Express News Service
PALAKKAD: He loved greenery. Kallur Balan’s love for nature has increased over the past 12 year. Mankurissy resident Kallur Balan gets busy planting saplings throughout Palakkad district every monsoon. Balan, now 73, claims that he has planted thousands of saplings along roadsides and in public places over the past ten years.
While waiting for the monsoon season to begin, the environmentalist collects damaged fruit like oranges, grapes, mangoes, and apples from wholesale shops and transports them into the forest fringes of Mundur and Iyermala where they feed wild animals like wild boars, wild porcupines, and peacocks.
Balan says that if these fruits are not collected, they will be dumped in the trash or drains and will rot. He used to ride his motorcycle on his green trips. Two years ago, a Palakkad entrepreneur presented him with a suitable vehicle to reflect his commitment to the environment. He is also awarded an honorarium by a social organisation each month.
Balan now drives it around, delivering damaged fruit to the animals and birds that are waiting on the forest fringes. K K Rehman is a teacher and president at the Kallur Haritha Club. He praises Balan’s commitment to rainwater conservation.
Balans father Velu was a member of the panchayat and a public activist. After completing class X, he was offered a job as a watcher at the forest department. However, he declined. I also ran a provision shop. But I realized I was on a wrong track. He said that I had not only abandoned it, but also placed a large sign on my vehicle stating that alcohol is harmful to your health.
Balan had planted saplings in the Chudiyan hills, part of the forest department that were barren before. These plants are his favorites. There is now a thick canopy of vegetation. These trees also release tonnes of oxygen into the air.
While planting saplings can be done easily, their preservation requires a lot more effort. He says that the plants must be watered for the first year. With global warming becoming a serious concern, he believes only increasing the forest cover will offer a solution.
Balan is often seen at festivals, supplying free sambharam butter milk with all local ingredients like the leaves from lime tree, chopped green chili, ginger, curry leaves and salt to people under scorching sunlight.
The sambharam has a very delicious taste and beckons us all to drink more. Harinarayanan says that the summer heat draws hundreds to his table. As the taste lingers, we want to drink more.