Bamboo Project Launched for Kolam Tribe in Telangana's Adilabad Under Green India Challenge

In a major drive for sustainable development and tribal welfare, a pilot Bamboo Plantation Project has been launched at Mullagutta 2 village, Adilabad district of Telangana, under the Green India Challenge (GIC) initiative. The project aims to revive the Kolam tribe, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), through the revival of the bamboo cultivation which is the focus of their socio-economic activities.

Objective of the Project

The bamboo plantation scheme is aimed at encouraging livelihood generation, ecological restoration, and regeneration of culture.

Green India Challenge (GIC) is a national movement pledged to forestation and protection of the environment. It calls on citizens, public bodies, and local communities to plant and nurture trees as part of a larger mission to check climate change, soil loss, and loss of biodiversity. The bamboo project in Adilabad forms part of this larger sustainability agenda by connecting climate action to community dividends, setting an example for eco-inclusive tribal development.

The Kolam tribe is one of India's Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), and they are predominantly located in Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. In the past, they are dependent on agriculture, forest produce, and fishing for livelihood.

Key features:

• Language: The tribe speaks the Kolami language, a Dravidian language with no script; the majority also speak Marathi or Telugu.

• Society: They have a patrilineal social organization with clans such as Chal Deve, Pach Deve, Saha Deve, and Sat Deve.

• Culture: Kolams share close cultural links with the Gonds, adhering to nature worship-type rituals. They claim descent from Bhima and Hidimbi of the epic Mahabharata.

• Traditions: Their traditions comprise levirate marriage, in which a widow can get married to her deceased husband's brother.

• Livelihood: Livelihoods of theirs comprise a combination of cultivation—settled as well as shifting with animal husbandry and forest labor.

Implementation and Support

Bamboo Plantation Project is a venture on five acres of land provided free of cost by philanthropist Tekam Rao Ji Patel at Mullagutta 2. The plantation will introduce fast-growing bamboo species well-suited to the local climate, stimulating ecological regeneration as well as long-term community revenues.

The project will:

• Train the Kolam families in bamboo production and product development.

• Offer a demonstration site for community agroforestry.

The project also aims to encourage local schools to learn about the environment through excursion visits, promoting awareness for sustainable resource management.

Ecological and Socio-Economic Impact

The project is expected to have a twofold effect:

• Ecological: Bamboo has high carbon sequestration, soil stabilization, and natural regrowth.

• Economic: The project provides employment and raw material security to the Kolam tribe, reviving their traditional crafts and diversifying their income stream.

Through the integration of ecological rehabilitation and socio-economic empowerment, the project contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—chiefly Goals 1 (No Poverty), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land).

The Bamboo Project among the Kolam tribe in Adilabad is a framework for green inclusive environmental development. It reinvents afforestation efforts by organically interlacing indigenous knowledge, participation of the people, and sustainability of culture. As part of the Green India Challenge, not only does it restore forests, but it gives life to the heritage of one of India's most endangered tribal communities, making growth and green living complementary to each other.