PERSPECTIVES MAY 5, 2018 vol lIiI no 18 EPW Economic & Political Weekly 38 A Village in the Midst of a Forest Ecosystem Subhashree Banerjee This article is based on the author’s doctoral study underway at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. The author would like to thank Syed Ajmal Pasha, M V Nadkarni, R S Deshpande, M G Chandrakanth, B P Vani, and the anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments and research support. Subhashree Banerjee (subhashreecds@gmail. com) is a doctoral scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. Settled villages on the fringes of a national park earn their livelihood not only from collecting forest produce but also from agriculture within the forest ecosystem. However, this relationship between the settlers and the forest is constantly mediated by institutions such as the state and the market. The settlers have to contend with risks of rain-fed agriculture, depredations from wild animals, and also with the forest establishment, which is mostly hostile to cultivation. This article attempts to show the complex relationship between the forest and the people living in it. V illages that survive in the peri- phery of a forest ecosystem are mostly dependent on the forest’s resources for their livelihood. However, the presence or absence of institutions like the state and market makes a big differ- ence in the use and abuse of the available natural resources. Dangamala, one of the oldest surviving villages found in the periphery of the Bhitarkanika National Park forest in Kendrapara district of Odisha, depends on the forest for its survival. The strong presence of the forest department makes it difficult for the residents to use the forest resources for their survival. Yet, in spite of the forest department, the residents of this village continue to depend on the forest and its products for their day-to-day survival. This article tries to explore the relation- ship between a forest ecosystem and the livelihood complex of nearby residents, and the mutual dependency for their respective survival and sustenance in a national park in Odisha. History of Bhitarkanika Historically, Bhitarkanika belongs to the royal estate of Kanika. It was a dense forest, believed to be rich in both flora and fauna. It has accommodated a wide range of mangroves and was home to many animals like the cheetah, porcu- pine, deer, crocodile, boar, etc. Unfortu- nately, no more cheetahs are found in this region as most were killed in the hunting expeditions of erstwhile kings (personal interview 2013). The kings demarcated the forest into 29 blocks and each year issued a patta (licence to use forest products) for the villagers. This enabled residents to gain access to the forest and its products. Two blocks were opened up for public access each successive year, on a rotational basis. Thus, the first two blocks that had been opened for public use would be made available again to the public after a hia- tus of 14 years (field notes 2013). This decade-and-half-long breathing period for each block helped the forest to recoup and for residents to survive. Dangamala used to fall in the sixth and seventh wards. After independence, the kings were asked to merge with the Indian state. In the hope of earning a quick revenue, the king sent a messenger to Kanthi in Medinipur, West Bengal, to sell their lands to the Bengalis at `5 per acre. People started pouring in, clearing the forest and paying up `5 per acre to gain owner- ship of the land. The huge number of Bengalis found in this region is all due to the sale of land at a cheap rate by the king himself (personal interview 2013). After the kings, the forest department took over the charge of the forest, but the patta system continued. The villagers were given passes to use forest products for their sustenance. The forest depart- ment also used to buy honey from the tribal community in order to give them a fair price for their hard work. However, after the declaration of the national park in 1998, everything went haywire. The forest department banned residents from entering the forest and severely punished them with imprisonment and monetary penalties, if caught inside the forest. People were forced to enter the jungle illegally to collect forest products such as honey, meat, fuelwood, fruits, leaves to make baskets, ropes and broom- sticks, and wood for house construction and agricultural equipment. Life in Dangamala Dangamala reminds me of M N Srinivas’s (1976) The Remembered Village. Srinivas conducted his study in 1952 and it strik- ingly holds true even today for rural India. Over time, the caste system in Dangamala has weakened, and the institutions of family and marriage too have undergone changes (personal interview 2013). But if examined closely, there has not been much change in the structures themselves. For example, the Indian family has transi- tioned from a conservative joint family