Burhanpur
She is just like any dutiful daughter, wife, daughter-in-law and mother at home. But it is as a forest guard that she stands poles apart from the crowd, stepping out of her abode every evening after sunset to conduct night patrolling in the wild animals, encroachers and timber mafia-infested dense forests of Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh.
And for Roopa Mudiya, life has been thus for the last 20 long years ever since she got posted in Burhanpur district in 2004. She chose to tread a path which very few females have dared to.
“From 2004 to 2018, my duty involved night patrolling on a daily basis. I was posted in order to prevent illegal timber logging and undue encroachment in forest areas when I was on special duty. After 2018, I joined the beat and now carry out both day as well as night patrolling depending on the requirement. Officials support me in my work,” Roopa tells The Indian Tribal.
But there are issues galore. Roopa’s area of duty lies in a sensitive zone filled with danger. It is 13 km from the range office where proper roads are absent. The road is rocky and patchy, and totally unpassable when rains occur.
In this area where wild animals abound and phone network is virtually absent, Roopa travels on a bike. “At night, I call for government vehicles, if I have to return at night. Coming back alone on a bike is impossible. The bike can break down anytime. Then I will be stranded in an area far from human settlements,” she shares.
Fatherless Roopa was married off at just 14 years of age to a farmer by her grandfather. She has two sons now, one aged around 12 and another 22. Roopa studied in a village in Narsinghpur till Class 12 and after that she joined the job and could not study further. Her in-laws supported her education till 12th. She now lives in a government quarter along with her mother.
Though she has faced danger many times and somehow managed to escape, that didn’t deter her from pursuing her duties. “I have hurt my hand and received injuries too. Many people are greedy for land. I try to make people understand with love but sometimes one has to be strict.”
She got awarded in Bhopal in 2019 as she saved the lives of a few department staff when they were attacked by encroachers. “I saved many lives and in the end I fell down and was injured. The place was one where walking is the only option for 500 metres. Many people suddenly surrounded us. A few people from the mob recognised me and maybe that is how we escaped,” she recalls.
Ranger Sachin Singh, who is in Burhanpur for the last three years, is all praise for Roopa, who, he points out, was put on the job as she has a good understanding of local matters. “She also shares good relationships and rapport with local people which is necessary for safety and security purposes inside jungles. Despite being a woman, she does not feel afraid to take on criminals and she is honest. The van samiti members like her and many locals support her,” he tells The Indian Tribal.
“There are challenges here and we have to be very regular in our patrolling duties. Outsiders want to cut down trees for farming and this peaks up before the monsoon. Besides encroachment, illegal felling of trees is a huge issue here,” Singh says adding villagers who go inside for collection of dry branches and twigs for kitchen purposes have also been told to report on any kind of suspicious activity.
She is helped in her work by a few locals who are about 10 in number. They support her in her work. “Burhanpur shares border with Maharashtra. These days, some youths are aware about the importance of forest and wildlife. Now, timber cutting has come under control to a great extent. But some people still make problems,” she avers.
Roopa informs that at times people belonging to other areas encroach inside the forest. “They come from districts like Khargone. I try my best to do my duty. I make people understand about the importance of forest among communities. People encroach inside forested areas for growing crops like maize.”
Last year, Burhanpur, which has Barela and Bhilala Adivasis, was in news over the issue of illegal encroachment and deforestation. Apart from Burhanpur, the Sendhwa forest division in Madhya Pradesh was also in news due to multiple raids conducted by the forest department. Officials had seized wood cutter machines, teak and furniture.
India is among the top 10 forest-rich nations of the world. But though forests act as carbon sink and halt climate change, deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate. One of the primary causes is illegal logging of timber.
Illegal trade in timber is on in many parts of the country through the mafia. Trade networks flourished during Covid-19 due to the lack of proper surveillance by forest departments. There is also the issue of shortage of forest staff to keep tabs on criminal activity.
As Madhya Pradesh is connected with Maharashtra via the national highway, inter-state trade flourishes. Sometimes, illegal timber from here is sent to Rajasthan and Delhi-NCR, a forest official from Maharashtra state said.
