At a time when the State government has woken up to the need for increasing green cover, authorities in Adilabad district are planning to cut trees in a 1 sq km area to make way for ‘development’ around a temple of Adivasi Gonds. The administration has launched a process to decimate over 200 trees around the famous Nagoba temple which are considered sacred by Gonds of the Mesram clan.
A proposal for cutting the old trees was made by a handful of Adivasis a few ago at a review meeting in the presence of Collector M. Jagan Mohan and Utnoor ITDA Project Officer Prashant Patil, ahead of the annual Nagoba jatara starting January 19, 2015. Apparently unaware of entire Keslapur village of Mesram Gonds opposing the proposal, officials set in motion the process to take a physical count and identify trees for felling in the coming days.
The tree census has revealed 203 teak trees located within the area which comes under use during the jatara. “Our view, as submitted to the district administration, is that felling of more than 25 per cent of the trees would cause environmental imbalance in the area though most of the trees are unsound,” said Adilabad Divisional Forest Officer Suneel Hiremath.The matter however, is as important culturally to the Adivasis as it is in terms of environment. “These trees are considered gods by members of our clan who come on a pilgrimage to the Nagoba temple from different parts of the country,” observed Mesram Nagnath, sarpanch of Keslapur gram panchayat who does not want any felling in the area.
‘Leave temple area alone’“At least three persons who had come here with proposals for purchasing this lot of teak trees have died unnatural deaths within days of doing so during the last five or six years,” the sarpanch claimed. “It is our belief that those who harbour ill intention towards the trees will be doomed,” he added.
“Penda development kam aser mantha bathi vittad aser mantha,” (development is taking place at the cost of sanctity of this place) said a visibly angry chairman of the Nagoba temple committee, Mesram Tukaram, as he referred to the proposal for cutting the trees. “The government can instead develop any place outside the area as the trees are used by Gond pilgrims to camp during the jatara period,” he suggested.
