Chitrackot falls , Chattisgad.
Photo Credit : Dr. Shrinivas Kelkar
Here is a pleasant piece by Dr. Shrinivas Kelkar of Pune , India. He is a retired professor of chemistry from U. of Poona and has a great passion for travel .
There would have been a long and shrill opposition from family and friends had I declared earlier that I want to visit Chattisgarh. So it had to be a state secret that we were on Mission "Operation Dantewada".
All Indians know that the Bastar and Dantewada districts of Chattisgarh (region of 36 forts for those who do not know Hindi) is a 'disturbed area' due to the intense Naxalite terrorist activity. Very few think of traveling through the area, leave aside going there as tourists and staying there. However the area is rich in natural beauty and hence I thought that a visit there is a must. You need a partner to share your experience and Jeevan Chandwadkar joined agreed. Both of us were invited to give lectures at Nagpur and Raipur, the state capital of Chattisgarh, is only an overnight train ride away.
In the wee early morning hours, our taxi was waiting for us at the Raipur station and immediately we set on the 300km drive to Jagadalpur. Chattisgarh is a strange state in India. A good 80% of the population is tribal, 60% area is forest and the land is rich in minerals - Silica, iron and aluminum being the major ones. This combination would give rise to expectation of a backward state with much less infrastructure and poverty looming large and we were not different in our mindset. Once you get into this, every facility coming your way seems 5-star. And LO! Hardly we left Raipur and the car broke down! The taxi owner had to replace it and it was to our advantage as we got a bigger car for just two of us.
The first strange thing easily noticeable was the names of towns. The state is bordered by Maharashtra, Andhra, Oddisa, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh from whihc it was carved out about 12 years ago. May be due to the predominance of the tribals, the names of towns were strange to our mind. Hardly any ending with -pur or -gaav(meaning town) and mix up of strange syllabi. Dhamtari (pronounced dhum turee), Keshkaal, Maakadi, Kaanker are to name a few. Many noticeable things on the road. The enitre 300km long route was packed with paddy fields right through. If there was no paddy then it was a very thick jungle. But it is not as monotonous as it sounds. Paddys were ready for cutting and the colour combinations could be seen right up to horizon. The housing throughout seemed to be of pukkaa type - a sight not even seen in 'advanced' states like Maharashtra. Villages looked cleaner - certainly much more than the ones in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, but even better than those in Maharashtra. Smaller and larger water tanks littered all over. The water seemed very clean (though we did not check it). We were told that each village had been having this for long time. Fish being one of the main food items of the tribals, Cooperative Fishing is one occupation in the small villages and the water after accumulation is used for it and drinking. The state government supplies excavators when required by the villagers for scooping out the mud and to deepen the tanks too.
It is a heartening site to see young boys and girls going to and returning from schools. In Chattisgarh you see it as well as each one has a bicycle provided by the state government. One can see boys and girls going 10-15 kilometers each way thanks to the scheme 'All be educated '. The students are uniformly in uniform and even on holidays you can see them wearing those! The villagers go to larger towns on their bikes. You see them in hundreds, each one having a small plastic bag hanging down from handle. Many times the women folk has collected some jungle items like resins, which could be sold in towns and cities. So the trip to city serves two purposes - man goes to job and also sells the collectables and get cash in exchange! The state government scheme for the tribals and villagers is that they get 35kg of grains per month for family at Rs.3/kg. This is usually quite adequate for the family of four. The minimum wages for the workers being about Rs 60 to 70/day, the mail folks can earn the money for monthly food supply in just a couple of days and have a lot of money left over in the hand. Systematic efforts are on to get them off the booze too, so that they are in a 'win-win' situation. No wonder the people in general are happy with the current state government and particularly the present chief minister Dr, Raman Singh. If that is not enough most of the people do not speak good about the first chief minister of the state, a darling of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi - Mr. Ajit Jogi. Mr. Jogi is paraplegic due to an accident that happened about 10 years ago but is still has a political clout. Unfortunately there are no second rank leaders in the state for either the ruling or opposition party.
Road side restaurants are good and clean. If you are satisfied with tasty samosas and mung bondas, you can have your day. Add to that nicely aromated tea or coffee and you are ready to go along for the day. Otherwise there is no special food for Chattisgarh. The tribals prepare rice beer but we could not reach it, particularly since Jeevan is a pious man!
Due to time constrain we could visit only southern Chattisgarh. But this is the most dreaded area. Everybody in Maharashtrav knows Dantewada, as the terrorist killed about 20 policeman in one shot sometime ago. But the clear and danger areas are well marked. If you want to go to danger area, the mode of transport better be the public transport, as it is known that the terrorists do not trouble in the common man. Their trgets are either the goernment officials or police or defense forces. We could have been easily target as from the registration number of the car, it was clear from the state capital. The easiest way then is to take longer but safer route rather than shorter and dangerous one. So we could go to Dantewada. The days were of Durga Pooja and every village was celebrating. A pandal was being constructed with a typical design made from two-coloured cloth.
Nature is a very pleasant in Chattisgarh. Our resort owned by Chattisgarh Tourist Development Corporation was on the bank of Indravati hardly 200 meters from Chitrakot Water Falls. We had an exclusive total view of the falls from our balcony! Lengthwise it was like Niagara, similar in many ways - including the American and Canadian sides. The height is about 2/3 of that of Niagara and it is said that occasionally in rainy season, the whole length of about 150 meters (my guess, could be wrong by a few meters) lets out the water. The rooms were quite nice and the place quite away from maddening crowd about 40kms from nearest big town Jagdalpur. However you would have a close encounter with nature as insects of all sorts including some mosquitoes, would enter the room inspite of having wire nets on windows. Just outside (fortunately!) our big window, we could watch a big beautiful 10cm long spider in his web of about 2 meters. I thought the web was not complete and the fellow was still at it.
Another very interesting place of natural beauty are the Kutumsar caves. Situated in the thick jungles about 10 kms inside from the main tarred road and connected by a seasonal road, these are one of the rarest types in India. They have stalagmites and stalactites. The entrance is very very narrow as it was difficult for me to decide whether to enter sideways or straight-thru! through a very narrow tunnel we went 24 meters below the ground level. ducking most of the times as the height was less than 1.2 meters with slightly slippery ground and very hard rocks above. This was like going down a 8 story building but the thought of what would happen while coming up did not touch our mind. Once down, a spectacular vista was wide open in front of us. Colourful rocks, blunt stalactites were just spectacular. The cave is open up to 300 meters out of 2.5kms outwards and we did go through the entire available length. The shapes of the rocks were not marked for anything particular, but the guide pointed out to a lion, a crocodile, a titanic, face of a lady to name a few.
Diagonally across from the main road junction about 10 kms in opposit direction inside was the Tirathgarh water fall. Much smaller in breadth but about twice in height, the water cascades down half of the ay and then jumps into a gorge. May not be the best of falls, but it was quite interesting.
Overall, Chattisgarh pressed me a lot. Agreed that we went through just a small part, but it was the region we least expected to be better. In spite of the threats, the normal life was usual, people in same mood of celebrations elsewhere, all seemed content and the state on a pragmatic path.
Shriniwas KelkarTel (091)(20)2 544 0329
Cell (+91)9850902060
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