Locals of the area and the authorities concerned poured out their woes during a program held at Basantapur in Madi, Sunday. The program was organized jointly by the National Human Rights Commission and Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC). [break]
The only possible way to reach the 4 VDCs of Madi, which is located at the southern end of the park, is across 10 km of dense forest. If one´s destination is Badarjhula village in Ayodhyapuri VDC-9, another 19 km has to be covered, with no possibility of detours.
The worst part is that Chitwan National Parkl (CNP) prohibits locals from walking the trail after 10 p.m., informed Kari Mahato, chief of Tharu Kalyankari Sabha in Madi."Living far from the main road, the locals have always felt cut off due to poor accessibility," said Mahato during the program.
A night bus service started recently in the area has helped locals reach near CNP, but the segment to be covered on foot is still a difficult hurdle. "Usually, the bus crosses the park area before 10 p.m., but if passengers coming in from Kathmandu reach Narayanghat at the last minute, they will get stranded," said Mahato, objecting to the system of filling out transportation receipts for the money every vehicle has to pay for passing through the CNP area.
"It´s sad that we have to pay even to reach our villages. This arrangement exists here alone and nowhere else in the country," said Mahato.
Moreover, UCPN (Maoist) leader Basu Sapkota said that the locals have been treated more to harassment than protection from officials and security personnel deployed in the park area.
Locals complained that there have been cases where local women have been raped by army personnel posted for security duty. "The resulting illegitimate children find the mothers left in the lurch when it comes to citizenship matters. Many of the women can´t face the authorities, out of a sense of shame," said a local.
Adding to their problems, locals said that wild animals attacking them and their property is common but the authorities are least concerned.
Bal Bahadur Pariyar, a local, was much concerned about the rule that restricts entrepreneurs from operating furniture works in Madi. "Trees from here are exported to other places, but we are not allowed to run a furniture business here. That is not fair," said Pariyar. "Because of the park, locals of the area have had to make do without bridges and electricity poles," he added.
There are some 40,000 people living in Madi and the population of the Tharu community is high in all the VDCs of the area.
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