Wednesday, January 23, 2013

December 2012 Activity Report: Kanha


Team: Amit AwasthiConservation Officer
            Sampathlal Dhurve – Field assistant
           
Highlights
·      3 anti-plastic programmes
·      3 vermi-compost pits constructed in 2 villages
·      Water conservation – one voluntary work project to build a check dam at Budbudi nallah on the way from Mocha to Chapri
·      Community assistance - 1 voluntary work project programme to clean area around well at Chapri
·      Environment education  programme conducted in 11 villages - attended by 379 students
·      4 unemployed youths placed in local jobs
·      Eight film shows on nature and wildlife conservation – attended by 503 people


Conservation



Chapri - plastic bags and litter collected from around the village, being
buried in a pit


























On December 6, our team organized an anti-plastic programme at Manegaon. They explained to the students of the Government Primary School about the harmful impact of plastic/polythene on the environment and motivated them to remove such litter from the village. The students went around the village, collecting plastic and polythene litter/waste, which were then buried in a pit on the outskirts of the village. Similar programmes were organized at Batwar on December 18 and at Chapri on December 30.

Batwar - anti-plastic programme














We also assisted two villagers in preparing vermi-compost tanks as part of our goal to encourage organic farming. Details of the pits are given in the table above. 


Chapri - Govind Inwati puts the finishing touches to a vermi-compost tank
built with our help













Patpara - SF Executive Director Giri Venkatesan inspects a vermi-compost
tank built with our field team's assistance

















During December, our team organized a programme to promote public hygiene and cleanliness as part of our community assistance activities. On December 23, a programme was organized at Chapri at Kursitola in which 9 villagers joined hands with Amit and Sampath to clean the area around a well used to draw drinking water. There was a lot of wild growth and weeds around the well as well as growth on the walls inside the well. This was all cleaned up by the team.

The well at Chapri before clean-up



Wild growth in and around the well before the clean-up programme



The well after clean-up


























On December 29, we organized a programme to build a check dam on a stream as part of our focus on water conservation. 12 village youths teamed up with Amit and Sampath to build the check dam on Budbudi nallah, which is a stream on the road from Chapri to Mocha. The stream is in thick forest in the buffer zone and wild animals are regularly seen in the area of the check dam. 


Budbudi nallah before the check dam













Building the check dam with bags full of sand























































Water builds up behind the check dam after the project is completed














Education

During the month our team organized environment education programmes in 11 schools in the villages in our area of operations.

















Employment Cell

We helped four youths get jobs during the month of December.




















Chapri - Padam Singh outside the upcoming
resort where he got a job with our help















Our Kanha team has been encouraging local villagers to take up vegetable farming on a commercial basis in a bid to help them generate additional income. There is scope for commercial farming of vegetables due to the large number of hotels and resorts around Kanha.


Patpara - Executive Director Giri Venkatesan
inspects a vegetable patch set up by Shyam Singh with our assistance














From mid-December, Tulsiram Vyam (of Chapri) has been earning Rs 200 weekly from sale of vegetables. Pappu Nanda and Paramanand Nanda (of Kutwahi) have each been earning Rs 300 per week. These earnings represent additional income to them. 


Chapri - Tulsiram Vyam in a makeshift tent where he stays at night 
to prevent wild and village animals from damaging his crop

Chapri - inauguration of tourism in the buffer zone


Chapri - Amit Awasthi and Ranger R S Solanki speak to villagers
about tourism in the buffer zone



Chapri - Amit speaks to unemployed youth about livelihood options


SF Executive Director Giri Venkatesan speaks to members
of the Jyoti Self Help Group (SHG)

Chapri - SF Executive Director Giri Venkatesan at SHG meeting
Chapri - inauguration of cricket tournament sponsored 
by us for buffer zone villages

Education Van

There were 8 film shows in December on nature and wildlife conservation.




Mocha - film show at Government Middle School














































































































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