If Kotgarh was the place where I took my first steps towards practical forestry, Rajgarh was the place I really cut my teeth. As I said before, the Division already had two Assistant Conservators of Forests (ACFs) posted there, and I was the third. Mr. Karwasra, the senior ACF was in charge of all the plantation work in the Division, and Mr. Sharma, the other ACF, was in charge of Resin Tapping. Since I had been posted there for ‘training’, the DFO, Mr. Chauhan, decided to expose me to all activities in his Division, turn by turn.
One work that was of the utmost importance, but least paid attention to, was demarcating the boundaries of the forests, and then fixing Boundary Pillars (BPs) along the perimeters to mark the same. These BPs were small cairns of lose stone, about 1m x1m at the base and 45cmx45cm at the top, about a meter in height. Since local land owners and/or miscreants were always trying to demolish or shift the pillars in order to extend the boundaries of their holdings and encroach into the forests, it was decided that I would survey the forests and ‘fix’ the location of the BPs by plotting their coordinates (longitude and latitude) on the map, determining the direction and distance of one pillar from the next, and then recording the same in Boundary Registers that would form a permanent record of the forests in the Division.
Collecting the maps, the surveyors’ tools, measuring tapes and compasses from the Division store, I set off for Habban, which would be my base camp for the exercise. Two forest guards had been deputed to assist me. It was June and the pre-monsoon showers had just set in. In order to test out the instruments and establish the process, I decided to first survey a relatively open, undergrowth free area that was to be taken up for plantation that year. The process involved me climbing on to a BP No. 1, fixing the compass to the top of a tripod, and taking a sighting towards a rod held aloft by a forest guard at BP No. 2. After recording the same in my field notebook, I would move to BP No. 2, take a backward bearing to BP No. 1 and a forward bearing to BP No. 3 , and so on. Once I and my two assistants had got the hang of it, things proceeded pretty rapidly and we were able to complete the survey of some 50 BPs by the end of the day. Quite an achievement, I thought!
After a week, we decided to take on the dense forest areas. Apart from the trees, that made sighting difficult, the forest floor was also covered in bushes that made movement difficult. By lunch time on Day 1, we had surveyed just fifteen BPs. When we sat down for a mid-day meal, I noticed what appeared to be thin blades of grass waving some distance away … and they seemed to be coming closer. Looking more closely, I could make out that they were some kind of worms that would bend down and straighten up, and bend down and straighten up …. again and again, making pretty good time towards where I sat in the grass. The guards began hopping about and shouting at me to quickly get up and run. At first I could not understand what the hullabaloo was about but, when I saw one ‘worm’ attach itself to my exposed wrist, I realised that It was not a ‘worm’, as I had imagined. “Jonk, Jonk,” said the guards, as they began running away from the spot. (It was only later that I discovered that ‘Jonk’ was the local word for ‘leech’). I ran too, and soon all three of us were standing atop a rocky outcrop, while some three feet below us, on the forest floor, we could see masses of ‘worms’ waving like blades of grass. This was my first introduction to the (in)famous leeches of Habban. The leech attached to my wrist, about which I had forgotten in the excitement, had by now swollen to double its original size. I pulled it off, and tried to stem the blood that continued to flow from the wound it had left.
That was the end of our BP survey for the day. We took long leaps off the rock, beyond the circle of leeches, and headed as fast as we could towards the road, and thence to the Rest House. Despite my speedy effort to get away from the bloodsucking pests, I found some twenty or so of them clinging to my legs, when I took off my trousers later. Amazingly, there was no pain or itching. The first one knew of having been attacked by a leech would be the wet, clammy feel of blood soaking one’s trousers or socks, after the leech had had its fill and dropped off. The only way to stop the bleeding was to shred a cigarette, sprinkle the tobacco over the wound, and the stick the cigarette paper over the spot. The blood would soon clot.
Soon I discovered that the leeches would lie hidden under the grass and twigs on the forest floor until they sensed vibrations caused by steps of a man or animal. Then they would raise themselves and begin waving about to discover the source of the disturbance, and then begin swarming towards the target. I also discovered that if one moved fast enough, one could outrun the critters. By the time they located one’s position, he could be well past it. At least the first person in the group would be … those following would not be so lucky. Thereafter, I would run from one BP to the next, jump on to the top, take the readings, take a running leap to beyond the circle of waving leeches, and run up to the next BP, where the procedure was repeated.
I must say that the leeches not only kept me on my toes, but they also made me stay fit and healthy. I also developed a reputation as the fastest person to complete the BP survey of Habban Range….
Comments
Post a Comment