Forests?  Where?
Green…This word describes Kalimpong.  But is it really green?

Kalimpong is considered a biodiversity hotspot, which means there is an immense variety of flora and fauna species in this small hill station.  For instance, it accounts for 50 per cent of the total avifauna found in India and 14 species of rhododendrons.  Forest spread over an area of 480 sq.km  in Kalimpong.  Vegetation type varies between sub-tropical and temperate.

LANDSLIDES Who is responsible for Nembong? 1996.  Nembong village. Many died.  Many were injured.  Many became homeless.  An entire mountain face slipped and brought down stores, mud, trees, houses, electric poles and whatever else that was on it.  As it slipped, it buried houses along with the people inside them, it was a landslide many in Kalimphong will not forget soon.  Nembong was cut off from Kalimponhg town.  The town people, including school children, tried to rush in aid and help the people in distress. But the fact is Nembong is not the first, neither will it be the last landslide that Kalimpong will have to bear with in the future.  Have you ever tried to know what the term landslide means?  Do you know what are the causes?  Due to tectonic movement of the Himalayas which is still active, pressure from the Earth’s interiors are resulting in the mountains rising at the rate of 2.5 cm per year.  But unplanned construction of houses is also resulting in a thrust from above.  Such unnatural pressure is the main reason for landslide.  But they may be also caused simply by diversion of water due to blockage of drains (by polythenes, for instance) or by deforestation.The diverted water from the drain may wash the loose soil resulting in landslides.1996.  Nembong village. Many died.  Many were injured.  Many became homeless.  An entire mountain face slipped and brought down stores, mud, trees, houses, electric poles and whatever else that was on it.  As it slipped, it buried houses along with the people inside them, it was a landslide many in Kalimphong will not forget soon.  Nembong was cut off from Kalimponhg town.  The town people, including school children, tried to rush in aid and help the people in distress. But the fact is Nembong is not the first, neither will it be the last landslide that Kalimpong will have to bear with in the future.  Have you ever tried to know what the term landslide means?  Do you know what are the causes?  Due to tectonic movement of the Himalayas which is still active, pressure from the Earth’s interiors are resulting in the mountains rising at the rate of 2.5 cm per year.  But unplanned construction of houses is also resulting in a thrust from above.  Such unnatural pressure is the main reason for landslide.  But they may be also caused simply by diversion of water due to blockage of drains (by polythenes, for instance) or by deforestation.The diverted water from the drain may wash the loose soil resulting in landslides.

To maintain an ecological balance, the Forest Policy of India recommends that approximately 66% of a hilly area should be under forests.  However, according to Mr G.P. Chettri, assistant divisional manager, West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC), the present forest cover is only 45%.  This too has not been properly documented.  “We don’t know how many plant species exist and how many of them are threatened,” says Ram Bhujel, senior lecturer of botany in Kalimpong Government College.

The Kalimpong branch of FDC was set up in 1974.  Its main role was to extract timber but it also acts as the Forest Department, hence it is involved in plantation activities, too. But these activities, particularly monoculture plantations have become a bane for the people.

Let us take the example of dhupi (pine) plantations.  We do not see any undergrowth or shrubs under a dhupi tree.  WBFDC was encouraging monoculture plantations since the early 1970s.  But once it realized that they are a threat to the biodiversity of the region, in 1986, they reduced area under monoculture plantations and switched to planting different indigenous plant species such as uttis, kaola, chanp, papal, katoos, okhar.

Monoculture will do more harm than good to the forests of Kalimpong because many highly rated medicinal herbs are found in the region.  In Maney Bhanjang, it is not difficult to see as many as nine to ten jongas transporting majito, a plant used for making dyes.  Besides medicinal plants, many rare animal species such as the red panda, danphe and monal roam the dense jungles of Neora Valley National Park.  Recently, 18 tigers were sighted in the park but because the elephant census was carried out at the wrong time, only three were sighted in the park, says a forest guard.

Dr R.B. Bhujel, who has spent his childhood in a remote village called Suruk, says “it was like being the tarzan of that jungle” during his younger days.

The good news is that the FDC is now waking up to at least some of the problems.  It is now trying to protect the forests with the help of local people under the state’s Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme.  Started in the hill region in 1991, according to Mr G.P. Chettri, JFM is a management concept in which the participation of people is sought in forest conservation and share the benefits equally.  However, this programme has not been very successful as people here have yet to feel the crisis.  JFM has been a success in  south Bengal as no resources were left and people had no choice but to protect.  This can be shown by the increase in the forest cover in south Bengal from 16% in 1980s to 22% in recent years.