For no rhyme or reason

"It looks like Khandala", remarked my friend, the divisional forest officer Sanjay Sinha, as the car carried us through the sharp bends and curves of the lush green Amjharia Valley on last Sunday. The monsoon showers has added more to the elegance of the valley. There was no reason for other forest officials accompanying us on the trip to differ with Sinha. "Yes, this valley is no less picturesque than Khandala", remarked another who I presume had visited Khandala and was, thus, capable to draw a parallel between the two spots.

But then the fact remains that Amjharia is no Khandala. It was for Khandala that Rani Mukherji and Aamir Khan sang the famous song from Ghulam "Ati kya Khandala."

Amjharia does not offer the peace and security as a destination that Khandala offers to many tourists who go there. Khandala is famous for its natural beauty, serene atmosphere, functional law and order, worthy hotels and restaurants to attract the tourists from across the country.

In sharp contrast to Khandala, even angels fear to tread in Amjharia despite it being as bewitching as Khandala is in terms of natural splendour. If at all, Amjharia is famous for, it's for loot, road hold ups and robberies. Rather than contemplating a short stay, enjoying the rain falling on the green Saal, Sakhua and other trees, passers-by simply pray that they cross the valley as fast as possible.

As recently as on May 17, armed bandits waylaid a Daltonganj bound passenger bus, packed with passengers, to a jungle village, five kilometres away from the road, beat up the passengers black and blue and looted their belongings. It is a different matter that the police chased the robbers and shot three of them near Mahua. In a similar incident, four armed men waylaid a passenger bus and looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh on April 1. It is the same valley where the criminals looted famous missionary activist Sister Nirmala's belongings along with hundreds of other people travelling in different vehicles last year. In stead of attracting tourists and visitors, the thick forests dotting the hills in Amjharia offer a safe refuge to the armed squads of the Naxalite outfits besides countless criminal gangs who call the shot in the valley.

It was about four in the afternoon when we crossed Amjharia again on our return trip from Latehar. The same forest officers who were all praises for the striking natural charm of the valley looked anxious: "This valley becomes unsafe to cross after 5 pm or so," they muttered. We saw a police jeep carrying jawans of a central paramilitary force overtaking us at the speed of 80 kilometres per hour and zooming past us. They did not care to stop or even slow down at any place. I wonder if they were hurrying to report to their bosses that "the valley was safe and incident-free for that day".

There are as many as six roads coming out of Ranchi. They are Ranchi-Lohardagga, Ranchi-Patratu, Ranchi-Khunti-Chaibasa, Ranchi-Gumla, Ranchi-Jamshedpur and Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Patna Road. Except Ranchi-Hazaribagh-Patna and Ranchi Jamshedpur roads, all the other four roads close after five in the evening, as no driver dares to cross them after sunset.

It is a different matter that all these roads are surrounded by the delightful Chotanagpur hills capped with lush green trees offering many enchanting waterfalls, dams and other vantage spots for visitors. I wonder why the residents of the forest and mountain villages around Ranchi are so inhospitable and even cruel to the visitors. And why should the Naxalites who claim to fight for the cause of the poor and deprived, create terror for tourists and visitors? After all tourism will create employment opportunities for the locals.