Every morning, people from various villages – most of them from Adivasi and Dalit communities – come to Manikpur railway junction in Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh. They come by shared jeeps and auto-rickshaws, or by bicycles, from villages in a 100-kilometre radius. Carrying hundreds of bundles of firewood – each weighing between 20 and 50 kilos – from the Patha forests on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Cutting wood, which will later be taken to the Manikpur railway junction and other stations, and then to markets in various towns along the train route. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
Women crossing the sluice gate of a dam, carrying their daily load of firewood. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
Selling these in nearby markets is a stable source of income for the families. Though laws related to the preservation of trees debar tree-cutting, the local communities who depend on selling firewood have little or no productive land. Their only other regular source of income is daily wages at construction sites in nearby towns.
Crossing a tributary of the Mandakini river after collecting wood from the nearby forest. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
Carrying the heavy loads of firewood across rivers, roads and railways. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
They take the bundles of wood – mainly of the tendu and palash tree – by passenger trains from Manikpur, from Karwi (around 30 kilometres from Manikpur), or from Shankargarh, around 80 kilometres away, to various towns along the train route to Allahabad.
Waiting to load the firewood on the train at Shankargarh station. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
The train approaches the town of Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi), where some will get off to sell the logs. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
At the end of the day, they earn between Rs 150-300, depending on the dryness and quality of the firewood, and the season’s demand for fuel.
Unloading the huge bundles one by one when the train stops at Jasra. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
Exhausted, returning from the daily chaos of survival. Selling firewood barely brings Rs. 100-300 a day, depending on quality, weather and demand. Credit: Akshay Gupta/People’s Archive of Rural India
No names have been used in this story because the firewood-sellers didn’t want to be named.
Akshay Gupta is a freelance photojournalist from Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi), now based in Delhi.
This article was originally published in the People’s Archive of Rural India on October 9, 2018.