No animal blood shed at Dalma Sendra fest

Jamshedpur: The tribal population taking part in the annual hunting festival — Sendra — has come down drastically this year, claimed forest conservator-cum-director of Dalma elephant reserve, Abhishek Kumar.
Talking to TOI on Wednesday, Kumar said it was more like a customary ritual for the tribal population as not a single animal had been killed in the last two days of the Sendra.
He said the number of people taking part in Sendra was not more than 50 as most of the local population prefered to stay away from it. He said before the pandemic, the number was more than 2,000, who used to illegally enter the forest with weapons to hunt animals.He added that for those who took part in the festival it was more of a ritual than actual hunting.
Kumar said mass awareness campaigns among the villagers living in the Dalma forest area conducted by the forest department officials round the year had resulted in the dip in participants in the hunting festival.
The officials used to hold regular meetings with the village heads and locals to make them aware about the benefits of forest conservation and protecting the wildlife at Dalma range.
The reserve which is 15km from Steel City is spread across 195 square km.
Along with elephants, the forest is also the habitat of sloth bear, barking deer, langurs, monkeys, reed squirrels, rabbits, jackals, snakes, wild boars and porcupines. Peacocks and several other varieties of birds are the added attraction of the sanctuary for wildlife lovers.
Kumar added that more than 155 forest department officials comprising senior officers from Ranchi too came down to keep vigil on activities in the forest area in this period and prevent the killing of animals.
The customary head of the tribal population living in the villages at Dalma, also known as the Dalma raja, Rakesh Hembrom, said tribal people from West Bengal and Odisha had also participated in Sendra. He also confirmed that not a single animal had been killed this year.