As part of the State-level assessment of functioning and effectiveness of tribal development programme in Telangana done in 2016, it was revealed that 90% of the 1.20 lakh tribal households (2011 census) in the then undivided Adilabad district used firewood as domestic fuel and only 7 % used LPG. The use of firewood in the 5.51 lakh non-tribal households was also higher at 66 % and a mere 30 % of these used LPG, the report revealed.
While this should have been taken as a warning, the government seems to have ignored it, given the situation has not changed since the submission of the report.
The number of households as per the Integrated Household Survey conducted by the State government in August 2014 was much higher, but the percentage in terms of use of LPG seems to have remained unchanged, official sources reveal. Despite differences in the statistics mentioned in the report earlier, and the ones put forth by the government, sources concede that persuading people to refrain from using wood as fuel has, by and large, remained an ignored area in the State in general, and in the districts of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal in particular.
“The government needs to dissuade people, hotels and restaurants, especially in urban areas, from use of firewood, as it would cost the environment dearly. Forest cover is depleting at a rapid pace due to felling of trees for fuelwood,” pointed out a forest official.
Every town has tens of groups of people who eke out a living by selling firewood, collected from nearby forests. For example, Adilabad town has an estimated 200 individuals who bring in fuelwood from forests.
“These individuals should be enrolled as wage-seekers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme if possible,” an official in the Adilabad Civil Supplies wing said, suggesting that it would help control the trend. “The government can even try out employment programmes specifically directed towards them,” he added.
In case of those living in the hilly forest fringes, mostly tribals, easy access to firewood keeps their monthly expenditure under control. By accessing the ‘free’ wood from jungles, every household makes a saving of about ₹300 to ₹500 per month, quite a substantial amount for them.
“The government needs to come out with some form of solution to the issue of rampant use of firewood in rural households too. Subsidised LPG connections have not reached the households in far-flung areas even after decades since LPG arrived in Adilabad,” rued Athram Lingu, from the tribal mandal head quarter of Jainoor, in KB Asifabad district.
