Guns n' roses once more

At 4am, havaldar Jaman Singh Rawat leaves his barracks, located 5,000ft above sea-level in the pristine Garhwal mountains of Uttarakhand. Rawat has seen difficult missions and gruelling combats in his tenure in the Indian Army. This will be an unlikely mission to carry out.

His task is to combat the threat of eco-degradation. Rawat must trek up a 7km winding mountain range to reach a fenced piece of barren land. Armed with forks and spades, Rawat's unit begin planting saplings. The unit, 127 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Ecological is better known as the Garhwal Eco Warriors.

The gentle jawans
It's no tame task, say soldiers. “Protecting borders from enemies is something a soldier is used to. Planting trees isn't a routine task. You have to nurture the saplings like children,” says Rawat.

This is a unique force, set up in 1982 by then PM Indira Gandhi.

The plan was to tackle degradation on a war-footing using the most disciplined agency in the country. Since then, the unit has planted more that 12 million trees over 13,500 hectares of wasteland. They have also stopped illegal limestone mining in the Mussoorie-Dehradun region with help from locals. The force has planted over 29 lakh saplings in these areas.

Today, the army has seven such task forces across the country. 

Currently, they are working on two plantation projects in the Aglar Valley and Malari area of Chamoli district.

So what gives the jawans a green thumb? Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) Kailash Kotnala says it’s the years of training and discipline.

Behind enemy lines
Havaldar Shiv Singh, deployed in the Malari district at an altitude of 11,000ft, says the toughest part is carrying out a plantation exercise in thinning oxygen levels. “There are no mules in the region, so we carry saplings on our backs and trek for 4km a day to the plantation site.” Moreover, in winter, the temperatures drop below zero and the Garhwal warriors have to ensure tender saplings survive through harsh weather. “We put a net on them to protect them from frost. Our job is not just to plant trees but also to ensure they survive,” says Singh. 

While an average jawan retires at the age of 38, they can continue in the eco task force. The move hence helps a twin purpose. Yet, jawans have to clear a physical test before joining the eco battalion. This includes running 1.6km in 6 minutes.  “You can’t be part of the eco task force if you are not fit. We have to plant at least 100 saplings a day and dig about 80 pits,” says Singh.

The force acts by approaching gram sabhas and using civil-soyam land (protected) for a period of five years for afforestation. After which, the land is handed back to the village.

“We ask locals about their choice of  trees and also plant fruit-bearing trees to supplement their income,” says project officer, Lt. Col Pravin Bhatt. The unit planted over 400 high-yielding, hybrid mango trees for a local resident in the Aglar Valley in Mussoorie.

Today, he earns Rs2 lakh a year from those trees.

Last year, a battalion called Green Rhinos, set a world record in the Guniness Book of World Records for planting the maximum number of trees (40,885) in an hour with a team of 100 people.

“And you should note that we achieved this feat in a place infested with insurgency,” explains Col. Jaggi.

But the men in green aren’t flattered by records. The aim remains to serve the nation. “We are working for future generations and it makes me happy to see a plant that will live on for our children,” says Singh.