Against the wind
Soil erosion caused by wind is a major problem not only in Rajasthan, but also in the southeastern parts of the Indian peninsula and the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu. According to A M Mahmood Husain, the principal investigator of the Shelterbelts and Crop Yields Project, under the aegis of the Man and Biosphere Programme conducted by the A M M Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, Madras, in earlier times, "there was not only a degree of general awareness but even preventive measures were routine. One such is the kuthuval (sacred grove) in the wind-swept Kombai-Thevaram plains in southwest Madurai district."
A few hectares of land on the windward side of each village in the region would be set apart for raising a permanent tree cover of indigenous trees such as neem, vagai and tamarind. A clearing in the heart of the kuthuvals provided a perfect setting for an array of deities. Even today, some kuthuvals stand as excellent examples of both the ability of the people to support luxuriant tree cover and the efficacy of wind shelters.
Kuthuvals were protected zealously by zamindars, but such institutions declined with the collapse of the zamindari system in the 1950s. Where the takeover of zamin land by the state forest department was quick, the forest cover did not suffer much, at least initially. Where the takeover was stalled by litigation or other reasons, the forests were degraded.
Two extensive ex-zamin forests on either side of the southern trunk road from Trichy provide a study in contrast. Marungpuri zamin in the southeast has its cover of tropical dry deciduous trees intact. But the kadavur zamin in the southwest has only pathetic vestiges of tree cover to show, thanks to prolonged litigation by the zamin claimants which held up the takeover till 1980.
Further south, in Kamarajar district, lies the Seithur ex-zamin forest. The forest was denuded by encroachers of the Kumri (taungya) cultivators, who were evicted forcefully after many years. Plantations of Allanthus excelsea and poor quality teak were left behind, but large areas of the reserve forest were left bare, failing to act as barriers to the fierce southeast monsoon. The lack of adequate cover in the forest and the steady denudation are partly responsible for the damage caused by the monsoon.
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