Life Without Celebration: This Uttarakhand Village Can’t Have Band-Baaja at Weddings
Uttarakhand village forest laws : Kotdwar, August 10, 2025: Just imagine, a wedding celebration at home with no band playing—how would that feel? In the Rikhanikhal block of Pauri district, Uttarakhand, there is a village just like that, where drums or wedding bands are not played during marriage ceremonies. This is not a tradition of the village; rather, it’s a testament to their helplessness in the face of forest laws. Not only that, but the villagers cannot burst firecrackers or use bright lights during Diwali. The village has no electricity, relying instead on solar lights, most of which are out of order. There is no hope for a road either. Due to wild animals, the fields have become barren, and people are forced to migrate.
This is the story of Taidiya-Pano village. Let’s understand both the geography and history of the village. The story of this village’s troubles, located in the buffer zone of the famous Jim Corbett National Park (Tiger Project), began in June 1991. The then Uttar Pradesh government issued an order declaring the Kalagarh Forest Division as the Kalagarh Tiger Reserve Forest. The population of Taidiya Pano village, which spans 56.5 hectares within Corbett National Park, was about 500 in 1991 and has now shrunk to 70-80. The newly elected village head, Vinita Dhyani, says that their ancestors were displaced from Kumaon during the Gorkha invasion in the early 19th century and settled in several nearby villages. To reach the village, one can travel by vehicle up to the Dugadda-Rathuwadhab-Haldukhal-Nainidanda motor road, but from there, a five-kilometer distance through a dense forest has to be covered on foot. She says there is always a threat from wild animals, day or night. In such conditions, how can anyone farm? The nearest market is 20 kilometers away in Rathuwadhab. Reaching there in these circumstances is a challenge in itself. The primary health center facility is also there. The village had 40 solar lights for illumination, but not even 10-15 of them are working properly.
It’s not that the villagers do not understand the importance of nature, ecology, environment, and wildlife. This is why they have been demanding displacement for a long time. They not only placed this demand before the Uttar Pradesh government, but after Uttarakhand came into existence as a separate state, memorandums were also given to five different Chief Ministers. In January 2009, the Corbett Tiger Reserve administration showed the villagers land in the Tarai Western Forest Division near Ramnagar. The villagers agreed to be relocated to Tumadiya Revines-I of the Southern Jaspur Range. The paperwork is ongoing with the hope that one day a band will surely play at their children’s weddings.
