Hemalkasa:

Hemalkasa was the place that truly shaped the politics of Baba's 'late youth'. It was also his most daring act of velour, defying his physical pain. In 1973, barely a year after he had undergone surgery for his back problem, Baba pitched a tent at Hemalkasa, a place deep in the forests about 350 kilometers south of Nagpur. This took him back to the carefree days, in his teens, when he had roamed these forests on his hunting expeditions. He liked being among the adivasis. Their innocence and cheer delighted him. But, at the same time their material existence appalled Baba. For thirty years he had dreamt of ways to help the adivasis to benefit from modern civilization without becoming estranged from the beauty and strengths of their own culture. Now, he submerged the agony of his body to work vigorously to realize this dream. Traveling from village to village he began to work for improving health among the Madia Gonds.

In 1974, Baba and Tai's younger son, Prakash, graduated from medical college and came to work in Hemalkasa. Soon Prakash and his wife Mandakini, who had been a fellow-student, decided to settle there permanently. Like the senior Amtes, this couple faced many years of struggle with severe hardships, shortages of food, medicine and susceptibility to many diseases.

Gradually, the hardships decreased and a community of workers came together based on a shared bond with the local people, the wild animals and the abundant fauna and flora. This community includes Renuka, whom Baba and Tai had adopted as an infant, and her husband Vilas Manohar.

By now Baba had further fine-tuned his understanding of how 'development' was making the life of tribal communities more difficult. Two major hydel power projects were coming up in the area around Hemalkasa the Inchampalli dam on the Godavari River and the Bhopalpatnam dam on the Indravati River. These projects would submerge about two lakh acres of land, half of which was prime forest. As a member of the District Planning Board Baba sought relevant information on the projects and examined their impact on the tribal communities. On the basis of this study, he persuaded his colleagues on the Board that the projects would wreak havoc on the local communities with little benefit to society at large.

In July 1983, Baba wrote to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and urged the government to consider other ways of generating electricity. Why spend so much money on gigantic projects, Baba questioned? 'A series of smaller dams could, I submit, adequately meet the water and energy needs of the people, including electricity for industry, without degrading the environment. My discussions with government technocrats familiar with this region strengthen this view,' he wrote. In a polite reply the prime minister promised to 'pursue the matter'. She directed the Planning Commission to carefully examine the case. Meanwhile, opposition to these projects was mounting from several different quarters. Environmental activists questioned the data on which the cost-benefit ratio of the project was based. For example, the Maharashtra Forest Department estimated the loss of 40,000 acres of standing forest at Rs 9 crore. But if the calculation was made on the basis of the recurring annual yield, enhanced by proper management, the estimated value was close to Rs 2,500 crore.

Baba joined the effort to mobilize a popular opposition to the projects and in 1984 thousands of tribals marched to the District Collector's office demanding that the projects be withdrawn. Eventually a combination of this local action and lobbying in the corridors of power led to the cancellation of these projects. This sangharsh drew Baba one step closer to his destined home on the banks of the Narmada.

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