long does it take for our policy makers and leaders to see things in this light and wake up to the bare reality that only the fittest survives. Are we anywhere close to be or be called fittest?

Note: India Today had carried out an undercover sting operation to access the facts of Tiger poaching business in India, its modus operandi, people involved and its effect on Tiger population in India. See India Today issue of June 7th 2010.

Roaming in the Jungles of Koraput

 View of River Saveri from one of the hills

A VISIT TO BADUDI PAHAR

When I joined my first job as an electrical engineer in Lower Kolab small hydroelectric project situated near the border of the Malkangiri and Koraput district I was really elated at the prospect of working in an area having the best forests in the region. ‘Love at first sight’ is the right expression to describe my instantaneous reaction when I came to this place. Surrounded by hills covered with dense forest, this place is no less than heaven for any nature lover like me. Out of my curiosity to know about the forests and the places near by I started to enquire from my colleagues and the local people and came to know of a place they called ‘Badli Pahar’. I heard many people mentioning to this place as a place of tourist interest. Attraction of this place is the cave temple. Hidden deep inside the forest, on the bank of Saveri river this cave is only accessible by forest foot paths. Owing to the inaccessibility of this place by any motorable road, only a handful of tourists have visited the cave over the years.

Badli Pahar- actual name of this place is Badudi Pahar, which means the cave of bats. Gradually over the years the name has come to be pronounced as Badli Pahar. I wanted to visit this place from the very day I came to know of it. But due to some or the other engagement I couldn’t do so. In the month of December I determined to pay a visit. I asked one of my colleagues named N.K.Panda working in Middle Kolab project to accompany me. I opted for him because he was involved in the survey before the construction of our project and has a fair knowledge of the area. He readily said yes to my summon. He suggested that we should take a local (as a guide) with us as we might need him in case of any emergency. So he contacted a local tribal for this. Another young man named Balia, an electrician from my site also was willing to join me. I borrowed a digital camera from one of my friend exclusively for this purpose. I threw some snacks like biscuits and namkeen into my back pack. So thus went the preparation and finally four willing souls were ready.

I zeroed in on the 5th of December as the date for my trip. Nothing can match the delight that a walk in the jungle on a chilly winter morning gives. My colleague Panda thought that the cave must be 12 to 14 kilometers distant from the place where we had planned to start our walk. However from the map of the region I estimated the distance to be not more than 10 kilometers. And later I found my guesstimate to be more or less correct. I wanted to start as early as 5.30 am when it is still dark. But our guide, a villager from Tentulligumma, was of the opinion that we should give a breadth to the nocturnal animals that might be returning to their lair after a night away. Though my plan to start early was just because I might be lucky enough to come across any wildlife, but finally I gave in. The reason-it was the month of December and the season for the she sloth bears to bring out their young ones of the lair and introduce them to the surrounding jungle. And a mother bruin with cubs is the most wary creature in the Indian jungle and attacks without provocation, any man or animal that ventures close enough.

It was half past six when four of us started our walk. Fog had settled heavily on the jungle and a chilly gust of wind was blowing from the hills and down to the river. There was still enough time before the sun could rise above the hills. We crossed the river just below the weir dam of our project. Here the river has reduced only to a small trickle as rest of the water is diverted for generation of electricity. Our destination was on the eastern side of the river and this is the only place where we could have crossed the river with out the aid of a ferry, as there was no ferry anywhere in the next 15 kilometers up the river course. Our ascent started right after the river crossing. I was wearing a black resin jacket and was carrying my back pack that weighed nearly 5 kgs. It was not even 10 minutes into the climb and I started perspiring profusely. It was after a long time I was climbing a hill. The first hundred meter climb proved to be most difficult for me as my legs and joints needed some time before they could get accustomed to the steep terrain. It was much more strenuous than what I had anticipated it to be. I took out my jacket and tied it round my waist when I couldn’t bear the perspiration any more. 

