A Love Story "Sparsha"

According to Umesh Jethara of Daya Community Forest, the main occupation of people living in the region is the trading of herbs and that the position taken by the government has made it difficult for them to collect herbs or harvest wood. “We don’t have any other option. The land we have is not suitable for cultivation. We are solely dependent on trading of herbs,” Jethara said adding that local administration has turned a deaf ear to their plight. Ashok Kumar Shrestha, officer at DFO informed the Post that the administration was aware about the issues, but powerless to make any move against the government’s rule. He informed that the issue had been taken to the Department of Forest and the Ministry. The resulting meeting stated that IEE or EIA needed to be undertaken first. “This is why we haven’t been able to renew their licence,” Shrestha said.