Chawaphelli - A success story

Chawaphelli, a remote village under Matiali Betabari II GP in Mal Sub-division. Located at a distance of about 70 k.m. from Jalpaiguri, Chawaphelli is a typical forest village dominated by Tribals holding small chuncks of land for their livelihood. But the menaces of wild elephant have however made agricultural activities in Chawaphelli a near impossibility over the years. The resultant effect has been poverty, and feeling of insecurity among the villagers. The Chowaphelli however has large tracks of barren land but unsuitable for normal agricultural activities. The Forest Dept. has therefore taken a number of initiatives to use this barren land through RSVY to assist these poor villagers by way of Village Woodlot Plantations. The scheme was entirely executed by the villagers themselves from the stage of procurement of seedlings to the raising of nurseries and the eventual plantation. The immediate benefit has been creation of man-days for the large number of unemployed villagers. The entire Woodlot covering 25 ha shall be handed over to 70 Numbers of beneficiaries families who shall reap the harvest of the forest in terms of fuel wood, grass and the timber itself when the trees mature after 8/10 years.

Like wise such such village woodlots have been successively implemented in Blocks like Jalpaiguri, Dhupguri, Mal, Maynaguri, Nagrakata, Falakata etc.The survival rate of the plants presently is more than 80%. Large numbers of man-days have been generated during the execution of the woodlots scheme. Requisite document legalizing the ownership of the woodlots by the concerned villagers for future harvest have also been worked out. The overall benefit would be in terms of fuel, fodder, fruits and eventual timber.