Indian Express
Vivek Deshpande Posted online: Mon Jul 11 2011, 00:17 hrs

Ghati, Gadchiroli : Over the last one year, villagers of Ghati in Gadchiroli have kept timber out of the forest department’s reach, saying it belongs to them under the provisions of the FRA, short for Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest-Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act.

The FRA recognises their rights only on non-timber minor forest produce but the villagers have interpreted it to include all trees. They say minor forest produces like mahua, tendu, berry, gum, edible fruits and roots grow on trees; hence no tree can be harvested. They also cite a provision bestowing on the village the responsibility of conserving wildlife and biodiversity, saying this means even the forest department cannot touch trees without the gram panchayat’s permission.

They have not allowed any forestry work in the 521 hectares for which it has got the title under the Act’s community rights provision, besides another 381 hectares of adjoining reserve forest they claim as theirs.

The village, with a mixed population of 1,213 mostly comprising non-tribals, has a gat (block) gram panchayat. The two other villages under the gram panchayat, Kuradi and Pendawada, have such no issues with the forest department.

Ghati gram sabha president Pitambar Thalal says: “We won’t allow them to cut trees without our permission since under the Act the responsibility of protection now rests with us. The government is our servant and we are their paymasters. Can the master allow the servant to run away with his property?”

He adds, however, that “forest guards and officials are free to carry out protection duties.”

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