DANTEWADA (CHHATTISGARH): Kasoli—a small village in the strife-torn Dantewada district, south Chhattisgarh, which was once identified with the controversial Salwa Judum camp—has now become famous for its mangoes, bringing prosperity to the tribal inhabitants.
The Salwa Judum campaign was launched in mid-2005, under which tribal youths were armed and deployed as special police officers to fight Maoist insurgency. As many as 23 such camps were set up and thousands of villagers moved in to take shelter there. Kasoli, about 420 km south of Raipur, was one such camp.
Now, as one enters the Katekalyan road towards Kasoli, the entire route is a delight to watch—forested terrain leading to narrow roads lined with hundreds of fruit-laden mango trees. The combination of breeze, sweetened by the smell of the fruits, and the silence makes it tantalising.
“You will find over 10,000 mango trees at Kasoli, planted over a decade. An obsessive love for mango among the locals is much evident. This prompted the then District Collector O P Choudhary in 2011 to draw up an action plan to promote mango cultivation in the area,” says Kasoli sarpanch Malika Atami.
Under an Integrated Action Plan (IAP), Choudhary got over a thousand mango trees planted in 10 hectares of land and ensured full care for them, including fencing, provision of tube-wells and the necessary maintenance work.
Encouraged by the collector’s support, more tribals started planting saplings and nurturing the trees. Over a decade, the mango plantations in Kasoli grew over 60 percent, doubling the output, according to the state horticulture department.
“I found the mango trees well-suited to the climatic conditions there. The zeal of the tribals at Kasoli really helped,” Choudhary told The Sunday Standard. The village has a population of around 3,500 and almost every dwelling has at least three to four mango trees. Around 180 families are living in the relief camps here.
The villagers said that on an average each full-grown mango tree yields produce worth `15,000, mostly selling as amchur—dried unripe fruit turned into powder.
According to them, 1 kg of amchur is sold in the local market at `200 and the product is in great demand in the neighbouring state of Telangana. The experiment is continuing with the support of the horticulture department, which provides saplings of mango and other fruit-bearing trees on demand.
Struck Down by Court
Under the Salwa Judum campaign, the Chhattisgarh government armed tribal youth who have had school education of fifth standard and above with guns, revolvers and other ammunition and designated them as special police officers to counter Maoist insurgency in the Dandewata area, the hotbed of Naxal activism.
But the Supreme Court outlawed the practice, holding it illegal and unconstitutional. The court asked the government to prevent the operation of any group that sought to “take law into private hands, act unconstitutionally or otherwise violate the human rights of any person”. The ruling was a big setback to both the state and the Central governments, which had backed the idea.