Sikandar at Brahmayoni hills in Gaya. Picture by Suman

Gaya, June 5: Sikandar, a resident of Gaya, is on a green mission for the past 29 years. His aim in life is to prove that Gaya, place of hills, is not without greenery.

His journey started at Brahmayoni hills in southern Gaya, when he was a 16-year-old.

Today, Sikandar has planted countless saplings as part of his mission. Although he regrets not being able to protect all of his saplings, the 10,000 trees that stand tall on the Brahmayoni hills are a witness to Sikandar’s green efforts.

What started off in 1982 fanned his passion for afforestation, giving birth to new ideas. At present, Sikandar has taken to name his saplings on freedom fighters, famous emperors and other distinguished personalities in history.

As a result, Brahmayoni hills now has trees that go by the names of Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Khudiram Bose, Bhagat Singh, Maharana Pratap, Lala Lajpat Rai, Shivaji and others.

In his mission, Sikandar has taken into consideration the significance of each sapling. Not only has he planted saplings of mango, tamarind, cashew nut, pomegranate, blackberry, guava, lemon and catechu, he has also planted saplings of teak, sheesham and gamhar, which is a source of wood required to make furniture, doors and windows. Trees that offer shade to people like you and I are also not forgotten as the hills have trees like banyan, plum, ashoka, neem and others.

However, in the course of his mission, Sikandar has not had it easy. An Intermediate in commerce, Sikandar has the skills of an electrician. He even had a job with a company here but when he was up for a transfer in 1998, he quit to look after his saplings.

Now, his only source of income is from his part-time job as an electrician. Although life has been tough for his family and him in the absence of a permanent source of income, his passion for his trees has not diminished.

Recently, Sikandar has been spending a part of his earnings to protect his saplings. He has even brought the half-burnt bamboos from the burning ghat near Vishnupad Temple to use it to fence in his saplings. However, he has not been able to protect all of them.

Sikandar told The Telegraph that he has submitted at least five petitions to chief minister Nitish Kumar for the state government’s help in ensuring the protection of the saplings.

Apart from planting saplings, Sikandar has also dug five big pits for rainwater harvesting around the Brahmayoni hills. Earlier, Sikandar used to work under the unregistered banner of Brahmayoni Paryavaran Evam Sanskritik Dharohar Sanrakshan Samitee but now he plans to register a trust in the name of “Paryavaran Sanrakshan Samitee” that would work towards environment protection.