Karmajhiri – the lesser known gem
Why promote lesser known gates and reserves
Promoting villages in and around Tiger Reserves and generating employment is very important in the field of tiger conservation. Guides and drivers not only make a livelihood out of Tiger tourism, but also act as guardians of the big cat, as a bridge between the villagers and the department and as informers to the department.
The flow of information regarding the straying of tigers etc. is also made easy through one of their (villagers’) own to the department folks. They, being from the same area/village, are well versed with routes inside and outside the jungle, with the cats living there and the straying movements, if any outside the jungle.
Poaching or any illegal activity can hardly be prevented by the department folks alone; the network of guides and drivers is an additional watchful eye, and the incentive for such (unpaid) employees is the money that gets generated from the tourism.
Though not salaried by the govt., a guide draws an amount of 360/- per game drive, and can potentially earn up to 18,000/- per month, not including the tips from the tourists; this is a very decent amount for someone living in the rural areas, where agriculture and daily labor is the main source of livelihood.
Further, whenever possible, stay at homestays outside the parks. Not only is it much more economical, but also an additional source of income for the villagers and doesn’t go to the corporate hoteliers, directly.
Karmajhiri and the circle of tourists
Karmajhiri is a small hamlet outside the Karmajhiri gate to Pench National Park, M.P. You can read more about reaching Karmajhiri and a safari drive inside Karmajhiri from this blog post.
I stay with Shantabai Karoo, whose homestay is just outside the Karmajhiri gate. The homestay has basic amenities and they cook good food, which suits my needs (and should be fine with most tourists). I am leaving the phone numbers for perusal.
Shantabai:- Ph. no 9302470520 / 07166204246; Rajkumar:- 9644163485 (her son). Her phone may not be reachable always, as there’s no signal in the village. It’s only available when she goes out to work in the fields. Just leave a message if you intend to stay there.
Since the number of Gypsys inside a forest is limited, only 6 are allowed from the Karmajhiri side. Three is the number of Gypsys that can be booked online. One can be booked seat-wise. Another two can be booked on the spot.
For lack of tourists reaching Karmajhiri, most of these slots go empty, and Gypsys from the nearer Jhamtara gate enter through here, to save the time in reaching the interiors.
For the many times, I did the game drive from this park, it was only one or two Gypsys entering the park from the Karmajhiri gate.
After striking a conversation with the local guides, it is coherent that the guides and drivers are also not too well versed with tracking a tiger or the movement. This is understandable since, these folks don’t regularly go into the jungle for lack of tourists. At times, not even a single guide or tourist goes into the jungle from this gate, for days together. Further, Karmajhiri and surrounding villages are cut-off from the rest of the world in terms of cellular connectivity. That also explains why these folks cannot get the sighting related details from their Touria counterparts (Touria is the prime gate at the Pench NP, M.P. which has a provision for most vehicle entry permits).
And for the lack of knowledge of these guides and drivers, most tourists don’t visit the park from the Karmajhiri side, while their Touria counterparts are well connected with each other and well versed with the tiger movements.
This is a vicious cycle that pushes these guys back into primitive mode, despite the efforts of the govt. and dept. in educating them and trying to employ them. While most of the guides here do carry good material (like a bird identification book), and they proactively seek to explain the tourists, it is up to the tourists to show interest and learn from the guides.
It is also up to photographers and tourists to encourage these folks by visiting reserves from such lesser known gates, thus uplifting these guys.