It was around 50 years ago that the forest area witnessed such a flowering. And now that it is forbidden to cut bamboos in reserved areas, the forest officials are seeking special permission to remove the dried bamboo and burn it before summer sets in to prevent ant forest fire.

Just 160 km from Vadodara, Katas bamboos in the entire sanctuary are in full blossom, and the flowering process is expected to continue for about 20 days. According to the officials and tribals in the area, this flower is seen as an indicator of various troubles like forest fire and an increase in the number of rodents in the sanctuary due its seeds.

Bachu Vakhla (65), who witnessed bamboo flowering around five decades ago, said, “Katas bamboo flowering is known to cause forest fires. The reason is that just after the flowering, the cluster of Katas bamboo crumbles and becomes dry.” He added, “I witnessed its flowering when I was a ten-year-old. However, Pipergota village where I live was not declared a sanctuary at that time, so the crumbled bamboo clusters were removed by the Jungle Kaamdar Samiti Mandali.”

Jagdish Prasad, Conservator of the Forest, Vadodara division, said, “We are trying to seek special permission from Central Empowerment Committee, Delhi to remove the crumbled Katas bamboo clusters from the sanctuary as soon as possible.” He further said, “We have employed tribals from Pipergota, Alindra and Morai villages in 12 groups to gather dry bamboo leaves and burn them. Each person in a group of around six people will be given a daily wage of Rs 102.”