A friend, well-wisher of the environment

NAGPUR:Gopal Thosar’s name is not unknown, especially in environment and wildlife conservation circles, thanks to his dedication spanning decades. Once, he recalls, he even convinced a sand mafia member to plant a tree near Ambazari!
Thosar is particularly recognized for his work for the conservation of the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Sonegaon Lake. “The 1980s saw the beginning of these two most important projects in my life,” said Thosar.
Thosar had attended an international ornithology conference in Mumbai. “Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) had then conducted a survey for GIB in six states including Maharashtra, but had excluded Vidarbha saying that there were none here. I, then, resolved to find them.”
“We began going to the areas mentioned in British records where GIBs had been spotted in the past.
But Thosar said that they knew that they were not going to find GIB themselves. “We met villagers and told them to contact us if they saw anything. We covered more than 1000sq km on scooter,” he said.
It was only after efforts of more than a decade that 11 years later, in 1991 that they got a call from Umbergoan. “There were two GIBs there and the photo we clicked became the official record to prove the presence of GIBs in Vidarbha,” Thosar said.
Later, following his untiring efforts, Thosar was finally able to convince the Forest Department to conduct a state level GIB census in 2005. “We trained the staff and it was all worth the effort when six of them were spotted near Warora,” he said.
His other project, Sonegaon Lake, is also characterized by persistent efforts. “In the 1980s, I came to know that the lake had moved into private ownership from the state. The only hope was the condition in the sale deed – that the status of the lake could not be changed,” Thosar said.
He then began his long fight to save the lake. “The owners started to fence the lake. Rubble was being put into the banks of the lake to kill it, it was being drained and farming done on that land. Once, somebody poisoned the water in the lake. We had to fight not only the bureaucracy, but also the apathy of the people,” said Thosar.
He said that sometimes politicians helped him, but mostly, only till the time it suited their interests. “Our water bodies were endangered the moment that government took up water supply as people lost connect with them,” said Thosar.
Finally, after constant struggle, a 1997 judgment directed that the fences be brought down.
Thosar might have got many awards and recognition, but it is one line, in his own letter written to the Forest Department which tells everything about the man, ‘Gopal Thosar should be treated as a friend and well wisher of the department and not a nosy Parker.”