The annual family earning of Pasauramm with a family of five members from collection of mahua flowers in the forests of Sunabeda plateau was Rs15,000 till last year. Sadly, he won’t earn a single pie this year.
They would move into the deep forest known as Mahulbhata every year at the start of the season in March for collection of mahua flowers and return to their homes at the end of the season in late April after a sojourn of one and a half months. The story was the same for the people of all the villages of Sunabeda plateau till last year. There are several stretches of forests with mahua trees in the Sunabeda Wildlife Sanctuary located on the plateau spreading over an area of 600 sq km. This supported the year-long livelihoods of thousands of households living in 30 villages on the plateau. But the situation for the households in Sunabeda and Godbhata villages has changed this year. They will not dare enter into the forest because of the Maoist threat.
“I collected about five quintals of mahua flowers last year and earned Rs10,000. But, this year I am deprived of that because we are supporting the police,” says Pasauram.
Sunabeda Panchayat is primarily inhabited by the Chakotia Bhunjia tribe, which is one of the Primitive Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) of Odisha. The people are primarily agriculturists, basically practicing organic farming. Forest produce collection was another major source of their income till recently. But things changed a lot in last one year after the people decided to support the police force against the Maoists. The Nuapada police mobilized the tribals of Sunabeda panchayats to restrict the entry of Maoists into their villages. The villagers are guarding their villages even at night with arrow and bows. But, the fear of Maoist attack has forced the villagers to restrict themselves to their village boundaries. “We are here because the CRPF Jawans and SOG forces are protecting us,” admit the villagers.
The forces have been deployed in Sunabeda, Jamgaon villages of the plateau area and the base cap is located in the foothill village Barkot. They are in regular combing operation around the plateau area. Various road development projects under different schemes are also going on in the sanctuary area under the supervision of the police forces.
Collection of kendu leaves would have been another viable option for the people to earn their livelihoods. Bishram Chhatria had earned about Rs 5,000 last year by selling kendu leaves in the procurement centres (Phadi) of Chhatishgarh State. The people of this area sell kendu leaves in the bordering areas of Chhattishgarh as the Wild life department does not allow plucking of leaves in the sanctuary area. Thus, the plucking and selling of kendu leaves in the plateau is illegal.
It seems now that the vulnerable tribals are caught between the deep sea and the devil. Their source of livelihood has diminished because of the restriction of their movements into the forest on the one hand, and on the other, non availability of alternative livelihood option.There is no labour intensive activity at present. The people who had worked under MGNREGS project have not yet received their wages due to difficulty in opening of bank accounts.