Perils of Devotion

Sri Himovad Gopalaswamy temple is a revered temple by the local villagers and a popular tourist destination.
Over the years the temple has now turned into a weekend picnic venue. From the data acquired through RTI act About a 2500 people visit the temple on weekends and public holidays, and close to 19000 people visit during major festivities such as the annual rathotsava in April and in of Shravana which happens between August and September. We need to understand the effects on wildlife.
The temple has a long archeological history dating back to Cholan dynasty, was not so popular until 1995 when the road was constructed and economic boom in 2000. Wide coverage provided by the press and electronic media boosted its popularity. Hence crowd volume has been increasing by leaps and bounds in recent years.
Being a protected wildlife habitat it is home to many endangered species such as our national animal the Tiger, Elephants, and Dholes, Giant Squirrel, Civets and Mouse Deer to name a few. These need free spaces to graze, rest, drink among other daily chores.
The shola forests provide grazing all year round. Herbivores like Chital or the Deer, Gaur and Elephants live in herds. They graze throughout the day constantly moving. These animals are Diurnal and do not tolerate unnatural disturbances. Animals such as Mongoose roam around the forest floor for roots, fallen fruits, Insect etc. Crested serpent Eagle a bird of prey hover over the sky for Lizards and Snakes etc. Carnivores move around to either to hunt, Cool down or quench their thirst.
As per the notification of Bandipur national Park it’s a restricted area the right of access to the temple acquired through RTI act is for religious purposes alone, but people are misusing the access provided to make merry and picnic.
The urge to explore the landscape and spend more time is over whelming. Cheered by occasional sightings and Lush mist filled mountains with green carpet is all but inviting. Photographers throng to capture vivid image of the Landscape. Family groups prefer to have food and play games. It is not surprising to see youth trekking and consuming Liquor. During the Fruiting season people are seen eating Amla, Bettada Nallikai in Kannada, Visitors mistake the IB of the forest department to a palace of Maharajas of Mysore.
Villagers revere the deity and throng to the temple during the Major festivities such as the Annual Rathotsava and Shravana. These villagers trek up the hill through the forests. Camp at Water holes and streams, chop firewood Set up Fire Play loud music, This disturbance happens for at least two or three days. And the risk of forest fire is ever persistent in the dry season.
When a Leopard enters a village or City .We want it out at any cost and don’t mind killing it. Neither is an elephant tolerated by a farmer. Is it fair for us to wander around in their home for our recreation? Wildlife reserves have been reserved for wildlife so as to provide such undisturbed landscapes. Wildlife interest should prevail over ours.
Only those who love nature and eager to see wildlife revisit the place. If we tourist limit our movements to the temple vicinity we increase the possibility of such memorable sightings, wild life when undisturbed will move freely and sightings will rise.
These wild creatures are highly sensitive to human presence. When we roam around freely we are denying them the space to carry on with their daily chores. They tend to move away towards the forest fringes. And fall prey in the snares laid by poachers and die a slow agonizing death.
Wildlife tends to lose the natural fear they have on us due to such consistent disturbance in their habitat. A villager was recently killed and eaten by what is presumed to be a Tiger not far from the temple. Such an incident has never occurred in south Indian forests in the last three decades. Other fatalities might also arise such as elephant attack or a snake bite, Anti-venom is available only in Mysore, A good ninety minutes of journey.
Elephants deprived of grazing here in turn raid the crops of surrounding villagers and sometimes get killed either by electrocution or by other means. Smaller animals such as Chital or wild boar perish by consuming poisoned baits or by numerous snares.
One might feel a short walk behind the temple may not cause much damage. Thousands picnicking or trekking throughout the day is indeed altering animal behavior for worse,
If you wish to enjoy such beautiful scenery while partying or to make merry please visit other hill stations, the purpose of visiting this temple should be devotional alone and not a picnic. Sighting wildlife is a matter of luck. Those eager sight wildlife make use of the Safari conducted by the forest department.
The temple is located inside Bandipur National Park hence a restricted area, Trespassing is a punishable offence.
To summarize
Please return back immediately after visiting the temple. Enjoy Experience the tranquility from within the temple precincts. Do not litter. Wildlife has the right of way in their forests at least. Stay silent, do not play loud music. If you are eager to see wildlife Carry binoculars and observe from the temple premises. Cherish incidental sightings. Article 51 A of our Fundamental Duties is “to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;”
A country is known by the way it treats its animals
Jawaharlal Nehru

