At a time when opposing political energy can result in job loss, Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Yedukondalu V is bravely taking a stand. At the moment serving because the conservator of forest in Hassan, this officer from the 2011 batch has at all times been dedicated to his responsibility of defending forest land.
Yedukondalu has carried out eviction drives of unlawful forest encroachment to the tune of greater than 3,500 acres within the final 14 years throughout Kolar, Tumakuru, Hassan and Chamarajanagar in Karnataka, thus restoring such lands for forest actions solely.
From properties belonging to high-profile legislators to ministers and even parliamentarians, Yedukondalu is called the ‘demolition man’ who has returned a number of acres of encroached property again to the forest division.
Talking to The Indian Specific, Yedukondalu, 45, stated, “Wherever I’m posted, my main purpose shall be to recuperate the encroached forest lands in favour of the forest division.”
On a single day, he cleared 600 acres of encroached forest land. (Specific Photograph)
When the forest division officers have been largely finishing up plantation drives as their main purpose, Yedukondalu modified the complete dynamics. He believes a forest officer’s main purpose ought to be to clear the encroached forest land and preserve it for future generations to cherish.
Yedukondalu credit his dedication and love for nature to his days in a gurukula in Vijayawada in Andhra. “I hail from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. Belonging to a lower-middle-income household, I couldn’t afford schooling. I enrolled in a gurukula-style schooling programme within the fifth commonplace at one of many gurukulas established by the late actor and chief minister, N T Rama Rao.”
“I used to be related to Gurukulas until the twelfth grade. Throughout this era, I developed an inclination in the direction of nature, love for forests, and concern for society that formed most of my character and who I’m at present,” stated Yedukondalu.
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“Influential people are illegally encroaching on forest lands, lakes, and riverbeds by fraudulent means, destroying these very important ecosystems. As a forest officer, I imagine, we should defend these shared pure assets to forestall local weather change, which disproportionately impacts the poor, farmers, and marginalised communities who lack the monetary means to manage,” the officer added.
Yedukondalu’s working fashion is straightforward: outsmart the political bosses and their attorneys. The officer believes in assembly communities, attorneys, folks and gathering assist from the correct stakeholders forward of finishing up anti-encroachment drives. Nonetheless, he’s additionally on the receiving finish of a number of authorized actions and complaints, together with eight contempt of courtroom circumstances, atrocity circumstances, for being ‘ruthless’ in taking down encroached properties on forest land.
Anti-encroachment drive in Kolar
He’s credited with the anti-encroachment drive in Kolar district in 2024. As a deputy conservator of forest (DCF) in Kolar, Yedukondalu has cleared 2850 acres of encroached forest land. These properties belonged to a number of the state’s in style ministers, legislators and likewise parliamentarians. This spanned 9 reserved forest areas throughout 50-60 villages.
On a single day, he cleared 600 acres of encroached forest land. In Malur, about 50 km from Bengaluru, he cleared over 360 acres of commercial land value over Rs 3000 crore. In complete, he has reclaimed land with properties value over Rs 10,000 crore again to the forest division. Nonetheless, as the federal government would have it, he was transferred out of the district a 12 months later and was posted to Hassan.
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His first posting, nevertheless, was in 2011, the place, as an Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) within the Koppa forest division of Chikmagalur district, he performed a key function in evicting a tea property encroaching on forest land.
In 2016, Yedukondalu launched the state’s first early warning system to detect elephant motion when he was posted as DCF in Madikeri. An initiative in partnership with Tata Espresso, it alerts plantation staff to elephant motion by way of bulk WhatsApp messages. This additionally helped consolidate elephants and forestall man-elephant battle within the area to an incredible extent. In actual fact, this initiative was the precursor to all of the early warning techniques in Karnataka at the moment.
In 2017, as a DCF within the Mysore wildlife division, he carried out the enduring Dasara procession involving elephants. Importantly, he was additionally instrumental in conducting the primary fowl census at Ranganathittu Fowl Sanctuary, to earn a Ramsar Web site for the sanctuary. Ramsar websites consult with websites listed on the Record of Wetlands of Worldwide. Subsequently, the sanctuary was designated on February 15, 2022, as a protected Ramsar web site.
In 2022, as DCF at Male Mahadeshwara Hills (MM Hills) Wildlife Sanctuary in Chamarajanagar district, Yedukondalu launched the pioneering ‘Jana-Vana Sethuve’ initiative. This programme deployed multi-purpose autos serving as ambulances, faculty buses, ration carriers, and transport for distant villages inside and across the sanctuary.
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Designed to offer last-mile connectivity, it remodeled the lives of forest dwellers beforehand reliant on strolling or bullock carts, together with pregnant girls. The initiative benefited over 5,000 folks throughout 15 tribal hamlets, enhancing entry to important companies.
He additionally performed a pivotal function within the institution of the Bamboo Producer Unit in Poonachi, MM Hills, in 2021. Collaborating with the Industree Basis, USAID, the Karnataka Chapter of the Nationwide Bamboo Mission, and Soliga Abhivruddhi Sangha, he supported this initiative beneath the ‘Producer-Owned Girls Enterprises’ (POWER) mission, aimed toward fostering women-owned collectives within the bamboo worth chain.
His efforts helped empower girls artisans and forest dwellers by selling sustainable livelihoods, aligning together with his broader dedication to neighborhood welfare and environmental conservation within the area.
“Nonetheless, the most important setback got here once we labored arduous and ready the bottom for recognising MM Hills as a tiger reserve. Simply when the difficulty was supposed to come back earlier than the cupboard assembly, I used to be transferred out. All of the work was derailed and the area nonetheless awaits its tiger reserve tag,” stated Yedukondalu.
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At the moment serving as a CF in Hassan, the officer has carried out greater than 600 acres of anti-encroachment drives in each Hassan and Tumakuru forest divisions. Moreover, Hassan, being one of many state’s infamous locations for man-animal battle involving elephants, has put in round 600 AI-enabled cameras throughout delicate areas within the division for higher monitoring.
He was instrumental in main rescue operations involving six-seven elephants and advocating the message of ‘coexistence’ to forestall man-animal battle. “By means of thermal cameras and AI-enabled cameras, we will present real-time information to communities, farmers and different folks about elephant motion that can forestall battle deaths to an incredible extent,” stated Yedukondalu.
Reflecting on his journey, Yedukondalu says he’ll proceed to champion for forest land and guarantee its conservation for the upcoming era to take pleasure in.
Thus far, lots of influential folks have made efforts to scale back my velocity of labor and break my integrity. However I’ve at all times believed in finishing up my responsibility with dedication and with out distraction, which has saved me forward of my detractors,” he stated.
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“With out forest preservation, there could be no intergenerational justice served for the long run era.”