Story of a "Honorary" forest guard

People who work for the society’s good selflessly are a rare breed. Even in times like these, there is someone who guards a forest of 50 hectares solely for personal satisfaction without expecting a single penny. His name is GooLeppa.

GooLeppa has been incessantly guarding the reserve forest in Haalasaagara, near the border of Koodligi taluk of Bellary district in Karnataka since the last 20 years. Yet, not many know of the service that GooLeppa is rendering.

If you go to Hangal road from Koodligi via GuDekOte, you will reach BhaTralli village. If you take the dirt road from there for about 5 km you will reach the Haalasaagara reserve forest of the Koodligi range. Here, you can see GooLeppa, of thin stature and brisk walk, with a long stick for company.

It gives immense pleasure to GooLeppa if you visit the forest with a desire to see it. “Saar, these are the saplings planted way back in 1995, see how they have grown!” he enthusiastically introduces you to them. He sees to it that cattle – goat, cows etc do not feed on the vegetation of the forest spread over 50 hectares. No one can denude the plant cover. He has thwarted such attempts previously. This forest has Banyan, Neem, Peepal, Jamoon, bikke, kamara, tapse, dondu-jaali, upale, sapaLe trees etc (the author is ignorant on the common english names of these trees, will do research). He has ensured that nobody is able to lop even small branches for cattle feed.

It is said that this place has leopards, bears, jackals, and wild boar. But they do not harm him, says GooLeppa, who says he has faith that God will always protect him. Once a wild boar with a litter attacked him and caused significant damage to his thigh. After receiveing treatment at the hospital, he was promptly back to resume his forest service! He has apprehended a few people who would come to cut down trees for timber etc and handed them over to the police. He has also prevented quarrying in the area. He himself has bore 7-8 feet deep holes in boulders. Here, water collects and acts as a lifeline for a lot of animals.

Though forest department does not mandate him to protect this forest, he walks the 5 km from BhaTralli everyday just to guard the trees. He faced stiff resistance from his family members initially, but now they have resigned themselves to his determination. In fact, when GooLeppa needs to travel, his children take up the responsibility of guarding the forest.

Nor has GooLeppa ever desired anything from the forest department. “I felt I should guard the forest, and hence I do this. I do not want anything in return, just the well-being of the forest”, he says. Amidst the pseudo-activists who make long speeches about growing more trees and saving the environment, GooLeppa’s service shines like a beacon.

On the occasion of Independence Day celebrations in 2009, the administrator of Koodligi felicitated GooLeppa for his selfless services by draping a shawl over him. Yet, the need of the hour is that he should get due recognition for his services by the government and the forest department.

The above post is a rough translation of Kannada article named ‘GooLeppa emba araNya paalaka’ which appeared in Praja VaaNi on 07-Apr-2010 in a supplement called Karnataka Darshana. Please find the article below.THanks to Guruprasaada Timmapura for sharing the article