Kusmahi Dispute Turns Violent as Saplings Uprooted on Community Patta Land
Key Points:
- Sticks and stones used as two sides clash at Kusmahi village
- Injured shifted to Garhwa Sadar Hospital in police vehicle
- Korwa and Parhaiya families hold pattas granted in 2011
GARHWA – A dispute over plantation work on forest land has ended in a pitched battle at a village in Meral block, leaving several residents seriously hurt.
The trouble broke out at Kusmahi village. It falls under the Meral police station area.
Both sides used sticks and stones during the fight. Chaos spread through the settlement as the clash unfolded.
Moreover, those involved belong to particularly vulnerable tribal groups. Members of the Korwa and Parhaiya communities hold forest rights pattas there.
Tension had been building with the forest department. It centred on plantation activity on the forest land.
The flashpoint was the removal of fruit-bearing saplings. Villagers had planted them on land received under a community patta.
Besides, bamboo was planted in place of those saplings. Pits were also dug on land held under individual pattas.
Dozens of villagers were seriously injured in the violence that followed. Several were left bleeding at the site.
Meral police station in-charge Vishnukant reached the spot with a force. He acted after receiving information about the incident.
He carried the injured in his own vehicle. They were taken to Garhwa Sadar Hospital for treatment.
However, the mood in the village has not settled. Anger and tension have persisted at Kusmahi since the clash.
The roots of the dispute go back some years. Several tribal families received individual pattas in 2011.
In addition, community rights over forest land came later. Those were granted to the village in 2025.
The rules draw a clear line between the two. Individual patta land is used by villagers for cultivation.
Community patta land is meant for conservation and plantation. Villagers carry out that work themselves.
Meanwhile, the village has set up a formal body for the purpose. A gram sabha was constituted for forest management.
The district has featured in other distress reports this year. A villager was killed in an elephant attack in July.
On the other hand, land rows have turned violent elsewhere in the state. A land dispute in Giridih ended in bloodshed this month.
Village bodies have also split over resource decisions. Residents of Kanku in Patamda divided over a mining lease in June.
Tribal rights have remained a live political issue. Champai Soren attacked the state government over the PESA Act in June.
Plantation drives have expanded across districts in recent weeks. A Van Mahotsav event drew over 250 participants in Koida.
Forest department offices have drawn complaints too. Villagers had warned of an agitation over an absent official during a tusker scare.