Whose forests is it anyways……

Whose forests is it anyways……

Is it the Forest department, The state government, The Centre or Villagers, The EDCs (eco development comittees) or You and Me ?
Not long ago Tumkur university wanted a new campus,Authorities set their eye on Devarayanadurga reserve forest, What ensued later I presume you are aware of it. And when state government wanted to build a complex to hold its assembly sessions in Belgaum no wonder target again was piece of land which was rich in Birdlife, the list goes on,
This has been happening since ages to name a few the IIsc campus and forest department offices in Bangalore was once a reserve forest,HMT, BEL and Airforce campus ( east and west) bangalore university etc were all well forested areas which gave way to development.Did anyone remember the big brother of these KIOCL

Whenever land is required for a new project, invariably all roads leads to such forested areas.Though there are other alternatives which are never explored,
This is open case of step motherly treatment meted out to our dear forests,The forest department and all other aspects of a forest.The Government employs and pays its staff to guard, protect, manage and increase its forested area, And then parts of these or whole are generously transferred for such projects, I fail to understand the logic of the decision makers behind these.
The philosophy of the government that the forest only means timber and a sort inexhaustible resource which can be exploited in all possible ways still persists.
And then comes the state of affairs in the forest department whenever the forest department is news for wrong reasons we are used to reading the same explaination "we are under staffed ill-equipped etc". understaffed as a reason is acceptable as working for the forest department is less attractive to the current youth compared to lucrative private sector and those of other Govt posts, Those who do join, put in a few years of service and by various means get transferred to office work away from challenging field duties.
Some brave and committed officers do serve have to, should I say a balancing role to effectively work, they have to be in cordial terms with the local politician, villagers, the press and his higher ups, Lost in all these is effective protection and management.This apart you have administrative tasks and inhospitable terrain. No wonder the real job of protecting forest is lost. Contrarary to other govt depts The forest department is understaffed at the bottom surplus in managerial roles.
One officer said the local politician orally calls him up and ask him to allow grazing, and then forest fires in my range that happens is inevitable as the movement of people and cattle cannot be controlled, I cannot blatantly refuse as the hatred that develops will instigate people , and the press who instead of highlighting the conditions we work, glorify small ground fires mentioning thousands of hectares of forest wealth has been lost, people might have forgotten the price RFO of Antharasanthe (A range in NaagarahoLe) had to pay for being committed, In spite of having worked for their welfare by providing LPG cylinders to majority of the villages on the periphery of Bandipur and NagarahoLe national parks. And then another forester said cultivation is being openly done on forest land though the forest dept had taken up the case to the court and was instructed to recover the land but due ground realities such as retaliation from villagers, support of local politicians and noncommittal staff they are not able to do so more importantly the failure of the police in providing appropriate security. So on paper its a forest on the ground its under cultivation.
The people around the forests are a mixed bag; Some are ignorant about the importance of the forests and its inhabitants,Few are aware but have who cares attitude,A small fraction actively indulge in illegal activities,The lure of wild meat is evident,They set up small traps and snares along the fence that border forests,Stray wildlife like Wild boar, Chittal, Porcupine,Mangoose, Jungle fowl is caught and consumed without a trace,often bigger wildlife either get stuck or the snares remain on their body leaving the animals die a slow agonising death, I have seen elephants limping with such snares holding on to their trunks and legs.These develop into wounds and invariably infections spreads and the animal dies somewhere far from the scene of the fence. Tigers and leapords have been caught accidentally and died.
I remember a villager telling me (mistaking me to be forest staff) that your animals come into our fields, you people take on us left and right If you see us inside, and many other such you statements, I was lost in thoughts thinking is the forest department sole owner of the forests. Or is it fair to hold them responsible for everything that goes awry in and around the forests.
Do these villager have any sense of belongingness or is it just hard realities they face, And we the city dwellers whose fathers or forefathers once migrated from such places have any role to play, In all these happenings solely driven personal interests, the forest department ends being the scapegoat,

All is not lost, there are committed people in our state be it NGOs namely Wildlife first, WANC, Mysore Amateur Naturalists, former and current Forest Officers like Chinnappa, Sreenivas, Venkatesh, and then, scientists like Ullas Karanth, M.D. Madhusudhan have effectively worked together.
Today compared to declining numbers across the country In Karnataka their numbers here have been stagnant, One gets a feeling that Our PA might have reached its saturation, and spill over animals need new areas.our forest cover as per the forest departments press releases say that forest cover has increased in the state A bulk of which is dry forest bereft of any wildlife of little value in terms of Bio diversity..
All that I have realized is that protecting our sacred forests and their inhabitants is not responsibility of the forest department or the government alone. Just as there is corruption , mismanagement etc exist in all other administrative set up Forest dept is no exeption. Same with governance as well. It’s a collective responsibility of the entire community, each one of us should contribute whatever and however feasible.