Gudiyapadar (Bastar)
In May last year, a total of 403 hectares inside the Kanger Valley National Park was handed over to the Gond tribal community for protection and management under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
The move was subsequent to the Chhattisgarh government recognising the Community Forest Resource Rights (CFRR) of Gudiyapadar and Nagalsar villages situated inside the National Park in Bastar district.
In doing so, Chhattisgarh became the second State in India to recognise CFRR inside a National Park, with Odisha being the first to have done it in the Similipal National Park.
Gudiyapadar village has an open area where a shrine has been set up for the purpose of worship. The beautiful Dev Gudi or sacred grove of the village is located on a small hillock.
The place surrounded by dense forest on the fringes has many dead trees that are used as firewood. Many tribal villages in remote areas of Bastar lack cooking gas connection and the only option is using tree logs for preparing food.
Though the residents are yet to make a management plan after getting the CFRR, many of them engage in tourism-related opportunities that their beautiful Gudiyapadar village provides. Tourism picks up in October-November, and this year too, the villagers are looking forward to it.
Gudiyapadar’s scenic beauty draws many tourists here which helps the residents earn a decent income. A youth, Sanjay Barse, informed The Indian Tribal that tourism is bringing in a decent amount of money which touches Rs 50,000-60,000 during the season.
Gudiyapadar came into existence when its residents came in search of a suitable land from Sukma district around 2001 and settled down here.
Guide Sukka Markam, who takes tourists to show nearby attractions, said that after the CFRR, grazing cattle has become easy as earlier, people were prevented from doing so. Most locals are into paddy cultivation and cultivation is totally organic, he maintained.
In the village which is dotted with banana plantations, residents have been growing bananas since 2014-15. Called ‘chhota kela’ locally, these are tasty, being of the indigenous variety. The bananas are sold in the local market.
Shakeel Rizvi, who has been working in Bastar’s tourism sector for a long time, said he started around 2006. When the impact of Maoist insurgency lessened in intensity around 2015, guests started visiting Gudiyapadar during daytime.
“They used to explore the jungle and come back but refrained from staying. There was no facility at that time. In 2018, guests started staying in the village,” he informed.
“Most of them love to trek. Trekking is for Rs 3,000 and the food charge is Rs 500 per person. In a month, about 15-20 visitors come. The trek covers 14 km and five people are involved in it. It is a difficult terrain. The guides keep on changing,” Shakeel added.
