Vijayapura: Till 2011, a hillock known as Haralayyana Honda in the Shegunashi village of the Vijayapura taluk was no better than barren land. With only a few shrubs and thorny plants, the hillock was a dry and parched land.

However, after nearly nine years, the arid hillock has turned into a green land with numerous tall trees, whose leaves flutter in the winds.

The one person who has transformed the arid land into a forest-like area is N. D. Patil, a retired government employee.

What comes as no surprise is that this selfless love for the ecology has earned him the prestigious Rajyotsava Award. He is one among 65 achievers who will be awarded by the state government.

Born on April 13, 1955 in the Domanal village of the taluk, Patil joined government service in 1976 after completing his graduation. He retired as Assistant Tahsildar in the Revenue Department.

“One thing that makes me feel cheerful is greenery. Since I was born in the rural area and grew up in farms, I always liked to spend time amid nature and developed a strange bonding with it,” he said.

He added that during his service, he found time to plant saplings in dry places whenever he got the chance, but after his retirement, he took up the work full-time.

Patil has planted over 3,000 saplings of over 200 different spices on the hillock. He spent a significant amount of time taking care of the plants till they matured.

Speaking about the incident that got him selected for the Haralayyana Honda first for planting saplings, Patil said that in 2011, one of the local representatives showed him the hillock and wanted a bund to be constructed near it to conserve rainwater.

“When I visited the spot, I really liked it. I also found out that the place has some historical importance as noted Saint Haralayya stayed there in the past. It was at that time that I decided to plant the saplings after finding the hillock dry and desert-like,” he said.

Patil said that since the hillock has a small temple-like structure and an ancient open well, he used the water from the same to water the plants.

Patil planted some 500 saplings in Veerabhadreshwara temple’s premises in the Nagaral village and around 500 saplings inside the ITI college’s premises in Vijayapura.

In his home village of Domanal, he planted nearly 9,500 saplings and around 500 saplings in the KSRTC depot here.

In the Gurudev Ranade Ashram of the Nimbal village of the Indi taluk, Patil planted around 5,000 saplings and around 1,000 saplings in one of the temples of the same village.

Initially, he spent some money to raise the saplings, including labour cost for the planting. Later, he continued his efforts and selected various other places to plant saplings.

Patil said that he has spent nearly Rs 10 lakh of his own money for the saplings over the last nearly ten years. “My family has always stood by me and supported me. Since my wife was a government employee and my son also works in Information Technology (IT), he also contributed money for the cause,” he added.

Thanking the forest department for its support in his endeavours, he said that he felt happy to see wild animals and birds making the hillock their habitat.

“Today, in the evening, I see hundreds of birds chirping on the hillock when only a decade ago, it was barren. I can’t express my satisfaction in words when I see birds making their nests on the trees I planted,” he said.

With regard to the Rajyotsava award, he said that he never expected that the government would recognize his efforts. “I did not do it for any award, yet I am very happy and dedicate it to all those people who are working to protect the ecology,” he said.