Daltonganj: In a rare instance of community cooperation, villagers of Sohdaag Khurd under Nawa Bazar block in Palamu district have voluntarily withdrawn from cultivating around seven acres of forest land they had been using for years to make way for a nursery of the forest department.
Despite repeated warnings from the department, the locals had been growing pulses such as Arhar Dal (pigeon pea) and Kulthi Dal (horse gram) on the land for years. Initially, they were unwilling to relinquish the land.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Medininagar forest division, Satyam Kumar, said the department chose persuasion over punitive action. “We could have gone for harsher measures by lodging cases under the Forest Act, but we refrained,” he said. “Instead, we counselled them, explaining how the land could be more beneficial if left for natural regeneration.”
The effort paid off. “The villagers believed us. They vacated the land and urged us to regenerate the forest,” Kumar said. However, it took more than four months of discussions to arrive at the decision nearly a month ago.
Following the decision, a nursery has been set up, and plantations of tamarind, jungle jalebi, mahua and jamun are planned during the monsoon, forest sources said. The DFO credited Damodar Choudhury, the mukhiya of Sohdaag Khurd village, for playing a key role in mobilising the community.
Choudhury said the decision was taken collectively in a Gram Sabha. “It is the highest body of the panchayat, and its decisions are rarely overturned. We decided to disclaim the forest land and requested the department to develop a nursery and plant fruit-bearing trees,” he said.
The DFO said the primary concern for the villagers was fodder for cattle, which often leads to pressure on forest land. “Sohdaag Khurd has set an example of a healthy bond with forests that other villages should follow,” he said.
