FIFTEEN years of tough struggle have today borne fruit ... rather,
trees. This is a saga of forest regeneration through local initiative in Chharadan village of Midnapore district. And the hero
of the saga is Madan Khatua, whose mantra through these
years was to save the forests from avaricious fellers.
Chharadan Tarun Sangha (ci,s), the village youth club,
had been active since 1971. After games, the youths often
anguished over the vanishing forests. Horinakhuri, a neighbouring village, where Jyoti Nayak had already proposed a village committee, inspired Madan and his mates.
By 1983, informal z@ps were taken for forest protection.
Later on, the Chharadan Jungle Sangrakhchan (forest protection).Committee (cisc), was formed as a CTS wing. This committee set up rules against felling. The forest was guarded day
and night. Some villagers, naturally, disputed this erosion in
their daily income. The local Communist Party of India
Marxist (cpi-m) bosses joined hands with the dissenters,
terming the well-to-do Khatua families as jotedars (landlords)
and, therefore , class enemies.
Towards the end of 1984, the voluntary organisation,
Rural Development Association (RDA), launched an awareness
campaign in the villages here. By 1985, the RDA organised people from 12 villages into a committee. Unfortunately, internal
dissensions soon guillotined the committee.
In 1985, at a meeting convened by the cpi-m at
Bhangabandi, Madan declared that "when the forest would
have regenerated, wood also will be available for home consumption. There is, therefore, no reason for stopping a movement which will @ring benefits to the poor".
But pressure mounted against the Khatua family. The local
committee of the cpi-m prevented the labourers from working
on the 40 acres of land of these 3 families. They even attacked
Madan after a meeting in Mohalclanga.
The influence of the cJSC, however, slowly grew, as I year
of protection brought to the fore the differences between the
non-protected and protected forests.
In 1989, due to problems in protecting the large area initially defined under the Chharada:n forest, 80 hectares were
selected a 'nd delimited for morelefficient protection and
regeneration. At that time, the Forest Department held a
meeting with cisc to define the rights of the parties involved.
On July 12, 1989, the state government issued the Sarkari
Adesnarna (order) which defined the new rules and regulations for forest management, and how the benefits will be
shared. And after all these years, the movement now has
gained the support of all sections of the local people.
Fabienne Tingry is an organic farmer, and activist in Ranchi 
