Marathon at forest angers activists

Nischith N. | NT

A private event management company is allegedly organising a marathon inside the reserve forest of Jarakabande Kawal on April 23 and 24, and this has angered environmentalists.

They are demanding legal action against the organisers for trespassing into forest areas, and want the forest department to stop the marathon.

The event management firm is active on social media and promoted the marathon online, and many participants have registered. According to the reports, ‘Jarakabande Eco Ultra’ is a trail run being organized in the Jarakabande Kaval Forest – a mixed eucalyptus forest.

“ The trail runs through the forest and as you navigate through the sand, gravel, hill and a small natural lake, you are greeted with the sound of peacocks and birds,” says Bhasin Sports, a sports organizer and a sports technology company’s website.

While activists were shocked to see a private company organising an event in a reserve forest, a Jarakabande Kawal activist wrote to the event management company requesting them to show the permission letter they got to conduct the event. The company refused to comply.

In a copy with News Trail, the email conversation with company Jarakabande Kawal activist questioned “I happened to browse through your site that mentions about the Ultramarathon event that you are organizing on April 23 and 24 in Jarakabande Kaval. Could you please share the permission that you have received from the forest department? Could you also please share the steps that you have taken to ensure that the event is sustainable? What kind of material are you planning to use to distribute refreshments? How do you plan to clean up after the event and where are you going to dump the waste?”

The company responded, “Since we do not know who you are, we cannot give you details about the event planning. However, we have the desired permission from the forest department and we are organising the events in the forest, 12th time, this will give you confidence that we take utmost care to keep the forest clean. That’s why we get permission every time.”

“It is wrong to conduct any event that involves a huge gathering in a reserve forest, let alone a 24 hour ultra-marathon. I hope the forest department will take action,” said environment activists requesting anonymity.

However, the forest department remained un-reachable for the comment. Reacting on the issue, Ankur Bhasin, Co-Founder - Bhasin Sports told News Trail, “Bhasin Sports has permission from the Forest Department to conduct the Jarakabande Eco Ultra. This is the 12th time that the forest department has given us the permission to conduct an event in their forest. Initially, forest departments were the ones to encourage us to conduct trail runs in forests of Karnataka as this would help increase the awareness of people towards the forests and also help keep an eye on the encroachment. Over 5 years of conducting trail runs, Bhasin Sports has built a strong community of runners who not only enjoy running in nature but treasure and cherish the time spent there creating an awareness, an understanding and deep desire for the forests to be conserved amidst the rampant construction. Each run finishes with a deep clean of the trail by the volunteers so that we leave the forest cleaner than what it was before the run.”