With the Himalayas as a backdrop, you can find hidden gems that offer unparalleled tranquility and affinity with nature . The homestay concept within the Himalayan region allows travelers to feel, breathe, and experience the natural beauty and cultural wealth of this awe-inspiring region . Far from the congested tourist attractions of our cities, these homestays are an escape into untouched scenery, a warm welcome, and local experiences that are genuinely Nepalese and other tribal communities. Discovering Himalayan Homestay Experience 1 . Why Choose Homestays Homestays in the Himalayas provide accommodations and channels for comprehending indigenous ways of life, culture, and natural ecosystems . Rather than typical hotels or resorts, homestays are usually run by local families that open their doors to visitors, thus allowing them to gain insight into their everyday lives . This creates an intimate setting that helps travelers...
 |
| Daramdin at the lap of Barsey Sanctuary |
Thanks to State Biodiversity and Forest
Management Project) for giving us chance to meet our community
at Ribdi village at the West boarder of Sikkim situated at the lap
of Singalila Range and surrounded by wilder appearance of dark hood of
Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary. Six hours approximate drive from
capital city Gagtok via Jorethang- Sombaria lead us to the village. The village
is also one of the gateways to the beautiful Himalayan range, the Singalila and
the Singalila Trek. The trek route is popular among the local and
foreign
tourist and trekkers since British intervention in Sikkim and its peripheral
states. In Connection to Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
exercise and Micro Planning of Ribdi Eco-development Committee, a
programme sponsored by SBFP, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
funded project, we entered village at the evening of 25th November,
2012 . At my first step, I got my answer and realized
what Ribdi’s potato and underlying taste in our
tongue stand for. It may be the quest carried by every aware
consumer who seeks quality and tasty potato in our local markets including adjoining
city of Siliguri and sometimes far from Siliguri too. The taste is
the synthesis of extreme painstaking labour of Ribdian in
struggle with sticky red soil accompanied by chilly cold white mist and snow of
peak winter. Not only that, it is the underlying cause of smile in
the face of beautiful Himalayan toddler to whom everybody use to love seeing at
the sight, the hardness reflected in the muscle of youth, and the pain
reflected in the folding creases in the face of old Ribidians. Ribdi
Village is a largest producer of Potata in the State. The production
is equally importance in terms of not only quantity but for its taste and
quality in Sikkim and its adjoining regions. The village is almost
dominated by Himalayan might, the Sherpas professing Buddhism. The extended
sloppy semi-terraced red soil field is the land of potato. This is the
cultivation period and shall extend up to the first half of January.
The PRA and its
outcome:
Conducting PRA exercise, I considered among the
other to estimate the transition taken place in the production of
potato within the six panchayat wards (Ramitey, Lower Ribdi, Upper Ribdi, Lower
Bhareng, and Upper Bharen) in the territorial jurisdiction of present Eco
Development Committee. I took 1997 as the base year and year 2012 as
current year to estimate and to compare changes in production
profile of potato in the village.
The result of approximate community estimation
is as follows:
Production in the year 1997:
40,20,000 Kg or 40,200qtls
Production in the year 2012:
11,40,000 Kgs or 11,400 Qtls.
Current Average
Prize INR 18/kg
Possible income at current prize with the
production of base year = 40,20,000 Kgs X INR 18= INR 7,23,60,000
Income at current prize with the production of
current year= 11,40,000 kgs X INR 18 =INR 2,05,20,000.
The income difference arises if
present production would be at least at the level of base year
or 1997 is = INR7,23,60,000-INR 2,05,20,000= INR 5,18,40,000. The approximate
lost in villagers income due to fall in production of potato is estimate at
Rupees five crore, eighteen lakhs and forty thousand which could be hardly
compensated by any type of subsidies or aid given by the government as a
provision to mitigate the lost happen to the villagers on such account of
failure of potato production or other crop likewise. In the same manner decline
in maize production is too stiff here. Mr. Nima Sherpa, a local resident
informed that production of maize falls from around 520 kgs earlier in
1997 to 3- 4 kg at present in his plot.
Causes of Crop Failure
As per the statements given by the villagers the
causes of such a stiff fall in production are among the others ban on supply of
chemical fertilizers, excessive crop damage by wildlife like Wild Boar,
Porcupine, Himalayan Black Bear and other animals being the village lies in
forest fringe area of Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary, decline in production of
cow dong and organic manure due to the ban on collection of litters from forest
and ban on grazing therein. In some cases it is appeared that the problem is so
acute which compelled villagers to abandon their traditional practices and
their residential home in favour of living life as marginalized
unskilled industrial labour outside.
Community suggestion for conflict resolution:
The measures suggested by the community therein
includes lifting of 100 percent ban on grazing with certain regulatory measures
enabling rotational grazing in fringe forest, lifting the ban on collection of
litters and to allow collection at least to limited extent of fringe forest,
departmental support for crop insurance, increase in the quantum of monetary
compensation for damage of crop by wild interference etc. So the judicious
reconsideration of certain governmental policies, agricultural or
forestry is the call of hour which enables the protection of the right of
indigenous forest dwellers, tribal and forest dependent community.
The end note:
Himalaya faces the challenge of man animal conflict and extreme crop damage at the conserved fringe area of National Park, Wildlife Sanctuary and Reserved Forest in the Himalayan belt. Its health and conservation is
primarily depend upon the will power of its real guard, the Himalayan
community. The inspiration to them to protect Himalaya arises only in
protecting the right of aboriginals of the Himalayas. Among the others approach, an intensified efforts to promote ecotourism and homestay in Himalayas may be another way to safe this dwindling community and to make their living better.
Comments
Post a Comment