MASRAKH (SARAN): On April 19 Suresh Ram of Barahimpu village had the marriage of his sister. The marriage party was arriving in the evening. All through the day Ram with cash in. hi: pocket tried to procure and purchase fuel-wood from the local market but in vain. By the evening he with folded hands was supplicating the poor and the rich it the village for fuel mood “Pleas save the honor of my family.”

Villagers helped him since it was both an auspicious and special occasion. On any normal day the assistance would not have come so spontaneously. Paras Nath Singh of Sheikhpura village who had seen the barber of his village caught in the same predicament said “On any other day everyone is left to fend for himself or go without food for want of fuel wood.”

Yes Masrakh block in Sarar district is in the throes of serious fuel-wood crisis although the fate is the same in other north Bihar districts. Said Ramyadi Prasad of Karmachar village in Gopalganj district “The situation is the same in my district also and may be everywhere else in north Bihar.”

Prasad is a high school teacher in Bahadurpur village under the Masrakh police station of Saran district. He has been spending Rs 50 each month for purchasing 40 kg of fuel wood.

The fuel-wood crisis has been caused by the last depleting forest areas felling of trees in private orchards and groves for business purposes decrease in the number of milch cattle whose dung is used in the preparation of dung-cakes and reclamation of government land which otherwise was used as pasture land as well as for the collection of twigs from bushes.

Indeed every-time a big farmer Or a peasant decides to sell his grove and enters into a deal with a contractor involved in the felling of trees and disposing them at far-flung trading centers it immediately becomes big news in the area. Not for the reason of the increase in liquid cash in the possession of the owners of the groves but for the reason that the depletion of groves would be just one more blow to the landless and non-milch cattle owning people with regard to the general non availability of fuel-wood.

Interestingly the felling of trees even in private groves gained momentum in the early eighties Recalled Pramode Singh (17) of Chhapia village “Recently a farmer of Bangra village ordered the feeling of 175 sisam trees. A few days ago the farmer sold the trees in his grove for Rs 1.75 lakh to three contractors. You can just feel the burden coming to the poor people in the area who were dependent upon these groves for fuel-wood.” According to his estimate about 100 people were involved in the felling and selling of trees in Masraki block alone

That trading in wood is a brisk business would become evident from the rise in the cost of fuel-wood. Bhola Rai of Damadurpur village said that fuel-wood cost Rs 15 per 40 kg in 1980 but the rate increased to Rs 25 per40kg in 1985 and for the last two years the going rate has been Rs 50 per 40 kg. According to Rai in the years to come the crisis would be more acute since the malikana log (masters of big landholdings) were planting only 20 to 25 new plants for each 100 trees felled.

He pointed out that the fuel-wood crisis was not a big problem for big landholders and milch cattle owning people. They possessed groves and could afford coal or kerosene or even could even use cakes of dung and stalks of wheat paddy and maize. But for the others it was a real fuel crisis.

Incidentally six teenagers who were picking up dry grass or twigs on the ridges of ploughed lands said that if they refused to go out for picking the fuel-wood then their mothers and elders would beat them up. Two of them Chhote Lal and Sipahi were students. They were happy that they were having morning school since it was summer. But during the day school they had to skip classes as they had to procure fuel-wood for the family. All of them belonged to families that did not own either land or cattle.

The most interesting part of the scenario was that the area was notable for outmigration of men to distant states in search of work. They mainly migrated to Assam. According to Ramchandra Ram of Chan Kudarian village scarcity of fuel-wood was the most acute problem in the area and therefore whenever he would be in Assam he made it a point to send money back to the family each month particularly for the purchase of fuel-wood. “If I do not do it then my family would go without food” he said. There were 400 others from his panchayat. Dumrama, who also worked in Assam and budgeted accordingly.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 29, 1992