Odisha: A Septuagenarian Teacher is Creating History With a Tree Plantation Kit on his Bicycle

On the road to a place called Kantilo, about 125 km from Bhubaneswar in Odisha, famous for the temple of ‘Lord Nilamadhav’, this writer and a fellow journalist saw a frail old man pushing a bicycle loaded with two baskets of seedlings and saplings. The area was flanked by barren fields. 

We stopped and my journalist friend got down and touched the feet of the old man. The septuagenarian was introduced as one Antaryami Sahoo, my friend’s former school teacher, who is now busy in his mission of planting trees and has literally dedicated his life to plantation of trees, conservation of wildlife and encouraging others, creating awareness for conservation of biodiversity.          

Sahoo said he had already planted 30,000 trees within the span of his career as a teacher in a primary school in Kantilo village and areas around it. He continues to do so even at the age of 75. 

“We must realise that biodiversity is in jeopardy and the only recourse left for humanity is to bring back the green cover”, told this  reporter, adding that “the rapid disappearance of trees, water bodies and many other elements have played a catalyst role in further upsetting the environmental balance”.

The septuagenarian, with unkempt hair and overgrown beard, had an exuberance writ on his face, as he told us that planting trees had been his passion since he was barely 12 years old, when he had planted a few trees on the roadside. That was the beginning of a mission pioneered by the young Sahoo, which grew into a passion.

When he joined the upper primary school as a teacher, Sahoo tried to instil the same ideal among his students and colleagues, making them understand the value of even a single tree for the environment we live in.

His mission knew no bounds. He started planting thousands of trees in the open space behind the school premises as well as in other spaces.

Sahoo said his love for trees grew with age, and when he joined as a teacher in Siletpada UP school. He began encouraging children there to conserve nature in all its glory. His mission touched the peak when he kept on planting trees in thousands in any available space around the village in Boudh district, even in public places and mostly on barren lands, thus sending a message to other villages.

When a festering barren patch gets to smile through green and tall trees that becomes a huge source of solace for him, feels Sahoo.

Long after his retirement, Sahoo is usually seen in and around the new grown forests and those with smaller ones (seedlings) with their roots firm on the ground.

Sahoo also undertook the mission for conservation of wildlife in the area. A few wildlife species came to the recently grown forest and have slowly become friendly with the environment, he says.       

Sahoo said he had joined his village primary school in 1973 as a teacher and has since carried on a massive plantation drive across six schools, wherever he was transferred one after the other as part of the administrative process.

“Often the Forest Department came to my aid and I sourced to take saplings from the department and create a nursery from the seedlings as well,” Sahoo recalls.   

By 2004, Sahoo could plant on his own over 15,000 trees and the rest were done by his students so, over 30,00 trees grew in Boudh district.  

He said planting saplings such as sal, teak, banyan, mango, Indian beal, fig and other native species have an immense impact.

Sahoo also realised that in the summers, frequent forest fires lit by animal poachers to hunt animals, was a menace and to arrest them became an additional task for him.

He then started creating awareness through hand-made posters and banners and never ceased to instil into the minds of people how it was necessary to protect the animals. He realised that it was a must to conserve biodiversity and wildlife, including insects

Sahoo said he made posters of about 40 local species, such as honey bees, pangolin, owl, deer, elephant, butterflies, lizards, bats, grasshoppers, dragonfly, ladybug and birds. These handmade posters served two purposes – they were interactive and helped sensitise the population.  

Witnessing large-scale deforestation, Sahoo said he also planted trees such as date, palm and others that serve as a safe habitat for birds and insects. 

"Usually, we focus on big and exotic animals, and there are very few that care about insects, birds and wildlife; those are no less integral parts of the conservation" he added.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Odisha.