Guptaganga Jungle Surkshya Committee

Guptaganaga

It is believed that river Baitarni which is one of the sacred river of Odisha originates from this village. After orginating, it disappears and then reappears, hence the village is called Guptaganga or hidden Ganga. Another story says that river Baitarni (which is sacred as Ganga), Jamuna Jharana (sacred as Yamuna stream) and Jhiripani Jharana (sacred as Sarswati) surrounds the village from all side but remains underground, hence the name Guptaganga. There are 4 sacred grooves, Ramchandi in Podadihi forest, Rushitangara in Boulpatas, Gadhuabeta in Nagasaria and Ganasika in Baitarnipata. The legend says that once all the houses in that forest burned hence the name Podadihi. Rushitangara is the abode of goddess Boulpatas, Gadhuabeta is abode of goddess Nagasaria and Ganasika forest patch is the abode of goddess Baitarnipata. Stream water can be used for fishing and irrigation purposes.

PVTG (Juang) 73 Households, + 6 OTFD

Juang are primarily believed to be a semi-nomadic tribe who wander from place to place foraging wild fruits, roots and tuber. There was no outside intereference to their culture and tradition untill recent history. In 1969 social worker Sri Rabi Patnaik started working for the developmet of juang. It was upon his suggestion that the name of the village has been changed to "Guptaganga" from "Baruda" during the land settlement in 1971-72. The name of the village has its relevence to the way river Baitarni originates, disappears and reappears. Informally, people's efforts to conserve started from 1960s but Guptaganga Jungle Surkshya Committe formed in 1991.

The CCA is part of Juang Development Authority (JDA) and Sarvodaya Seva Samiti. JDA was established by the government in 1980 whereas Sarvodaya Seva Samiti was established by Sri Rabi Patnayak for the development of Juang vilages.

The community leader looks after the local administration and governance. They are entitled and addressed locally as Sardar, Pradhan, Naik, Boita and Dakua. The hierarchy begins from Sardar and ends at Dakua. Mandaghara or Majang is the Judicial Court. Issues related to inter village conflicts are reffered to Juang pidha of the respective village. A forest protection committee has been formed and it comprises of 07 members in its executive body where 03 members are women. All the adult residents of the village are members of general body.

Jhuridali system - Where all the members of the community touch the handia or rice beer and vow to protect and not to destroy the forest. Jhuridali is considered as a sacred vow and it symbolizes loyalty and commitment to the promise. A forest protection committee has been formed to manage the resources from the forest. The boundry of forest is demarcated. The village motivates neighbouring village to protect their own forests so that they don't enter in the forest protected by Guptaganga. Resident of other village must take permission from the forest protection committee of guptaganga before entering in their forest. Podu or Jhoom cultivation has been contained to allready existing plots. Every household in the village is free to collect NTFPs for personal and livelihood purpose from the forest under village protection. They also have all the rights to access sacred grooves and take their cattles for grazing. Commercially important NTFPs like Kusum and Mangoes are collected commonly and deposited to the committee. The committee then divides these produce equally to all the households. Cutting of green trees is strictly prohibited for fuelwood or other purposes. Every member of the general body should donate an amount of 01 Kg paddy for annual subscription. This fund is utilized for the management of forest protection. The forest patrolling duties are assigned to an individual on a rotational basis. However, the whole of village takes the responsibility of protecting the forest round the clock. Residents of other villages need to pay a nominal fees after getting permission of the committee if they want to collect NTFPs from the forest of Guptaganga.

Vasundhara

Vasundhara (2010), The Semantic of CFM