NK'S POST

NK SINGH Driven by acute poverty, the Gauds, an aboriginal tribe living in the villages around the two military-proof ranges at Itarsi and Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, have taken to an unusual and dangerous occupation. They sneak into the artillery-proof range, entry into which is strictly prohibited, and pick up shells of the fused bombs which are exploded there. The shells contain brass, copper, aluminium and iron, which are processed separated and sold to unscrupulous traders at a fraction of the original value of the metal. The rich traders, who are alleged to wield political influence in the state, sell the stolen metal at an exorbitant profit through their well-organised network. The half-clad, illiterate people, including many adolescents and even women, wait behind nearby bushes and trees as the heavy mortars roar. Most of them race towards the fused shells even before the smoke caused by the firing clears. Experience gained through years in the trade has developed in them a cru...

NK SINGH Once, the tribal people of central India made their living by going daily into the jungle to collect wild fruit, nuts and roots. Now, much of the jungle in this remote hilly area has been cleared to make way for Ministry of Defence firing ranges. And the people have taken to a much more dangerous trade. This time they are collecting mortar bombs and shells from the range's target area and selling them off as scrap. But so great is the competition among these impoverished, illiterate tribesmen for the metal that many are killed and many more maimed in the scramble to collect the shells. The collectors, mostly teenagers and young men, but with some women among them, wait behind bushes and trees in the target area as the heavy mortars roar then dash forward to collect their prizes even before the smoke has cleared. Experience has taught them elementary ballistics so they usually know when the next salvo will strike. But sometimes they are tragically wrong. Earlier this year s...