New Delhi, Mar 12 (PTI) It takes a village to raise a kid or move a mountain or in this case, keep an international shooting range up and running through the year in the heart of Delhi.
When the pistol and rifle shooters make a beeline for the well-lit room inside the Karni Singh Ranges, Manu and Mohit are hard at work to ensure equipment is ready.
They are part of the “butt party”, a bunch of youngsters from the Tughlakabad, one of the oldest villages in Delhi located in the shadows of the seven centuries old Tughlaqabad fort.
With most of its members in their late teens or early 20s, the 15-strong “butt party” is the “lifeline” of the premier shooting arena in the country.
They all come from the same village and the skill has been passed on to them by their seniors, who also hail from Tughlakabad.
Be it fixing the targets, printing rolls and score-sheets in the 10m, 25m and 50m ranges or loading clay pigeons at the shotgun ranges or operating them, they are the unsung heroes of the highly technical sport.
“About 14-15 boys from our village work here on a contractual basis to keep the ranges up and running during national and international competitions and trials,” says Manu, 24, who left school after ninth standard and was brought to the range by a senior to become part of the ‘butt party’.
The term ‘butt party’ comes from the old times when servicemen manually placed and removed targets and patched up bullet holes with square pieces of paper and starch.
Electronic targets may have replaced manual targets but ‘butt party’ has stuck.
“I don’t really know why we are all called ‘butt party’ but we know our job very well. With all of us coming from the same village, there is camaraderie among us and also makes us understand each other better,” says Mohit, 19, a college student.
“Our team does everything to make all the ranges operational, including filling pistol and rifle cylinder with compressed air, fixing targets, templates, print rolls, collecting score-sheets, loading clay pigeons at the shotgun ranges and operating them,” he adds The ongoing Para Shooting World Cup is keeping them busy all day long, with an unending stream of shooters waiting for their turn to get the cylinders refilled in their pistols and rifles.
Air pistol and air rifles operate on a mechanism where pressurised air cylinders attached to the barrels eject the lead pellets at the press of the trigger.
The process to fill these cylinders from the reservoir cylinder is in itself a specialised job where a small mistake can have disastrous consequences as was evident recently when a national-level shooter lost his thumb after his pistol cylinder exploded during refilling.
“In a competition like the Para World Cup where more than 250 shooters are competing, we have to be on our toes to ensure no accident occurs.
“We know exactly how much compressed air needs to be filled in air pistols and air rifles and how to attach the cylinder below the barrel without damaging the delicate lining of the guns,” says Manu, who wanted to play professional cricket but could not go beyond the district level.
“This is the only job I know. The increase in the number of national and international competitions and trials has guaranteed us work 365 days a year.
“I am doing this job for 6-7 years. We ensure that no shooter fills the cylinders himself. We don’t allow them to do it, it can lead to accidents, adds Manu, who is a veteran of 100-plus competitions and trials.
JP Nautiyal, chairperson, para shooting, Paralympic Committee of India says, the ‘butt party is an “integral part” of shooting sport.
“They know exactly how much compressed air needs to be filled, how much the cylinder rims have to be tightened in order to ensure no accidents take place. They are also sensitised to the needs of the para shooters, who have come here for the ongoing World Cup,” says Nautiyal.
“Their task is huge as shooters, once they arrive in droves at the range from airports, need to get the pistol and rifle cylinders refilled as they have to empty them before they board the flight.
“A compressed cylinder cannot fire more than 80 shots, so a shooter needs at least four refills a day. Multiply it with the 250-odd shooters who are here and one can gauge the quantum of work these people do. Their hands are full all the time free,” says Nautiyal.
However, Manu doesn’t want his younger brother to take up this job which fetches a monthly income of Rs 15,000.
“He is studying and I want him to have a better future.” PTI AM PM AM PM PM
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