Assam’s ‘poaching village’ turns into eco-tourism hotspot | Guwahati News

Nagaon: Natundanga village in Assam’s Nagaon district, located close to the Burapahar range of the Kaziranga National Park, was once infamous for the villagers’ involvement in sheltering and assisting rhino poachers from various parts of the Northeast. Today, Natundanga, which has around 400 residents belonging to the Karbi tribe, is an eco-tourism hotspot with visitors from across the globe “hanging out” at the village.
This has become possible because of the relentless efforts of several conscious youths of the village and the forest department.
Till recently, the village was plagued by its infamous past and lack of decent employment opportunities. With no jobs, the villagers, particularly the youths, were engaged in illegal activities, hobnobbing with poachers to earn their livelihood. The infamy of the village is such that neighbouring villagers started to reprimand Natundanga residents for their criminal activities and private transport vehicles even refused to ferry passengers to Natundanga.
Having suffered such trauma and disregard from neighbouring villages, Mangal Singh Teron and some other Natundanga youths took it upon themselves to stop such activities and patrol their village at night so that no unidentified people could enter.
Talking to TOI, Teron said, “It was very easy for the poachers to win the trust of the uneducated villagers. They would visit households several times, hiding their identities and offering money to them each time they came. In exchange, they would learn the entry and exit routes to the jungle, and the possible areas to poach rhinos from the villagers, who know the jungle like the back of their hand. As the poaching incidents grew, the forest department also started taking stringent actions against the villagers, obstructing their means to get their livelihoods from the jungle. Many also left the village in despair.”
In 2008, the officer of the Burapahar range came to the village and asked Mangal and his friends to make the villagers aware of the repercussions of indulging in poaching activities. The move shaped their lives and they started afresh with financial support from the forest department to construct roads and other basic amenities. The department also helped start an eco-development committee in the village in 2010.
The committee established a Karbi ethnic food centre, “Choran Ahem” (house of foods), providing ethnic Karbi foods to tourists and generating employment for the villagers. “Numerous visitors to the Kaziranga National Park, including cricketer Kevin Peterson, stopped by the food centre. Govt officials, including the park director and the local MLA, have helped immensely in promoting the centre to both national and international tourists,” Teron, now president of the committee, added.