A community hall in the Sunderbans, around 100km from Kolkata, saw the breaking of a glass ceiling on Tuesday.
Four women, residents of different villages in Gosaba, were inducted as tourist guides in the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve by the forest department.
The women were part of a two-day training session, on Tuesday and Wednesday, organised by the STR and a wildlife organisation.
The guides accredited by the forest department are much sought after by tourists on boats and launches treading rivers along the mangrove islands. But so far, it was a man’s territory.
“We have 62 male guides. Like them, the female guides will also be our eyes and hands in the interiors of the delta,” said Tapas Das, the field director of the STR. The inclusion of women should have happened much earlier, he said.
Bithika Ray. The Telegraph
The guides do not get monthly salaries but a remuneration for a shift on one boat or launch. The rate is around Rs 600 for Indian tourists and Rs 1,200 for foreigners, said foresters.
The Sunderbans, shut for tourists since April, will be opened from October 1, a state government notification on Thursday said.
The women were trained along side their male counterparts. There will be more trainings in the coming days. They are being trained to sensitise tourists on the importance, and fragility, of the mangrove ecosystem. They are being trained to dissuade tourists from littering the water bodies with plastic.
Bhaswati Sarkar. The Telegraph
They are being trained to tackle ‘tourists’ obsession with tigers’. The Sunderbans is not only about tigers. It has much more to offer. A sighting of the Irrawaddy Dolphin is said to be worth a trip. There are over 100 species of birds. There is the saltwater crocodile, the largest reptile in the world.
“I did not know so many things myself. But now, I am confident that I will be able to make the Sunderbans trip memorable for a tourists, irrespective of tiger sighting,” said Sumana Mondal, 22, one of the four women who attended the training.
Sumana Mondal. The Telegraph
Mondal, a graduate in arts, lives in a village near the Durgaduani creek, where her neighbours go fishing and crab hunting regularly. More so because of the loss of regular income during the pandemic.
“For tourists, it is just about one sighting of a tiger from a distance. For our people, it is a tussle for livelihood. I will tell the tourists as much,” said Mondal.
“The self-help groups in the Sunderbans are run by women. Women do the household chores and are also instrumental in income generation through small projects. Their contribution is more pronounced during the pandemic, when many male members are out of work. There is no reason why they should not be good guides,” said Anil Mistry of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, the NGO that has collaborated with the forest department in the training.
The training session attended by the women inducted as tourist guides in the Sunderbans. The Telegraph
Bithika Ray, 45, another would-be guide, said she would lay special focus on making tourists aware of the perils of plastic in the Sunderbans.
“The mangroves are like a shield for the rest of south Bengal. By jeopardising the future of the mangroves, people would be jeopardising their own future,” said Ray, who has had a seven-year stint with self-help groups in the past.
The other two women are Madhumita Mondal and Bhaswati Sarkar, both local residents.
