The serious efforts being put in by the government to protect forests in erstwhile undivided Adilabad district has made life a little difficult for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) — Kolam and Naikpod — which depend upon bamboo extracted from forests for a livelihood.
Though the amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927 has classified bamboo as a grass to lift restrictions on its cultivation, harvest and transportation outside forests, the legal constraints on its extraction within forests remain the same.
The government has failed to view the issue in the backdrop of the Provisions of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) which has been implemented in many PESA villages recently. It empowers local tribal communities to exercise rights over customary resources like minor forest produce, among other things and bamboo forms part of it.
Traditional livelihood
There are about 6,000 Kolam and 2,500 Naikpod families, mostly living in forest habitations or on forest fringes in old Adilabad district, who depend upon bamboo for a livelihood but cannot afford to purchase it from the Forest Department which harvests and sells it in Kagaznagar, Asifabad, Bellampalli and Mancherial divisions. They make baskets and mats and their traditional market is the larger Raj Gond tribe and since the last 100 years or so, the non-tribals living in the Agency tracts.
“We are only against extraction of bamboo through unsustainable methods which can be rectified through proper training of the local communities,” observed Adilabad District Forest Officer B. Prabhakar as he indicated that the Kolams will be allowed to cut bamboo in forests for traditional livelihood purpose.
Value addition
“We will not stop with creating awareness,” added Additional Project Officer in charge of PVTG affairs at the Utnoor Integrated Tribal Development Agency B. Gopi. The ITDA official called for a proposal to train the Kolams in design diversification and marketing from some selected villages among the 40 habitations which are being developed as model villages across the ITDA project area.
“It will be a happy augury for us,” Kumra Gangaram, a Kolam bamboo artisan from Lendiguda in Sirikonda mandal of Adilabad district welcomed the proposal.