At the top of the first hill we climbed was relatively flatter ground. Nearly two kilometers on such land brought us to the foot of another hill whose top was not visible to us as the canopy was dense and there was fog on the hill. So far we had been following a well beaten forest path and at the place where we stood it was joined by another such path coming from east. This path coming from the east, I was told, comes from a place called Kumbhikhari. This is a small hamlet inside the forest which used to be a saltlick once. The term khari itself stands for saltlick. Now we headed due north and uphill. While walking I was scanning the ground for any possible track of wild animals but to no success. Hoof or pug marks are too soft to get registered on the hard ground on these hills. Soft sand of the various Nullahs and dusty foot tracks are the only place where one can look for them, though the nullahs also dry up by this time of the year and making them redundant for animals to visit and dusty tracks are far fewer. Except for a few scratch marks by jungle fowls I found no other signs of wildlife. But I would also like to mention here that if the local people are to be believed these forests still abound with wildlife such as Cheetal, Sambhar, and Barking Deer etc. Here around a bend I heard human voices. First thought that came to my mind was Naxalites, as these forests being remote and inaccessible are home to them. But when we came around the bend we saw four people standing on the middle of the path and had beside them a few bags full of some material. At first look I thought it to be charcoal. N.K.Panda whispered to me that the material in the sacks is Ganja and the four were peddlers. As we neared them they said to us “Namashkar Anna”. It is amusing to explain why they did so. Well, Anna is a telugu word which means big brother or elder brother. As most of the naxal leaders operating in this region hail from Andhra Pradesh they are addressed as Anna by tribal people. Thus the four men before us mistook us to be naxalites and saluted us out of fear. In fact their reaction at finding us in the middle of the jungle was all but natural as no outsider other than naxalites ever goes so deep inside these forests. We had a few words with them. Panda asked them questions like where were they coming from and where they were heading to etc. One of them told us that they were coming from some place near Chitrakonda and were going to Kotpad. We proceeded wondering how come they must be covering such a long distance through deep forest and that too with fifty to sixty kg of load on their shoulders. But the real surprise was ahead of us. After some half a kilometer I saw few more men with similar loads climbing the hill ahead of us. Then a few more of them and a few further. Since loaded with burden they were walking at a very slow pace. So we caught up with them easily and went ahead of them. As we did so I counted heads and in all there were forty men. To my utter surprise I found, amongst those forty men, five to six lads were there who can not be more than sixteen years old.

Reward for a 400 mtr Climb 

At the top of the hill we reached, bathed in our own sweat despite the temperature being less than 15 degree centigrade. We sat down to normalize our breaths. The ganja carriers also reached the hill top in groups of four and five. Now the sun was visible in the eastern sky. It didn’t take long for our sweat to dry because a strong and chilly wind was blowing past us and in minutes we started to feel the cold of the high altitude. From my map I learned that we were standing at a place 750 meters above mean sea level and from the river we had climbed nearly 400 meters. All those forty men congregated at the hill top. I was wondering as to how hard they must be toiling to carry all that illegal stuff up and down numerous hills that they must be passing. While chatting to them we came to know of the dark side of the ganja trade. The peddling route is as follows. Bhejangwada, Chitrakonda, Janbai, Jantri etc are the places of Malkangiri where ganja is grown abundantly. The hikers carry them through forest routes all the way to the border of Chattisgarh state. From here it is smuggled to various parts of the country. Growers get anything between hundred to two hundred bucks per kilogram. When it hits the city markets its price by then might have snowballed to one grand or more. As those people said all that they get for carrying fifty kilos of ganja is a wage of fifteen hundred rupees. The delivery of the consignment takes eight days of arduous walk through dense forest and steep hills. They could have worked as daily laborers instead and earn nearly same amount to lead a respectable life. Not only are they violating the law of the land but at the same time risking their own lives. This is how ganja which can worth in crores is trafficked. God save this country from these misdemeanors. 

