1 11. THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHAPORIS Photo: Lohori Char near Orang NP. Tayab Ali, 85 years, Settler, Lohori Char Near Orang National Park I have lived on these river islands for 35 years. At that time it was all jungle and elephants roamed on the islands. One year there was a big flood and we had to move out to a tapu south of the main channel where we built our hut and planted our crops. We move every two years or so, every time a flood washes away the island we live on. Elephants used to come by and two to four rhinos would stand around the house, but they did not harm us. We never harmed them. We people have ‘iman-dharam’ (values).
9
Embed
11. THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHAPORIS. THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHAPOR… · 1 11. THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHAPORIS Photo: Lohori Char near Orang NP. Tayab Ali, 85 years, Settler, Lohori Char Near Orang National
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1
11. THE BRAHMAPUTRA CHAPORIS
Photo: Lohori Char near Orang NP.
Tayab Ali, 85 years, Settler, Lohori Char
Near Orang National Park
I have lived on these river islands for 35 years. At that time it was all jungle and
elephants roamed on the islands. One year there was a big flood and we had to move
out to a tapu south of the main channel where we built our hut and planted our crops.
We move every two years or so, every time a flood washes away the island we live on.
Elephants used to come by and two to four rhinos would stand around the house, but
they did not harm us. We never harmed them. We people have ‘iman-dharam’ (values).
2
The rhinos stopped coming 7 or 8 years ago when the channel between Orang NP and
this chapori widened because of erosion on the southern side of Orang. I have seen
wild boar and deer washed away during floods.
Nobi Hussai, Settler, Lohori Char
Near Orang National Park
This year, a tiger killed my gravid buffalo. Last year about 35 cows were killed, more
cows are killed than buffalo. This year about 15-20 cattle were killed. Wild pigs cause a
lot of damage to our crops on the island. The last 2 months, they have been eating our
peas, tomatoes and brinjal. They hide out in the grass during the day and raid our crops
at night. Even standing guard does not help. We don’t kill pigs. We did not have kills by
tigers before 2006. Tigers have wild pig and deer prey, but they still kill our cattle. In
January 2014, Ahed Ali was attacked by a tiger on the south of this island when he was
waiting for a motor launch.
Safiuddin Ahmed, Badlichar, Teacher
3
Near Orang National Park
I came to Lohori Char in 1994 just to see the place. When I came, the people here
thought I was a school master because I was wearing long pants. A senior person Nur
Islam had sent me with a letter, where apparently he had written that I was to be their
teacher. I felt proud and assured them I would be the village teacher. They set up the
school and I started classes in 1995. I married and brought my bride here. In 1999, the
government had an Alternative School scheme to which I shifted, working in this same
school. I started on a salary of Rs 900, which was enough for me and my wife. In 1999,
a very big flood came. We had two huts. One got washed away. In the one we still had,
we put all our belongings on our cot and raised it off the ground by tying ropes to the
house posts. There were one motor launch and one or two boats on the island, but we
could not get help. In our hut there were 5 or 6 large snakes. We didn’t have anywhere
really to tie a mosquito net, but the snakes wouldn’t go. So we put our mosquito net out
and sat under it. We stayed like that for 7 days, with the snakes outside the net, and the
two of us inside.
After the 1999 flood, while going with other villagers to the market on a motor launch,
we crossed a small tapu (island) with lots of jhaubon (grass). On those grasses we saw
many snakes hanging together, like black flowers. I asked for the launch to stop. It was
very lovely to see. But nowadays, i don’t see them any more. I think there could be two
reasons why there are no snakes like before. One, people sometimes poison the water
to catch fish. Snakes also drink water, or they eat frogs which have drunk the poisoned
water. In this way, snakes are disappearing. The other reason, is when the forests are
set on fire, many snakes die. I once saw a big snake lying dead on the sand, burnt.
Ten-fifteen years ago, when people used to boil and leave their ahu-dhan out, there
used to be so many frogs around to catch the insects on the paddy. Now I no longer see
them. My suspicion is that it is poisoning again that has killed off the frogs.
There is a belief that tigers wake up and pray every morning - ‘God, give me a place to
hide’. God makes forests for tigers to live in. Only when there are forests is there rain.
4
When tigers are no more, we will have no water. This was how it was explained at a
conservation training that I attended.
Bagh thakile, thakibo bonani Where there are tigers, there will be forest
Bonani thakile, paam ami nirmal pani Where there are forests, there will be water
Another time we heard that when snakes flick their tongues, they absorb the harmful
ultraviolet rays of the sun. In our area as snakes started disappearing, people are
starting to get skin diseases.
Nurul Islam, 65 years, Headman, Badlisar Village
Near Orang National Park
In Darrang district, our village Badlisar south of which is the Brahmaputra, and next to
our village is Orang NP. The wild animals do not harm us. They come out occasionally –
the rhinos, elephants, pigs and deer. Our people chase them and they go back to the
forest. If for some reason they get stuck here, we inform the forest department and they
chase them back. Since the last 6-8 years, there have been no incidents of wild
animals in our crop lands.
5
Photo: A typical goth or cattle camp on the Brahmaputra.