1.2 Policy and its Impact
Bamboo was leased out to paper mills prior
to the Forest Enquiry Committee of 1959 on a long-term basis.
5 Paper Mills were involved in the working of bamboo. The
state government had made an agreement with paper mills to
meet the needs of the tenants. 14 Forest Divisions were leased
to M/s Orient Paper Mills for working of bamboo on a long-term
basis up to 30th September 1980. The lease was renewed for
12 years w.e.f. 1st October 1977 with a royalty of Rs. 2.90
per 100 metres of salia bamboo and Rs. 5.80 per 100 metres
of dabba bamboo.
Bamboo was nationalised on 1st October 1988.
OFDC was made the agent for working of bamboo. The Paper Mills
were appointed as sub-agents of the corporation by paying
lease rent violating Forest Conservation Act. Here an interesting
issue of law arises whether the arrangement with the paper
industry amounts to leasing of forests or not. The official
position says it is leasing of forest produce, and not of
land, and hence the provisions of the Forest Conservation
Act are not attracted. However, an arrangement would amount
to leasing of land if the lessee pays a royalty to the owner
of land, the payment to wage labourers is made by the lessee,
and the lessee has the right to take the produce away. Therefore
forest leases in favour of private parties in Orissa are against
the Forest Conservation Act. As the permission of the GOI
has not been taken for the assignment of bamboo forests to
industry, the entire arrangement is unlawful. In addition
to this, after the announcement of Raw Material Procurer (RMP)
System OFDC and paper industries failed to comply with needs
of the tenants and rural artisans although there is legal
provision for supply of bamboo to rural artisans under "Supply
of Bamboo to Artisans including Cooperative Societies (Orissa)
Rules, 1980." When paper mills were provided with bamboo
at a minimal price, the rural artisans had to get bamboo from
OFDC depot, at several times the former price. This was ostensibly
done by Government of Orissa to promote industrial interests
at cost of poor artisans and rural rustics. These arrangements
in Orissa not only revive the old contractor system, even
worse, as at least in the older system there was some transparency.
OFDC and the paper mills also exploited bamboo
cutters by paying low wages. The bamboo cutters also did not
get bonus. The Minimum Wages Advisory Sub-committee recommended
giving minimum wage to the bamboo cutters but it was hardly
observed. There were also examples of non-payment of wages
to bamboo cutters. Workers engaged in cutting, dragging and
carrying them to transport points used to get wages of Rs
321.45 per tonne of bamboo. Besides, the labourers got Rs.
14.70 and Rs 101 per tonne of bamboo for bundling of bamboo
in the main depot and making motorable roads inside the forests,
respectively. Taking the average annual production of two
lakh tonnes of bamboo, the remuneration received by those
employed in the bamboo trade worked out to a whopping Rs.
8.62 crores annually.
These earnings have now come to a stop since
the state government stopped bamboo operations in 2000. Hundreds
of labours dependent on bamboo now have been rendered completely
jobless, while several hundred more have become migrant labourers.
Still others have taken to 'podu' or shifting cultivation
after clearing the once precious, but now worthless bamboo
forests.
According to the state government, closure
of bamboo cutting was necessitated after the paper mills in
the state refused to lift 68,000 MT of bamboo from the depots
of OFDC in 2000-2001 collection season. The unsold bamboo
is valued at nearly 10 crores. The paper mills, however, say
that the unsold stock of bamboo is rotten and not fit for
production of paper. For another, one sale unit of bamboo
which, as per OFDC calculation is equivalent a tonne - actually
weighs only 0.6 tonne.
Kailash Mallick, a resident of Ambakana
in Ganjam district, used to eke out a decent living
by cutting bamboo, till the state government stopped
bamboo operations in 2000. Today he works as a mason,
a trade he is hardly familiar with, and earns a meagre
amount, which is not enough even to feed his family.
He cannot even think of consulting a doctor for a swollen
eye he got after an injury while working on a road project.
"The only work I ever knew was bamboo cutting.
After it was stopped, it has been very difficult for
me to make ends meet," says Kailash, with an unmistakable
tinge of helplessness in his voice.
Kailash was, at least, lucky enough
to find an alternative employment, however inadequate
it may be. But there are hundreds of others who have
been rendered completely jobless, while several hundred
more have become migrant labourers and are at the mercy
of rapacious employers. Still others have taken to 'podu'
or shifting cultivation after clearing the once precious,
but now worthless bamboo forests.
In Khamanakhol panchayat of Andaman
district alone, 578 acres of exclusive bamboo forests
have been cleared. 457 families, which earlier earned
a livelihood in bamboo operations, are now completely
dependent on shifting cultivation. "There was no
shifting cultivation in our area, as long as bamboo
operations continued. We feel very bad about having
to destroy the bamboo forests that sustained us for
so long. But, is there a way out?" says Japa Kanr,
a resident of Porubhatta village ruefully. |
The reason for refusal of the paper mills
to lift their quota of bamboo seems to be the advances in
paper making technology. Following the rapid strides paper
technology has made in the last few years, bamboo has lost
its status as the sole raw material for making paper. It has
lost its place to low grade wood, which is a much cheaper
option for the paper mills. Where as the government has fixed
the rate of bamboo at Rs 1,650 per tonne, acacia (Acacia auriculaeformis)
or chakunda (Cassia Siamea) wood is available at Rs 750-1000
per tonne, while jhaun (Casuarina equisetifolia) is available
at Rs 1,400 per tonne. By using hard wood, the paper mills
are able to save on transportation cost too, as bamboo is
much lighter than wood.