Anyway lets move on with our own hiking. Some twenty minutes of rest and we were on our way again. It was 8 in the morning. Nearly five kilometers of uphill walk covered in little more than one hour- I think that’s a pretty good pace. Now it was all the way downhill. The fog had started to disappear now, giving a clearer view of the surroundings. We could see the river deep down in the valley to our left. I can never forget that vista. Lush green and luxuriant forests, a trace of mist around with the rays of the young sun shining brightly over them creates a sight reproduced directly from paradise. The view I was admiring is worth the difficult climb it takes to reach that place. We kept walking down hill for another four or so kms. Huge sal trees have risen high to the sky and bamboo clumps are scattered all around. Fallen bamboo leaves form the carpet of the forest. Jungle around us was bustling with the multitude of the sound made by our avian friends. Especially the valley to our left was replete with the call of peafowl and jungle fowl. At the end of our descent we came out to a clearing in the forest-a man made meadow. Three to four huts were visible and some crops were growing all around the huts. The patch of cultivation may not be more than twenty acres in extent. Stunted sal trees had dotted the landscape. On one of such trees I spotted a huge bird. Careful observation revealed that it was a Serpent eagle. I stalked as close as possible to the tree. The bird discovered my presence and flew away spreading its huge wings but not before I could capture it in my digi cam. These birds are becoming exceedingly rare. These predatory birds live on snakes and other small birds. They prefer tall trees and high rock cliffs to build nests. Habitat destruction has pushed them to the brink of extinction.

A man-made meadow in the middle of the forest

We reached the huts and were once again greeted as Annas. The Pujari or priest of the cave temple lives in one of these huts. So we sent for him. In the mean time I began a conversation with a man from one of the huts. I told him the purpose of our visit and enquired about the fauna of the jungles around. Wild boar and barking deer are regular visitors to their farms at night. Spotted deer appear occasionally as their number is less on our side of the river. Apart from these Peafowl foray the field in the afternoons. The presence of deer and boars also raises the chance for the carnivores like leopards and tigers. Leopards are spotted often but tigers are not, however their presence cannot be written off keeping in view the presence of their prey. One fact I learned from the man is the occurrence of wildlife on Odisha side of the river is far sparse in comparison to the other side of the river. Reason is the forest on the other side lies inside the Kanger Valley National Park of Chattisgarh and is being guarded jealously against tree felling and poaching and the result is for everyone to see. It has turned a relatively safer resort for wildlife. On the contrary the forests on Odisha side are being ravaged mindlessly. Clearings, like the one I am standing in right now, have come up at various places leaving the forest fragmented and degraded as well. It leaves the animals no choice but to flee or confront human beings and ultimately losing their life to the most intelligent of animals i.e. Homo sapiens. As I was in the middle of my conversation the party of men we had left behind arrived. They had plans to take rest nearby, have their meal there and start once again at mid day. Once or twice I overheard them talking. Few of them could speak four to five languages such as Hindi, Odiya. Telugu, Bastari, colloquial Koraputia and probably Koya. 

The priest was ploughing his field when we sent for him. He sent back the word that we should wait a little longer for the sun to shine brighter since it is too cold to take a dip in the river now. So we waited for another half an hour. The priest arrived and greeted us with a humble Namaskar and I can say that it was the humblest gesture that I have ever seen. May be this is because of the simple life these folk lead inside these forests and their ways still so primitive. Only occasional contact with outsiders has not corrupted their primitive ways. They are miles away from any medical assistance, their children have never been to a school, they have never cast a vote in any election nor have they ever benefited form any governmental scheme. In spite of all these things these people appear content with what they have and we modern and educated men can only dream of that feeling of contentment. He asked us if we have brought any torch with us. I had a torch with me. But he said we may need three to four torches. Thankfully he had two more and he burrowed one from his neighbor. Five of us proceeded. Half a kilo meter and we came near the river. The pujari asked us to take bath carefully. He said there were a lot of crocodiles in this part of the river, though they didn’t harm human beings. A cold bath, in fact an icy cold bathe in the river rejuvenated me.

