A gram pradhan (village head) of a village situated on the border between Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh in the dense Palamu Tiger Reserve has successfully mobilised villagers for a crusade against tree felling and for providing a secure ambience for visitors.
Francius Kerketta, 45, who has been gram pradhan of Lodh village under Chatakpur panchayat in Latehar district of Jharkhand — around 196km from Ranchi — since 2007.
Since the last decade, the gram pradhan has been successfully persuading not only his villagers but also neighbouring villagers about the adverse environmental impact of tree felling on the next generation. His efforts have yielded results with villagers guarding the 500-acre forest against illegal tree felling either by villagers or by timber mafias.
Francius has also mobilised villagers to form eco vikas samity under the patronage of the forest department to provide safety for visitors to the famous Lodh waterfalls against eve-teasing and petty crimes.
The Lodh Falls, also known as Budhaghagh falls, is claimed by the Latehar district officials as the highest waterfall in Jharkhand (at 469 feet). It is located on the Budha River within the Chhota Nagpur Plateau forests and witnesses thousands of tourists round the year and is a favourite among picnickers between December and February.
“It is one of the best performing eco vikas samity of our region and has not only curbed tree felling but also used local resources to prepare a motorable road and instil security among visitors to the falls. They do charge a nominal amount for maintaining the road and also arrange payment for the eco vikas samity members,” said Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) director Kumar Ashutosh.
Forest officials admitted that because of the dense and hilly terrain and past incidents of Maoist presence and the long distance from the police station, cops rarely patrol the Lodh waterfalls.
“It was not easy to convince the villagers but I persevered and my efforts paid fruit gradually as residents of six villages agreed to form teams to patrol the forest areas against tree felling. We used to catch hold of the villagers and convinced them about the need of protecting our forest for our next generation. It took time but gradually even villagers from neighbouring villages understood it. With villagers intensifying their patrol, even timber mafias dared not to venture into the dense forest having the ignominy of being Left Wing Extremism-affected area,” said Francius.