Till a few years back, the paper mills in
the state used to consume about 5 lakh tonnes of raw material.
Nearly half the requirement was met from forests of Orissa.
However, the collective requirement of the mills came down
to about 3.75 lakh tonnes after closure of the Orient Paper
Mills in Brajarajnagar. As the paper mills started using more
and more wood in place of bamboo, production of bamboo went
continuously downhill. From a high of three lakh tonnes in
1983-84, it plummeted to a mere 1.5 lakh by 1998-99.
The three functioning paper mills in Orissa-
two units of Ballarpur Industries at Chowdwar and Jeypore
and the JK Paper Mill at Rayagada - are now meeting even their
meagre requirement from bamboo from Chhatisgarh as it works
out much cheaper for them. For wood, they depend mostly on
Andhra Pradesh, for the same reason. Besides, they are relying
on captive plantations.
Though the state government blames the paper
mills for all this, experts say the government is now paying
for a decision it took a decade ago. As per that decision,
it was made mandatory for paper mills to meet at least half
of their requirement with other, alternative material. Having
tasted blood, the paper mills are now not ready to meet even
half their requirement from bamboo.
Besides, the reason for bamboo not being harvested
has been lack of a bamboo-working scheme - a mandatory requirement
before cutting of bamboo - for 13 of the 23 forest divisions.
Preparation of the working plan takes 2-3 years and the government
has clearly failed to do things in time. A section of OFDC
believes that the paper mill owners have to obey the government
conditions. The loser in this whole process is the state exchequer
and the poor forest dependant people for whom bamboo working
related jobs meant food. Neither the FD nor the paper industries
lose as much as the forest dwellers. The FD does not feed
its staff from the revenue that comes from bamboo royalty,
so why should they bother?
It is not as if the workers are the only ones
affected by the closure of bamboo operations. The state itself
was a big loser in terms of revenue. The government had fixed
a rate of Rs 647/- as royalty for a ton of bamboo in 1999-2000,
the last year when bamboo cutting was done. At this rate,
the revenue lost annually since then works out to Rs 13 crores.
But, in the last three years the royalty earned by the state
was from Rs. 5.11 to 8.52 Crores as the amount of bamboo collected
was less. In a state going through its worst ever financial
crisis, this is no mean loss of revenue.
The biggest fall-out of closure of bamboo
operations, however, has been on the bamboo forests themselves.
Experts are of the opinion that the rich bamboo forests of
the state may soon become a thing of past, if bamboo cutting
is not resumed shortly.
This is so, they say, because the onset of
flowering - already seen in parts of Baliguda block of Kandhamal
district - is a sure sign of the impending rout of bamboo
forests. It may be noted that coastal Orissa has now become
devoid of bamboo primarily due to this reason. Cutting of
bamboo every four years is a mandatory requirement to prevent
flowering. But, with the closure of operation in force for
the last two years, the entire bamboo forest in the state
is in serious danger of complete annihilation. Field level
forest officials maintain that - bamboo cutting should resume
immediately, for no other reason than to ensure the survival
of bamboo forests. The closure has led to other problems too.
Owing to non-cutting of bamboo, the bushes are fast getting
joined with each other. If a forest fire breaks out, not just
the bamboo forests, but the entire stretch of forest in the
area runs the risk of getting wiped out. Besides, with no
gaps between bushes, growth of fresh bamboo shoots is completely
ruled out. Apart from the very real danger of the entire bamboo
forests in the state getting wiped out, the clustering of
bushes also has serious implications for man and animal. Elephants
have to move about in the bamboo forests. But, with their
passage blocked by joining of bushes, they are certain to
stray into human settlements, creating an avoidable problem.
For the crop year 2002-03, the State government
decided to give a free hand to OFDC for Bamboo operation.
It was decided that OFDC will harvest bamboo directly and
will enjoy the freedom of disposing it regionally or at divisional
level or through national tender. The state Govt. also slashed
the sale price of bamboo per sale unit from Rs.1650/- to Rs.1185/-.
For this reduction royalty was reduced from Rs.670 to Rs.350.
The rest comes from operational cost and commission to OFDC.
As per this bamboo operations were started in13 divisions
where working plans are ineffective. OFDC had floated a national
tender and Bhadrachalam paper mills had come forward. Operations
had started in some of the divisions. But due to the failure
of the Forest dept. in complying information in connection
with T.N.Godavaran case, the MOEF has instructed the state
that other than regeneration all other activities are to be
stopped even if the working plans are effective. After this,
the bamboo operation by OFDC has been stopped completely. |
