Patna: In a unique campaign aimed at protecting the fast-depleting green cover, authorities in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have asked tribal villagers to surrender their axes to avail themselves of the benefits of a free LPG connection with cooking cylinders as well gas stoves.
The idea has been launched in the Dalma wildlife sanctuary in the east Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. The sanctuary is spread over in 193 square km.
“First surrender your axes before availing the LPG connections,” the local authorities have told the villagers.
However, the villagers are unwilling to give up their axes which they say are used not only to cut firewood but also as a form of protection from wild animals.
“Keeping axes at home [is] a must to protect [ourselves] from wild animals. Who will save us after we give up our axes?’ asked village headman Pradeep Singh Deo.
“Yet we will think of handing [over] our axes if the government gives us the free LPG connections first,” he added.
Authorities launched the scheme after finding the tribal villagers were ruthlessly felling trees for cooking food and other purposes.
As per reports, Jharkahd has been losing 10 per cent of its green cover every year.
Villagers in the sanctuary have been chopping trees for the purposes of cooking.
“It is a common practice [that has been] underway [for] ages,” local forest department official Chadramauli Kumar told the media today. “But things would change drastically once the idea comes on the surface.”
According to official, they have decided to provide a cooker to each woman residing in the 85 villages of the sanctuary, apart from a free LPG connection. More than 30,000 villagers stay in those 85 villages.
The majority of villagers currently live below the poverty line and the government plans to target only those in this segment.
However, the villagers are yet to show interest in free LPG connections due to the unique condition attached with the scheme.
