LONE RANGER

Anka Rao has devoted most of his life to nurturing the Nallamala forest and its ecosystem

- RAHUL DEVULAPALLI

Komera Anka Rao will never have a scarecrow on his one-acre farm at Karempudi village in Palnadu, Andhra Pradesh. The sole reason he grows crops on his only piece of farmland is to feed birds. Jaji, as he is locally known, grows pearl millet and sorghum as they require less water and labour. The farm hosts a variety of birds, including Indian parrots, baya weavers, pigeons, mynas and the Indian Pitta.

Though he loses 25,000 a year on the farm, Jaji does not mind. He cares for the birds and the Nallamala forest too much. His land is on the periphery of the vast forest, an important green cover in the Eastern Ghats in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. It has the largest tiger reserve in the country and is spread over 9,000sqkm.

For Jaji, Nallamala is a retreat and an obsession. His daily schedule is harmoniously linked to the forest. At 5am, he sets off on his gearless bike with empty sacks tucked into the storage space. After going deep into the thick forest, sometimes as deep as 30km, Jaji starts his hours-long hunting expedition. His prey is not animals, but things left behind by revellers and tourists—plastic glasses, paper plates, beer bottles, polythene covers and any other trash that does not belong in a forest. He stuffs all he gets into the sacks and takes it to a dumping ground far from the forest. He says he has cleared three truckloads worth of garbage so far.

“Several community events are held in the forests where families have lunch in the open,” says Jaji. “There are also youth who want to experience the thrill of a forest picnic. There is a constant flow of tourists who eat or drink and dump the waste. Who will clear this waste that affects animals and plants? I feel responsible for this forest. It gives us oxygen and keeps us alive.”