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Trouble at Bandipur National Park - 26 April 2003

As it usually happens on Fridays, I became restless on 25th April, and after some thought, I decided to do something that I'd bee thinking of doing, for quite sometime now - trekking into my favorite Bandipur National Park forests, spending a night somewhere, and then trek back the next day. This, I was sure, would provide good chance of seeing the tiger in the wild. This has become my current quest.

Having decided on this, I boarded the Mysore passenger leaving Bangalore at 2345hrs. I slept throughout the journey, and was in Mysore at 5AM the next morning. A bus ride to Gundlupet, and then after fortifying myself with Idlis, and packing up some buns and biscuits, another bus ride of 15 minutes took me to Gopalapura. I knew that there is a 6km trekking route from Gopalapura village to Gopalaswamy Betta, which is the highest point inside the Bandipur National Park. My initial plan was to trek to the Betta, spend the night on a tree, and climb down the next day. As simple as that. After filling up my bottles with water at Gopalpura, the trek commence, and on the way, met an old man driving up his bullocks to plough his fields. After some chat with him, he revealed that there is one small temple called 'Kanni Mallappa Devasthanam', below the Gopalswamy Betta(which we can see from here), several kilometers from here, and in deep jungle, where elephants, tigers and leopards lived. Now this fascinated me to no end, but the old man refused to allow me to go alone to that temple, citing the dangers en route. Another young villager came by, on his way to the Betta, and when he heard about my thoughts of going to the Kanni Mallappa Devasthanam, he didn't seem to bother much, and only encouraged me. He also convinced the old farmer that I could go, and went on his way. Then, after receiving further directions from the old farmer, who pointed out roughly where the temple was situated, and roughly how the track will run, between two hills, onto the farther side of the hill, and then on towards southwest, I bid farewell to him. Going some distance, the track crossed a couple of cultivated land, which are all in the fringes of the park, and then entered scrub jungle. The scrubs and bushes were high enough, and thick thorn bushes had to be negotiated at some points. Going as directed, the track went straight, and then entered deeper tree jungle, and then turned right, and started going away from the hill in front of me, and went westwards, on the far side where I could see many cultivated lands, many miles away. The path wound into denser jungles, scattered all along with elephant dung, and through dense cover. Progress was slow; for I had to make sure there weren't any elephants in the vicinity. However, I then realized that this is not the path to the temple, so I retraced my steps, came back to the scrub jungle, and started beating about the bushes to find the right path. There were a couple of paths, one of which I found ran straight into the hills before me. This, I was convinced, was the proper route, and hence took it. The path, after crossing the scrub jungles, started climbing the hills. The sun was bearing hot on my back, and rest had to be taken at many places. I had only two bottles of water, and not sure if I would find any more water inside the park, I had to conserve water. Every drop, I felt, was precious, and the water was a treasure to me then.

Till this point, the forest was open land, with scrub jungle, and trees here and there. The path also crossed many ravines, which, during the monsoon, will carry plenty of water. Now they were all dry to the stone. Going further, after crossing one hill and entering a densely wooded valley, the path crossed ravines, boulder-strewn, and started going on the shoulder of another hill. I was of the opinion that I was still on the fringes of the forest, essentially, the buffer zone. The forest was much denser here, and visibility was only a few feet. There were giant trees, dense bushes, and thick undergrowth. And elephant dung here and there. Hence, progress was, of necessity, slow. As always, I stopped at many places, listening very silently, looking under the trees, through the bushes, to doubly ensure that there aren't any elephants waiting to ambush me. Other animals didn't hold any much threat at the moment, for on hearing me the tigers and leopards will move away, the bears will not be around at such a hot day. However, the elephants will be standing in the shades, and under the trees, to pass the day. Hence, my fears were only of the elephants, and I was doubly making sure that no unpleasant encounters occurred.

I would have covered around 5 to 6 kilometers now, and now I began to suspect if I'm on the right path, since the temple was nowhere in sight. The old farmer had also told me that there is a forest camp near the temple. I was of the plan that, if possible to spend the night at the temple, or in some tree. I also wanted to get deeper still into the jungle, where there would be a good chance of sighting the tiger at night. Trudging along slowly, with a careful eye around, I suddenly saw an asbestos sheet some distance away, on the sloppy side of the path, 100 meters away. Approaching slowly, I saw a lungi-clad man washing something. I immediately realized that it was a forest camp. Without any second thought (the foolishness I did), I walked up to the camp.

The camp was in a little bit of cleared ground, surrounded by an elephant trench and dense jungle. There were 4 forest department men, and all were shell shocked to see me. I was beckoned inside, and once inside, I was bombarded with numerous questions. Almost like an enquiry, I was questioned on the purpose of my trek. I understood that while one man was a forest guard, the other three were forest watchers. All four were lean, and looked poor.

My binoculars and camera were taken away from me. After they were to some extent convinced that I meant no harm, and was just an ordinary citizen who had got lost in the jungle, they relaxed. It was understandable, for we were in deep jungles, and I had reached on of the interior forest camps not known to the outside world, alone, and through a dangerous path. Also, the notorious criminal Veerappan was also operative in this region, along with militants of Tamilnadu Liberation Front (TNLF). The forest guard got in touch with the Forest Range office at Maddur through a wireless set, and informed them of this situation: That a guy had walked up to the camp, had no permission letter, had come through dense jungle, intent on reaching the Kanni Mallappa Devasthanam which is not known to outside world, that he is in possession of binoculars, camera, maps, knife and torchlight. Ample proof for any range officer to suspect. The range officer instructed the forest guard to bring me to their office at Maddur, 7-8kms away.

