Dhanbad: Ex-DFO’s rakhi on one tree turns Tundi’s red zone into green belt after 17 years

Once considered a dreaded ‘red zone’ area, the Tundi block of Dhanbad is today famous for its green belt. The green belt, spread over 100 hectares of land fielded with densely Mahua trees, is the livelihood resource for over 5,000 villagers of half a dozen isolated villages in the region and caters to their medicinal requirements.

Two decades ago, the same Tundi area of Dhanbad was considered disturbed (due to Maoists’ menace and influence). No light of development had reached the region as government officers, allegedly, feared to visit there even in daylight. Most of the villagers depended on daily wage work which they used to find 35 km away in the Dhanbad town.

But today, the green patch of Mahua trees has made the villagers self-dependent and they need not go to towns for livelihood or to engage in alleged unlawful activities.

The village head of the region Rahul Mahto said that villagers earn up to Rs 10,000-30,000 in a year from these Mahua trees. “Now, most of them do not depend on daily wage work and rather focus on protecting the trees,” he said.

It all changed with tying ‘Rakhi’ on a Mahua tree 17 years ago in the village. In 2005, the then Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Dhanbad Sanjiv Kumar with the villagers tied a rakhi on a Mahua tree in the Lodharia village, around 35 km away from the district headquarters, to encourage them to protect of trees.

Having seen the villagers’ response, the forest department planted Mahua trees on 100 hectares of its land in Lodharia village and assigned the responsibility to the villagers to protect and earn from them.  After 17 years, the Mahua trees have turned into a cash crop for tribal and non-tribal residents of the region.

“Protection of forests involving local villagers is very effective. I initiated ‘Vriksh Rakshabandhan’ (tying sacred thread to protect trees) in Tundi in 2005. I visited there after 17 years on Saturday (July 23) and found that  Mahua trees have become sources of livelihood for the villagers,” said Sanjiv Kumar, who now holds the post of additional principal chief conservator of Forest (APCCF).

Over 5,000 population in surrounding villages including Lodharia, Lokaiya, Nepra, Chaldhowa, Gopinathpur, Bhal Pahadi,  and Saharpura are milting money from these Mahua trees. They make edible oil from Mahua flower, medicine for healing wounds, besides Mahua liquor which are considered major sources of income.

Villages have shared trees of forest department among themselves for the protection and collection of Mahua. No villager enters each other’s area.

“Since Mahua tree is a cash-generating source, no dispute over possession of tree among villagers has been reported ever in 17 years. If any dispute appears, the village chief solves it at a village meeting,” said Binod Thakur, ranger of Tundi.

Impressed by the success of the 2005 project, the forest department has launched another project on 50 hectares of its land in Lukaia village. Tundi JMM MLA Mathura Prasad Mahto inaugurated the project along with APCCF Sanjiv Kumar on July 23.