The Dolma Buru Sendra Samity (DBSS), a frontal outfit of tribals, will be converging at Dalma wildlife sanctuary to celebrate Bishu Shikar or Sendra on May 9.

The annual hunt festival will be celebrated after two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and keeping with the tradition, tribals will only perform puja.

DBSS chief priest, Rakesh Hembrom said they have sent invites to their tribal brethren in Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisha for Bishu Shikar.

"We are excited to celebrate the festival after a two-year gap. We will assemble on the foothills of Dalma to perform puja on May 7 and 8 before climbing the hills on the early morning of May 9," Hembrom, a resident of Gadra on the outskirts bof the steel city said.

Tribals from Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisha, armed with spears, bows and arrows and even firearms, converge inside the sprawling 192 sq km elephant abode, and spend the entire day. Since hunting is banned in the sanctuary, tribals do try to kill animals.

Dalma authorities keep a tight vigil at the sanctuary in the run-up to the hunt festival. Patrol teams tour the sanctuary and also seize traps and nets which are spread at strategic pockets by the tribals. Frisking is also done at the Makukalocha and Fadlugora entry points to prevent entry of firearms.

“We will request DBSS to celebrate the festival sans killing of innocent animals. We will ask the members to keep the festival symbolic,” an official at the forest range office in Mango, Jamshedpur said.

Officials and staff of different forest divisions of Jharkhand will be assembling at the sanctuary a day before the occasion to keep a tight vigil. "Hunting is banned inside the sanctuary. A tight vigil will be maintained to prevent animal killing," the official said, adding they will also request South Eastern Railway (SER) to frisk and seize weapons tribals carry while travelling by train.

Besides Asiatic elephants, wild boars, giant Indian squirrels, spotted deer, peacock etc are the animals found inside Dalma sanctuary, 30 km from Jamshedpur.

Animals were killed in good numbers during Bishu Shika over a decade back. However, things have changed now as few animals are killed. Awareness campaigns by members of the eco development committee on the futility of killing innocent animals and tight vigil by the forest department are the basic reasons behind the drop in numbers. The tribals, on the other hand, also seem to have understood the futility of killing animals in the name of festival..