The foresters had just been back from a long patrol, when I arrived, so were tired, and proposed to take me to Maddur after some rest, since it was a hot afternoon. I was offered black tea, and some cooked rice, which I relished. I set about observing the camp, while they relaxed, and dozed. The camp had an asbestos roof, and asbestos wall on two sides. Bamboo sticks covered another side, and the fourth side was open, facing a jeep track further into the jungle. There were four cots, improvised from tree logs, bamboo sticks and rope. The cooking was done on clay stove, with firewood as fuel. It was a very rough existence, obviously.

After an hour's nap, the men woke up. They had been blessed with a hand pump only four days ago, before which they had to fetch water from a source higher up in the mountains. The men set about performing a puja for the new pump. Then we noticed a herd of elephants grazing on the open grasslands occurring higher up, above the camp, on the mountaintops. I requested the men to hand me the binoculars for sometime, which they did. The binoculars were powerful ones, and I enjoyed watching the elephants, a herd of 4. All seemed to be big ones, and were engrossed in grazing the grass. After the puja of the hand pump was through, the men, picking up a double barrel rifle, I accompanying them went on to the small, one roomed 'Kanni Mallappa Devasthanam', some 200 meters down the jeep track. Here, they again set about cleaning the temple, washing the deity, and performing pujas. This again took a considerable time, while I spent the time watching the elephants that were still grazing. After the puja, the bananas and coconut were shared. After all this, we returned to the camp, where fresh black tea was brewed. Now I shared the biscuits that I had brought, over the tea. It seemed to be like I'm a guest to them. For such was their hospitality shown towards me, and it will remain in my memory for a long time.

I felt glad to be there, inside dense jungle where tigers roamed. The men claimed to have seen many a tiger, and let me know that a few tigers, which had it as their headquarters, frequented the place. The last sighting, they said, was 10 days ago, when a big tiger came up the path I had come earlier, and went around the camp, its breathing audible inside the camp, and then came to the front of the camp, and sat down. After some time, it seems to have got up and went down the jeep track towards the small temple. At that particular occasion, the men said, some STF personnel had been deployed in the camp, for hunting down Veerappan.

At about 5pm, the forest guard, and another watcher, and myself, started from the camp, and after a nonstop fast march of one and a half hour, which took us down the mountains, then across many cultivated lands of sugarcane and chilly, and crossing a village named Beerambadi, we finally reached Maddur Range Forest Office. Maddur is on the Gundlupet - Sulthan Bathery road, which I'd ridden through, a month back. I was handed over to the RFO, a short, dark and sturdy man with a big belly. My bag was thoroughly emptied, and all the articles inspected. When this long procedure was over, through which I remained silent, I was enquired. My origins, my occupation, purpose of such a trek, purpose of carrying torch, knife, binoculars, were questioned. I set about explaining my stand, stating that I just got lost, and managed to find the Devasthanam forest camp. Though the RFO was deeply contemplating on what to do next, his accomplices kept urging him to hand me over to the Forest Deparment office at Gundlupet. Trespassing into reserved forests and the national park is an offence, which invited legal actions. The RFO further enquired me, and I further explained to him that I'm just a regular trekker, and mentioned to him the forest officers that I've met, at Gopalswamy Betta, Brahmagiri Hills, Nagarhole, etc. I was also questioned where all I've been to, trekking. I revealed all this to him, after which he seemed to be a bit convinced that I am in no way connected to Veerappan, or TNLF or LTTE. My business and identity card were thoroughly examined. I asked him to call up my office at Bangalore, for further proof and verification. This, the RFO agreed to do. Taking me into another room in the office, he called up my Bangalore office, where, the receptionist verified my name against my employee number. At this, the RFO was fully convinced, and then became friendly. Hearing about my wildlife interests, he encouraged me to further visit the forests, but with due permissions. Also, the dangers of such sojourns were highlighted, and I was given ample advice, especially pointing out to last week's incident, when a woman was trampled to death by a tusker, on the path through which I'd reached the forest camp. I was gladdened to note that he was the Range Forest Officer, for Project Tiger, Maddur Range. He also informed me that a bird census is due next week, and the tiger census due for May. He kindly asked me to take part in these censuses, which I gladly accepted. The forest guard and watcher who had brought me here from the camp, by now had disappeared, may be to spend the night somewhere in the forest office. The driver of the jeep, allotted to the RFO by Project Tiger, became friendly, and informed me that a bus from Kerala to Mysore will come by in a few minutes. The RFO bade me farewell, and left for a bath, while myself waited for the bus, chatting lightly with the driver. A man of nearly two decades of service in these forests, he seemed to be much experienced, and a gentleman.

It was dark, and shining stars dotted the beautiful night sky. Maddur wore a sleepy look, and not many were on the road. A car or a truck passed by, otherwise there was no traffic. We would've waited for around 30 minutes, when a crowded bus from Kerala came by. My friend promptly stopped it, and I, bidding him farewell, boarded the bus. A crowded and bumpy ride to Gundlupet, from where I got a seat to sit, and then I dozed off, only to wake up at Mysore at around 9.30pm. I was very hungry, so allowed myself the luxury of two glasses of mango juice at a shop near the Mysore bus stand, which was now very crowded and much polluted. A very big contrast to the place I had left only a couple of hours ago. A bus was waiting to leave for Bangalore. Another 3hour ride to Bangalore, which I slept throughout, and finally I was at Bangalore at 1AM. My bike, parked at the city railway station, was happy to see me back again, and we together left for my room. And that is the end of this piece of roaming. More will follow, as time, money, health and God permit.