Cave of Bats : Badudi Pahar

                   

The cave was only one kilo meter away said the pujari. We had to ascend another hill. Here the forest was awfully dense and damp as it was just on the bank of the river. As we moved through the undergrowth I grew anxious because one can always expect to encounter animals in a forest like this. But all that was in vain. Although there were numerous caves, small and big, they were empty. Sunlight was scarce on the forest floor and this condition favoured the jungle mosquitoes. We disturbed them as we moved through bushes and shrubs. They targeted us in turn and swarmed around each one of us. These insects are very tiny in size compared to their urban cousins but their bite gives you a terrible itch along side a persistent burning sensation. Unfortunately we had to go through all this itching and scratching. All the way to the top of the hill we went and now a descent brought us down to the river and to the entrance of the cave. Though, this wasn’t as easy as the few preceding words. We had to wind through huge rocks and at one place we had to take a ladder- a lone stout bamboo pole tied against a huge rock with the help of creepers, to descend a thirty feet high rock wall. Following the entire ordeal finally we were standing at the entrance of the cave. Here we discarded our shoes, took out the torches and moved in. The cave gets narrower, darker and damper as you move in. The smell of bat refuse filled my nostrils. A cave as big as the main one has branched off to the left and fifty meters after the entrance of the cave. The priest told us to move ahead and not to take the branch. Here was the first turn to the left. Hereafter complete darkness engulfed us. The entrance was not visible now. The pujari led us up and up towards the roof of the cave only taking left turns. The way was more or less like a spiral stairway- getting narrower as we moved up. Nearly moving fifty meters in this fashion brought us to a shelf like place. In front of us was the stalactite formation- which is worshiped as the ‘Linga’. It’s a white formation- three feet in height and four feet in girth(at the base). After the colour of the linga this shrine is named Dhabaleshwar. The cave extends behind this point also but it starts to go down from this point. The pujari said no one has ever gone beyond this. Behind us- on the other end of the shelf like rock, was the roof of the cave. It must be five feet wide here and rock shelves have protruded from both sides. The cave has risen to fifty more feet I suppose. Our torches couldn’t reach the top of the roof as there were protruding shelves of rock in between and it was impossible to reach the space immediately below the roof. We offered a puja in the cave and spent around twenty minutes there. The silence inside the cave can creep on to you. Perhaps that was the sound of silence and I was hearing the sound of silence. The only sound to be heard intermittently was the flapping of wings of the bats. This minute sound also resonates like a distant rumbling of a thunder. Name of the pujari is Indra. When I asked him about the discovery of this cave he said that it was around thirty years back. Before him his father used to be the priest of this place. Coming out of the cave we stood near the entrance of the cave for a while to admire the beautiful texture on the rock walls. These textures are a result of thousands of years of leaching and corrosion by to water. Right before our eyes were the rocks which are witness of the time gone by. Carved on them is some story, in a script known only to the creator himself. Some tourists who come here paint their names on these walls and spoil the splendor of these rocks. We came to know from the pujari that two more caves similar to this one exist in the locality. One is just on the opposite bank of the river and another is situated around three kilometers downstream and near the confluence of river Saveri and Kanger river from Chattisgarh. 

No, this is no Grand Canyon :  The patterns you see on the rock is due to the contact of tubulent  water on the surface of limestone rock.

At around 11.30 am we started our retreat march. The pujari suggested that we should take an alternative route to reach the place where we had taken bath earlier in the morning. This route was along the rocky river bed. The motive was to avoid the steep climb on the rock-wall-with-a-bamboo-pole and the mosquito infested undergrowth; it also reduced the distance by half a kilometer. So ahead, we went along the river course. It was not all easy affair though as I found it later. This involved maneuvering rocks of various sizes. Hazardous as it could be, to jump from rock to rock with a rapid flowing by. A miscalculated footing can leave one shouting for help in turbulent water. The strong current in the stream can kill a person just by knocking him on the rocks if not drown him. That’s why one has to be as sure footed as a goat of the mountains while putting a step forward. Walking and jumping over rocks we reached near another place which looked like the entrance of a cave. Yes it was another cave with an archway like entrance. We went inside after the pujari. The cave had three similar looking openings further inside. The pujari told us that this cave is called ‘Singhadwara’. As he said it takes three full days to explore each dead end of the three branching caves. It is supposed to be a labyrinth of caves. Water has dug out furrows which lead inside these caves and they carry small trickles of river water into the cave. The pujari said that these trickles come out of the cave near the confluence of Kanger and Saveri river, nearly four kilometers downstream. Well it is not possible to ascertain the genuineness of the statement, yet looking at the landscape and other conditions it cannot be refuted outright either. The channels get narrower as they progress inside the cave. In my opinion it is very much possible. This is how the explanation goes. The first reason is that the river has formed a horse shoe shape here, with these caves at one end and the confluence at the other. Second thing is the difference in altitude. The river has meandered the horse shoe formation in a series of small falls. Had the river not followed the horse shoe bend it would have directly come out near the confluence. Hence these water channels still have the affinity and have over the years dug out their way through the soft limestone. These caves can draw hordes of tourists if developed and popularized.     

