Situated in Madhya Pradesh in its south-east, Bastar is famed for its rich central Indian Forests, simple people and unique wildlife, the last characterized by the wild buffalo and the hill myna. Indravati is the lifeline of Bastar area. This pretty river meanders westwards through the Bastar plateau and then drops in stages before proceeding southwards to empty into the Godawari. All along its course, for thousands of years, it has sustained tribal people who traditionally and largely live off nature. A variety of wild animals and birds which play a major role in these people’s lives have also like wise been sustained. Despite wide spread ravage, the Bustar forests are still among the healthiest segments of central Indian Forests.

The vast forests of Bastar, an erstwhile princely state, were looked upon as an inexhaustible resource, but its remoteness was their best assurance for conservation until pressures started building up late last centaury. In 1886 a separate forest department was set up which looked after only the forests belonging to the princely state. In 1944 the Zamindari forests were taken over by the forest department but there were still extensive forests under private ownership and in village commons. In 1948 Bastar was merged with the Central Province and bulk of the forests under control of the forest department were reaffirmed as reserved forests under the Indian Forest Act. As pressure for timber and land grew most of the timber bearing forests outside the reserved forests got cleared in the decades of 50s, 60s and 70s. Minerals and water are the other major natural resources on which attention of the national development process came to be drawn in the decades following Independence.

The forest living people of Bastar have hardly regarded forests as a resource, but just the basis of their life. Bulk of their sustenance has traditionally come from forests through hunting and gathering which strongly supplemented the meager productivity of shifting cultivation or marginal land farming. Fishing in the river waters for food and to some extent, cattle raising supplement this essentially simple, land based lifestyle. From the turn of the century, a marked transformation in resource utilization became evident as pressure for timber and hunger for land led to clearing of forests and people, though mainly on the main plateau, took to sustained agriculture. Development, industrial and rehabilitation projects brought in their own influences. The more significant among these have been the Bailadila Iron Ore Project, the attendant Vishakhapatnam – Kirandul Railway Line, the Dandakaranya Rehabilitation Project, the Pine Plantation Project (since abandoned) and finally the Bodhghat Hydel Power Project renamed as Sarovar Hydroelectric Project (main construction yet to start).

Apprehensions of likely environmental aspects of the Bodhghat project have raised serious concern Indian environmentalists. Bastar forests are among the last remaining sizeable chunks of natural forests with a recorded abundance of genetic variety. Bastar conservation society for nature, WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society, and Centre for Science and Environment have all opposed the dam which would submerge a large forest area and destroy wildlife habitat.

Conditions for Environmental clearance of Bhodhghat Project

The Department of Environment (DOE) of Government of India had cleared the project in January 1979 but the Department of Forest (DOF) of GOI decided to have a fresh at it in the light of the Forest Conservation Act which came in to force in 1980. At the instant of DOF, the DOE constituted a working group for the purpose which visited the project site in early 1984 and finally the DOE gave a fresh clearance to the project in 1985 with the provision that the following specific studies and surveys would be carried out and completed at the preconstruction stage:

(a) A survey of flora and fauna of the region so that the wildlife resources can be identified and sustainable measures proposed for their protection.

(b) A study of the present living condition of the affected population so that provision can be made in the rehabilitation programme to preserve their lifestyle in the new settlement colonies.

(c) Impact of creation of the reservoir on aquifer in the neighbourhood.

Accordingly the Ministry of Environment and Forests of GOI directed the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to send a study team to the project site to survey the flora and fauna and to examine in particular the likely impacts on wild buffalo conservation in the area. This request was made in January 1989. In March, the same year, the WII team came to the project site and conducted field studies from March to May. Since local people are so heavily dependent upon forests and for their subsistence, their lifestyles very significantly influence wildlife and its habitat. Any worthwhile study hence needed to look at the human aspects of wildlife conservation. It is for this reason that WII research team included a socio-economist who investigated the dependence of its influence upon forests so as to enable assessment of its influence upon wildlife. For the study, the logistic support was provided by MPEB. During this ninety day fieldwork we visited the proposed dam site, surveyed extensively the area to be inundated and interviewed a wide range of people.

The survey had the following principal objectives:

(1) Evaluation of overall wildlife status and wildlife potential of the impact areas and the likely impacts of dam construction on wild buffalo population along the Indravati river, in particular.

(2) Evaluation of the existing status of wildlife habitat in the impact area which is subjected to village level exploitation and changes being brought about by the preconstruction phase and initial planning for the project.

(3) Tribal dependence on forest and wildlife products including the forest food stuffs and ethnobotanical importance of the plants.

(4) Likely alternatives for the population to be displaced, based on land, forest and reservoir productivity, as a way of rehabilitation that is sustainable as well as the least impacting on the flora and fauna values or on the culture of the people.

The conclusions drawn from the study have been presented at two levels. The information on existing wildlife resource, habitat status, people and their use of forest resources as derived from the study have been put together as factual findings and at the second level an impression of the impact of the proposed dam on the wildlife, forests and people are discussed.

Inevitably this short term study was an extensive survey and could not have covered intensive examination of all aspects. The data set therefore can not lead to detailed planning but the conclusions do appraise the project’s impacts in an overall manner. The report does also make concrete suggestions as to the direction that mitigatory measures must take. It also makes the general point that major projects like this should not be planned in isolation with a single objective e.g. hydel power generation, in this case. They must consider the development and economic status, the cultural and ecological values and then find an acceptable niche as part of an area development package.