Not allowed to collect herbs, Bara Bhandal tribals upset

Allege restrictions leading to illegal trade and violating their forest rights

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Allowed as per rules: DFO

DFO Dharamsala Sanjeev Sharma said the collection of herbs from forest or sanctuary areas was regulated. The Forest Department allows extraction of herbs only once every four years. This was done to avoid over extraction of herbs.

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, September 6

Tribals of Bara Bhangal and Chota Bhangal areas of Kangra district are upset as forest officials are not allowing them to harvest herbs in forests in their vicinity. They say that their families have been collecting herbs from forests for centuries and the Forest Rights Act provides them legal right to gather forest produce. They also allege that the failure of the Forest Department to allow them to collect herbs legally was leading to illegal trade of herbs in the area.

Pawana, a resident of the Bara Bhangal area, said that forest officials working in the field were not allowing the tribals to collect and take out herbs collected from forests to open markets. Due to it, most of the residents of Bara and Chotta Bhangal tribal areas were being forced to sell the herbs collected from fore areas illegally to traders.

Akshay Jasrotia, an activist, who has been fighting for the forest rights of tribals, while talking to The Tribune, said that as per the Forest Rights Act tribals have been given rights of grazing animals and collecting forest produce.

The district level committee formed in Kangra to implement the Forest Rights Act has also endorsed the rights of tribals to collect and sell herbs. Under the Act, panchayats have the rights to issue permits to their residents to collect herbs from forest and sanctuary areas. However, the field level forest officials, including forest guards and block level officers, are still not allowing locals to gather and sell herbs from forest areas. This was leading to illegal trade of herbs, he alleged.

The DFO Dharamsala Sanjeev Sharma, when asked, said collection of herbs from forest or sanctuary areas was regulated. The Forest Department allows extraction of herbs from forest areas only once every four years. This was done to avoid over extraction of herbs.

He further informed that to take out herbs from forest areas traders must register with the Forest Department. They would have to obtain export permit from the Forest Department to take out herbs. When asked about the rights of panchayats to allow extraction of herbs from forests in their vicinity, the DFO said that earlier panchayats were allowed to give permits for extraction of some herbs. However, those rights have now been withdrawn and one has to obtain permit from the Forest Department.

Some herbs that have known medicinal value like tejpata, kala zera, ratanjot, kashmal and mitha telia were found commonly in wild in Himachal. However, thanks to overexploitation from wild by pharmaceutical companies, 55 such herbs of Himachal are on the verge of extinction.

However, the tribals are alleging that they have taking herbs from forests for centuries and they have never overexploited them. Instead, the forest contractors with commercial interests were exploiting the herbs from forest, they alleged.