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Tamil Nadu
METAMORPHOSIS:A. Hameedha of Ambasamudram sharing her success story with the participants at the Kalakkadu-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve eco development programme consultative meeting held in Tirunelveli district on Friday. TIRUNELVELI: As long as J. Mahendran of Pothigaiyadi, a small evergreen hamlet on the foothills of Western Ghats in Papanasam was a shepherd, he could not even feed his family thrice a day. Now he is a proud owner of a carrier autorickshaw and gets an average profit of Rs. 5,000 a month, which helps him meet his family's monthly expenditure to some extent. The once forest-dependent's lifestyle underwent a massive transformation after he became a member of a self-help group promoted under the Kalakkad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve Eco Development Programme, a project funded by the World Bank with the objective of providing alternative sustainable livelihood to the forest dependents from the village sitting closely to the sanctuary. Like Mr. Mahendran, A. Hameedha of Ambasamudram, S. Velladurai of Thirukkurunkudi, K. Savithri of Kalakkad and hundreds of rural poor, all depending on the minor forest produces for leading their lives, have improved their living standards through their economic activities financed by the eco-development programme. Dreadful floods After the perennial Tamirabharani experienced dreadful floods in 1992 to destroy priceless lives and material worth several crores, the community living in as many as 208 hamlets between Thirukkurunkudi and Kadayam range of KMTR were persuaded through sustained campaigns to take-up alternative livelihood measures instead of going into the sanctuary, now housing around 30 tigers, to collect firewood, minor forest produces like fruits, herbs, honey etc. and even for poaching and selling the forest produces for a measly price. And the eco development programme came into existence in 1995 for which the World Bank agreed to fund Rs. 8 crore for finding alternative employment to these forest dependents. As per this plan, Village Forest Committees (VFC) were formed which in turn formed self-help groups to be imparted vocational training. “It did not happen overnight… We used to visit the villages after 6 p.m. with our cultural troupes that campaigned in sustained fashion for the formation of VFCs and SHGs and explained to the rural community the merits of having alternative livelihood so as to ease the pressure being exerted even on the core area of the sanctuary. As the VFCs and their SHGs prospered gradually, all 208 villages became an inseparable part of the eco development programme finally,” recalled D. Venkatesh, the then Eco Development Officer of KMTR, who started this mission in 1995. The Rs. 8 crore assistance extended by the World Bank in 1995 has now grown up to Rs. 38 crore. “After we started the SHGs 11 years ago, we received loans worth Rs. 4.60 lakh. Now our business transaction has crossed Rs. 14.30 lakh,” proudly says C. Antony Xavier of Kalakkad. KMTR Field Director H. Malleshappa explained the progress made under the eco development programme and the development ensured in the living standards of the forest dependents through this rehabilitation measure. Satisfaction Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest R. Annamalai expressed satisfaction with the progress made in transforming the living conditions of the forest dependents and augmenting their revenue through alternative sustainable livelihood ventures initiated under the eco development programmes. Then Deputy Director, KMTR, C. Badrasamy appealed to the SHGs to repay the loan they had availed in a prompt manner so that more and more needy people in these 208 villages could be helped in a fitting fashion. Deputy Director, KMTR – Mundanthurai A. Venkatesh, Latha Mathivanan of ‘Arumbugal Trust', the NGO that campaigned for the success of the programme and others spoke.
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