TURA, March 14: The situation of the betel nut trade in Garo Hills has seen a slight upswing following concerted efforts by various civil society organisations and local residents, who put their foot down to contain the illegal smuggling of Burmese nuts from Bangladesh through various borders of South Garo Hills, South West Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills.
Markets were seen to gingerly begin the trade despite prices hovering around half of what was being given last year. Whilst the market is yet to fully recover from the damage done by a syndicate of smugglers from Meghalaya, Assam and Bangladesh, the illegal trade, as per sources, has now been stopped, leading to markets recovering ever so slightly.
The situation had become so alarming that most farmers dreaded the cost it would have on their lives if decades of hard work in maintaining plantations were to go to waste. It also led to many civil society organisations calling for a halt to the illegal trade that had apparently been blessed by political heavyweights from both states.
It also led to a signature campaign by former chief minister Mukul Sangma of the AITC, who threatened to take the matter up with the Centre and seek an independent inquiry. While the furore may have died down a little, the worries of the farming community have not really gone away as there are fears that smuggling activities will continue once again if there is a let-up.
Rongjeng, which was the main transit point for betel nut movement from the districts of South Garo Hills, South West Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills, reported no vehicles carrying illegal betel nuts coming for the past week or so.
“Villagers as well as civil society organisations have finally realised the damage being done to our people. While this should have happened earlier, it is better late than never. Hopefully, in the next few months, things can be brought back to normal. Rates of betel nuts, however, are yet to improve as the market has been flooded by the smugglers,” informed a source from Rongjeng.
In many places along the major trade routes, vehicles could once again be seen plying with betel nuts.
“While the markets have not improved, there is still some amount of trade taking place. Many of us who have invested in these plantations have no other option than to take these products or we will suffer huge losses. If things get better, we will hopefully be able to break even or at least minimise our losses,” said a trader from Tikrikilla in West Garo Hills.
Similar thoughts were echoed by most who are currently in the business.
“We can understand if there were natural disasters that led to crop damage and losses to us but to allow smuggling on such a scale with no one taking any action due to the political might of those involved, cannot go unpunished. Imagine they put lakhs of people at risk just to allow 100s to make huge profits of their own. We don’t want to name but the rabbit hole runs very deep. An investigation by an agency outside the state is a must if you want to get those culprits behind the syndicate,” felt social activist, Maxbirth G Momin.
The activist also added that the details of the inquiry that was taken up by an ADC from NGH into the illegal trade needed to be made public.
“This is a matter of public concern and the people should know the ones who were behind the international smuggling ring. The probe report should be made public just to provide a glimpse of what took place as well as build confidence of the people who have been so badly affected,” felt Momin.
