Soon, small traders, farmers and big cattle owners show up to purchase the grass, shoots and edible gum extracted from the forest. Every 100 bundles of grass fetches Rs 30-35, while each kilogramme of gum brings in Rs 40.The 6,000-odd tribals in the region have no fear of the forest officials as they pluck Nature's bounty. What's more, the Forest Department doesn't mind as there's everything official about it.

The Khamgaon experiment, launched only in Buldhana district in Maharashtra and which has won the State Government's Vanshree Puraskar, is one of the rare instances where a Government scheme has fostered a delicate symbiosis between the Stateadministration and the adivasis. It is also unique because the Government, otherwise extremely reluctant to solicit the peoples' participation in forest management, has in fact cemented the bond between the jungle and the people who inhabit it. But all that is in peril now.Taking advantage of a recent and innocuous administrative order, local politicians, cattle owners and timber merchants are beginning to drive a wedge between the Forest Department and the adivasis, sabotaging the Joint Forest Management scheme initiated in 1996.

The scheme, launched by the department's Territorial division, uses the adivasis to protect the jungle from shepherds (dhangars) whose cattle's indiscriminate grazing was destroying the forest cover. The tribals were empowered to confiscate cattle and also levy fines in conjunction with the department. In return, they were allowed to selectively harvest and sell the rich forest produce (non-timber) and build a steady source of income.To police the jungle, 27 JFM committees wereset up in Khamgaon, which comprises 11 per cent of the district's forest cover. However, in May 1997, all forest land in Khamgaon was transferred from the Territorial to the Wildlife Division (Akola) and brought under the new Dyanganga Wildlife Sanctuary. Still, the JFM committees continued their work till the first vicious attack by the dhangars on August 10, 1998. Patrolling with 11 forest officials near Vij Phata, 12 adivasis spied eight shepherds grazing cattle there. Suddenly, 30-35 shepherds sprang from the brush and, wielding iron rods and sticks, they thrashed the adivasis. Four tribals were later admitted to hospital, says Bhagwan Gawali, a member of the local JFM committee.

Following the shepherds' complaints, 17 adivasis were chargesheeted by the police though the patrolling team included only 12, reveals Gawali, who was also attacked. Three years of pent-up resentment had boiled over and the confused adivasis bore the brunt. Curiously, the 11 forest officials accompanying them werespared.

But more horrifying than the attack itself, was the realisation that the assault was premeditated. Asks Gawali: ``Why were we not protected? Were we not doing a part of Government work?'' Also, he alleges, the incident appears instigated by local politicians. A day before the attack, three local political leaders had addressed a rally where they told the dhangars to graze their cattle on forest land without fear. ``Teach the JFM committee members a lesson if they interfere,'' said Nanabhao Kokare (BJP), the Khamgaon MLA. He was accompanied by Vijayrao Shinde, MLA from Buldhana (Sena), himself a dhangar, and Chain Sancheti (BJP), MP from Malkapur. The shepherds, it appears, have already picked up the gauntlet. Retorts a dhangar from Nandri village: ``Henceforth we shall not hesitate to attack committee members when they stop our sheep from grazing. After all, where else can we take them to feed?''

The tribals know all too well that the August 10 attack is probably just the beginning of a series ofconfrontations to pit them against the Wildlife officials, so that the dhangars can regroup amid the confusion.

Unfortunately, it seems to be working. Meanwhile, the Wildlife division is not sure whether it will continue with the JFM scheme, though it claims to be working on it. ``We are trying to explore ways to take the adivasis' help within the sanctuary to protect the area,'' deputy conservator of forests, Dnyanganga Wildlife sanctuary, (Akola), S K Pathak, told The Indian Express. ``However,'' he adds, ``wildlife protection is completely different from territorial management and it will take time to blend the two.''

The adivasis are now extremely demoralised, wondering whether the scheme is worth risking their lives. But, says Dr Mohan Jha, deputy conservator of forests (Territorial), who is responsible for the project's success: ``After all these years of functioning in secrecy, it won't be easy for the department (Wildlife division) to work in a transparent atmosphere.''Meanwhile, as the Wildlifedivision makes up its mind and the dhangars plot their next offensive, some of the JFM committees have already stopped policing the forest. With illegal felling down to 2 lakh trees in 1998 from 30 lakh in preceding years, the signals rising from the jungle are indeed disturbing.