The Forest Department has taken an initiative to dissuade the villagers, mainly tribals, to enter into the Kuldiha sanctuary zone for collection of firewood.
After coining an idea of encouraging tribals towards use of lPG for cooking, the department has announced that it would give Rs1,000 to each family as an incentive towards buying gas stove, those who didn’t possess gas connection and have to depend on firewood.
On the experimental basis, the department has concentrated on the two vulnerable villages of Tenda and Saralia of Nilgiri block in the close proximity of Kuldiha sanctuary.
The announcement made two months ago has attracted 200 tribals to the scheme who have shown interest and applied for gas connection.
“The objective is to dissuade the villagers around the two km radius of the sanctuary to enter into the prohibited pockets for collection of firewood. Besides, the long term idea is to create smokeless villages around the sanctuary,” said the DFO Harsh Bardhan Udgata.
“The Central Government is providing Rs1,600 subsidy to the beneficiaries covered under BPl and Antodaya. In order to encourage them towards use of lPG, Rs1,000 is given as an incentive to procure gas stove,” he said, adding that the response is very encouraging and hundreds of applications are pouring in.
The department said that the money is being given out of sanctuary management fund through Vana Suraksha Samity(VSS) and Eco Development Committee(EDC) in each village.
Private lPG companies have been tied up to deliver the gas connection in the village itself to the beneficiaries after completion documentation procedure. In around 2 km radius of Kuldhia sanctuary, while there are 205 revenue villages, about 10,000 families, mostly tribal and under BPl category, reside there. Mostly they fell trees after trespassing into the sanctuary and at times poach animals and birds.