Highlights
· 5 shramdhaans during the month – 3 to build
soak pits and 2 bori bandhaans to build
check/stop dams
·
Forest fire awareness programme at 18
villages
·
Classroom visits to 18 schools as part of
our environment education program – attended by 783 students
·
5 unemployed youths placed in jobs at
Jabalpur/Bhopal at starting salary of Rs 3,500/- per month
·
5 new self help groups formed in 2 clusters
·
One livelihood programme – to train 5
unemployed youths as security guards
Conservation
During March, we organized 5
shramdhaans related to water conservation. On March 3, we organized a “bori bandhaan” programme to build a
check dam on a stream in the jungle around 2.5 kms from Khamda village. 12
children from Government Middle School (GMS) Khamda joined hands with our field
assistant Vikram Parte in the programme. The resultant water body will benefit
domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Spotted deer, wild
dogs, nilgai and monkeys are regularly spotted in the area. Gaurs are also
spotted, although less regularly.
Raikheda - check dam built by our volunteer team |
Forest guard J P Amole puts finishing touches to the check dam at Raikheda |
On March 14, we organized a “bori bandhaan” programme to build a check dam on a stream in the
jungle around 4 kms from Raikheda village. 12 children from GMS Raikheda joined
hands with Umashankar Yadav in the programme. The resultant water body will
benefit domestic livestock in the day time and wildlife at nights. Wild dogs
and monkeys are regularly spotted in the area. Gaurs are also spotted, although
less regularly.
On March 27, we organized a programme to dig a soak pit at
the Government Primary School (GPS) Sonpur campus. Umashankar led a team of 14
students from the school in digging the pit, which will take spillover water
from a hand pump in the school premises. The pit will help to recharge the
water table around the hand pump.
A similar programme was organized by Vikram at GPS, Sakai on
March 28, in which 9 students participated. Another programme was held at the
anganwadi (play school) campus at Mallupura on March 31, in which 8 students
from the village’s primary school participated.
With the onset of summer, we have started to organize
awareness programmes on forest fires – the harmful effects of the fires on
nature and wildlife and how to prevent or contain them. Villagers sometimes
start fires deliberately to clean the growth from the forest floor. Once the
bush has been burnt, it becomes easier for them to spot and pick mahua flowers which fall to the ground
during this season. Villagers collect the mahua
flowers, dry them and sell them to local traders. This is a seasonal
activity, which normally lasts a month or so. Villagers also say that tendu leaves which sprout after such
fires are superior in quality and command better prices from traders. Besides,
fires also spread sometimes from fields. Many villagers start fires in their
fields after the harvest to clear away the waste and sometimes these fires
spread to the adjoining forest. These local fires sometimes escalate into large
scale forest fires and cause severe damage. It is, therefore, necessary to make
villagers aware about the dangers of forest fires and explain to them the need
to join hands in fighting this menace.
Bindakheda - Ashfaq talks to villagers about conservation |
Forest fire awareness programmes
Education
During the month, our team made
classroom visits to 18 schools to educate children about nature and wildlife
conservation.
Employment Cell
5 youths from two clusters got
jobs in March thanks to our assistance.
Details of the placements are as
follows:
Self help group formation
Part of Ashfaq's presentation to villagers about the SHGs |
Training Programme
Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of Madhya Pradesh
(CEDMAP) regularly organizes livelihood and skill-enhancement training
programme at Bhopal. They invited Satpuda Foundation to send candidates from
our area of operations to a programme to train youths as security guards. We
identified 5 youths from the two clusters where we work and sent them to Bhopal
for the programme, which ran from March 20 to 24. Satpuda Foundation bore part
of the expenses for the training programme.
Khamda - Ashfaq interviews village youths for security guard training |
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