We left the cave to itself and hurried our steps to the hut of the pujari. I was starting to feel fatigued by the exertion since morning. We had yet another steep climb ahead of us. After reaching the hut we returned the torches. We thanked the pujari for his cooperation and said good bye to him in five minutes. It was past twelve o’ clock and the sun was right above our heads. We walked for nearly twenty minutes and all of us were out of breath. We were not even half way up the steep hill. We decided to take rest for a few minutes. This is when I heard a sound. The source of the sound was somewhere in the valley to our left. It was the unmistakable alarm call of a spotted deer. It had been disturbed by some other carnivore probably. The sound gradually moved away from us. This alarm call of the deer was like good news to my ears because I was confirmed that a few of these beautiful deer are still left in these forests. A few minutes of rest and we started off to accomplish the final steep climb that would take us to the 750 meter hill top. We kept slow pace so as not to exert ourselves too much against the steep hillside because we still had a lot of climbing to do. We reached the same spot from where I had admired the vista of the river flowing in the valley below. Now the view was quite different now. The river was to our right and there was no fog to cripple our vision. In the mid day sun was visible a forest which stretched till ones eyes can see. To the west was the Kanger Valley forest and to the north was the Dandarkol forest of Odisha. It is really a rare sight these days and I think only a few lucky fellow like me get a glimpse of that right before their eyes. I felt I was falling in deep love with these forests as much as I admired them. It is high time that reserved forests adjacent to Kanger Valley National Park on the Odisha side be notified as a wildlife sanctuary so that this can turn to be a safe heaven for the remaining wildlife. 

After walking for half and hour non stop we reached the top of the hill. There we decided to halt and quench our thirst and appease our hungry stomachs. I took out the snacks and distributed it among four. No interesting discussion took place over the snacks as all of us were ravenously hungry and wanted to gulp down the few morsels as quickly as possible. A few packets of biscuit and a little namkeen didn’t take long to be consumed and washed down the throat with water. One o clock saw us striding down the steep hill with careful steps. It was the last phase of our walk. My legs had started to tremble owing to exhaustion but I managed to reach the place from where we had started early in the morning. My watch showed that it was quarter to two. 

In the course of the day we had covered nearly twenty kilometers of rough mountainous terrain, including nearly one thousand meters of climbing and descending. But at the end I must say that all the toil and sweat that it took is insignificant to match the joy and delight the trip gave me. The joy of spending the time in the lap of nature, the joy of being one of the handfuls who have visited that place and most importantly the joy of being able to roam in the deepest and densest forests of my district. But it is only a matter of time before these forests, once deep and dense, will soon vanish if they are not protected against Man’s greed. Right before my eyes I saw the heritage, passed on to us by nature, which our people distantly ever regard as a heritage. Rather our beautiful forests have come to be a cash dispensing proposition, a resource which is meant only to make money, money and more money. The forests I visited today were said to be an endless expanse of jungle as late as the eighties. Land seekers and timber peddlers are instrumental in making the forest what it is today and equally responsible are the forest department officials who, on every occasion, have turned a blind eye towards this unlawful activity of their wallet filling patrons. 

 Partha P Patra