M A I N   N E W S

The man who fights termites
A.S. Prashar
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 16
Not for nothing is he known as the “termite man” of Punjab. Mr Garib Das (56) dreams termites, talks termites and stalks termites. And he has devoted his life to fighting termites and other insects, pests and weeds like congress grass that attack trees and houses, causing extensive damage and huge losses all over the region.

His job as a senior laboratory technician in the Punjab Markfed has made it easy for him to pursue his passion of fighting termites all over Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. He does not pretend to be highly qualified — Mr Garib Das is just a higher secondary pass but his vast experience of more than three decades in fighting this menace has turned him into a storehouse of knowledge on the subject, which not many can boast of.

“I can take one look at a tree or a house and tell what kind of pest attack is it facing,” he says with a smile. “ I can, of course, prescribe the treatment which is almost always effective”.

A typical day for Mr Garib Das starts early in the morning. And on way to his office he keeps on looking at the trees and bushes. “I keep on roaming all over the city and looking at trees along the roads, in gardens and parks and outside kothis, government buildings, PGI and hospitals. And sometimes I wonder what those who are entrusted with the task of protecting and nurturing them are doing...” Frequently, he is the first to spot a termite attack on a particular row of trees and inform officials of the Horticulture Department for whom he has become their bete noire.

“They don’t always take it kindly. They perhaps feel that I am prying too much in their domain. But I cannot help it. Many a time, they treat me as something of a nuisance because I can also judge what they are doing by fighting termites is just window dressing,” he says.

“Now tell me, how can beating termites eating up a tree with lathis and trying to remove them with brooms help in controlling the menace. The termites are present not only in the trunk and branches of a tree but also in the ground,” he points out. Termites will make their appearance wherever there is dampness.

He says that thousands of trees are facing the problem of attacks by termites and other insects in the region comprising Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and even in the hills of Himachal Pradesh. The problem of termites is not insurmountable. “All that you need to do to eliminate termites is be thorough in the treatment. Half-hearted measures will not do. Termites can burrow up to 30 below the surface of the ground and travel through sandy river beds. All that it takes to kill the termites is to spray chloroperiphos mixed in water in the ratio of 1: 19. Correct mixing is very important and it must be poured through holes up to 3 ft in depth,” he says.

Mr Garib Das says that ignorance about the ways and means of fighting termites among the people is a major cause of its spread. “People think that a little coal tar mixed with kerosene poured into the foundation of a house or painted over wooden doors will do the trick. It will not.

There are others who may be building a palatial kothi costing Rs 1 crore but will suddenly turn stingy when it comes to spending a few thousand rupees on anti-termite treatment”, he says.

The other day, he says, he passed by a kothi under construction at Panchkula and found a top Haryana IAS officer advising his building contractor to use sand in the foundations of his house in a bid to keep the termites out. “I tried to advise him against it because termites can easily penetrate through the sand. But he was convinced only when I showed him a photograph of a termite colony in the bed of the Ghaggar”.

Mr Garib Das’s expertise has been used in unusual situations also. In one case, the branch manager of a nationalised bank on Madhya Marg almost lost his job when it was discovered that termites had entered a currency chest and bored through currency notes worth lakhs. The bank management held the branch manager responsible for the loss and chargesheeted him for his alleged failure to have the branch treated against termites. The bank manager turned to Mr Garib Das for advice.

“I went to the bank branch and found that it was located on the first floor. Termites travel from the ground floor to the first floor and if they have to be stopped, the treatment must take place on the ground floor, which was occupied by another tenant. Therefore, the bank manager could not be held responsible for it.

“The bank took his plea in his reply to the RBI which accepted it and let him off the hook,” he says.