Betrayal in the hills

In a travesty of the Forest Rights Act set up to protect indigenous communities, members of the Lippa tribal village in Himachal Pradesh are being denied individual forest rights.

 

The life of the Kanauras is defined by the remoteness as well as the geological and ecological vulnerability in the borderlands of the high Himalaya.

Tashi Wangyur at the loom.

Hukum Dolma works on the tosrama for weaving.

Cherring Zhangmo in her home, for which her claim was rejected.

Cherring Dolma with her son at their home, which is on forest land and claimed under the FRA.

A protest at Reckong Peo, the district headquarters of Kinnaur, seeking proper implementation of the FRA.

A view of Lippa village, and the confluence of the Pajer and Kerang streams.

Two boys load organic manure on the back of their mule on the way to fields of peas, barley and buckwheat.

Apple orchards amid the dry and fragile landscape.

Traditional houses were built using deodar cedar and pinewood.

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A resident returns after collecting fuelwood from the forest.