Not being allowed to camp at Triund, shepherds agitated

Forest dept developing area as ecotourism site

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“We have been camping here for generations while coming down or going uphill. It is unfair to ask shepherds, who camp at Triund only for a few days, to move away from the area.” — Jonga Ram, a shepherd

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, October 27

Gaddi shepherds who are migrating these days from upper to lower hills due to the onset of winters are at loggerheads with the Forest Department. The department is allegedly stopping these shepherds from setting up their camps in many forest areas. Shepherds, on the other hand, claim that they have been setting up camps in forests for generations and the Forest Department should not infringe on their traditional forest rights.

Shepherds had an altercation with forest officials at Triund, a famous trekking site located about 10 km uphill from Dharamsala. Sources said the department had launched a project to develop Triund as an ecotourism site. So when the migrating shepherds camped with their livestock in the area, forest officials objected and asked them to vacate the land.

Jonga Ram, a shepherd who has camped in Triund with the livestock, said, “We have been camping here for generations while coming down or going uphill. It is unfair to ask shepherds, who camp at Triund only for a few days, to move away from the area.”

Pritam Chand, an octogenarian who has come with his flock from the Bara Bhangal area, alleged he was forced to move out of Triund by forest officials. “I am now camping in the Bhagsu area but there are no pastures here to graze my sheep and goat. Triund is a traditional pasture that we shepherds use while coming downhill,” he said.

Conservator of Forests, Kangra, Pardeep Thakur said he had no knowledge about forest officials stopping gaddi shepherds from camping in Triund. “I will be check with the forest officials and try to solve the issue,” he said.

Akshay Jasrotia, advisor to Himachal Ghumantu Pashupalak Mahasabha, while talking to The Tribune, said many gaddi shepherds were slowly leaving their traditional profession as they were increasingly facing problems. They are losing their traditional pastures to developmental projects, he said. In many cases, forest officials have been objecting to the presence of shepherds in wildlife sanctuaries and forest areas. The traditional gaddi shepherds have been roaming with their livestock in forests for centuries whereas the forest laws have come into existence only in the last few decades. They are also contributing significantly to state economy by rearing over 10 lakh livestock, said Jasrotia.

Jasrotia said the Union Government had also recognised the forest rights of traditional communities in the forest rights Act but it has not been implemented in Himachal Pradesh.