Activity Update August 2013: Pench Maharashtra

Team: Saket Agasti - Assistant Conservation Officer

            Bandu Uikey, Dilip Lanjewar – Field Assistants

Highlights

·      Awareness programme on snakes on occasion of  “Nag Panchami”

·      One voluntary work project to de-silt a stream

·      One anti-plastic programme at Ghoti

·      Field assistant Bandu Uikey, Dilip Lanjewar joined Forest Department staff on anti-poaching patrols three times

·       Nature trail for the students of Ghoti village

·      4 medical camps – 128 patients treated

·      Environment education programme in 9 villages in which we addressed 189 students

·      Organized village meetings at Fulzari, Kirangisarra and Ghatpendari on relocation 

Conservation

August 11 was “Nag Panchami", a festival in which Hindus worship snakes. In rural areas, villagers take great care to ensure that snakes are not hurt on this day. They do not even work in their fields for fear that they may step on snakes unintentionally or that their oxen or ploughs may hurt snakes in the fields.

Our team decided to use the occasion to promote greater awareness about snakes and their role in nature. Towards this end, Dilip Lanjewar and Education Officer Mandar Pingle organized a drawing and painting competition in Pipariya School. Both Dilip and Mandar also spoke to the students about the various types of snakes and their role in nature.

Pipariya - Mandar Pingle supervises drawing competition organized
on Nag Panchami

On August 9, Dilip led 14 children of Ghoti on an anti-plastic drive in the village. Polythene wrappers had been discarded during a plantation drive organized by the Gram Panchayat earlier in the monsoon and the village road was strewn with litter, right to the outskirts of the jungle. Our team collected the litter and buried it in a pit, reducing the risks that animals would eat the plastic wrappers.

Plastic clean-up programme at Fulzari gate, Ghoti village

Ghoti - road cleaned of plastic trash by volunteers

Dhobi nallah is a stream which lies in the jungle between Ghatpendari and Narhar. Over a period of time, silt had accumulated and the flow of the stream had reduced sharply. On August 10, Bandu Uikey led a team of 11 villagers to clear the silt under the bridge of Dhobi nallah. The bridge had become unsafe for use as the water had backed up from the silt-filled stream and was flowing over the bridge. After our programme, the water is now flowing under the bridge and it has become safe for use by villagers.

Clearing silt from stream at Dhobi Nallah between Ghatpendari and Narhar

De-silting Dhobi Nallah

As part of our grassroots conservation work, we join Forest Department staff and members of village eco-development committees (VEDC) on anti-poaching patrols. On August 11 and 18, Bandu Uikey joined Round Officer of West Pench, Mr. Kamble in patrols in Ghatpendari Round in West Pench.

Ghatpendari - Round Officer Kamble leads members of the VEDC on an
anti-poaching patrol

Similarly, Dilip joined VEDC members in an anti-poaching patrol around Sillari on August 9.

On August 9, Mandar Pingle guided 14 children of Ghoti around the Sillari Interpretation Centre, which includes a depiction of the life of a tiger. He took them for nature trail in the jungle round Sillari and spoke to them about birds, plants and animals and the need for conservation. Photos below.

Learning about birds at the Sillari Interpretation Centre

Our team taking village children on a nature trail after visiting the
Interpretation Centre

 During August, our team assisted the Forest Department in holding meetings in 3 villages to explain to villagers the benefits of relocating away from the jungle.

Ghatpendari - RFO Dhotekar addresses villagers

Ghatpendari - Bandu Uikey speaks to villagers at meeting on relocation

Fulzari - Saket Agasthi discusses relocation issues with villagers

In Ghatpendari village LPG connections were distributed to villagers on August 11 through the Village Eco Development Committee (VEDC). These provide villagers an alternative to firewood.

Ghatpendari - Gas connections being given to villagers by the VEDC

Environmental Education Programmes

In August, our team conducted environment education programmes in 9 schools in our area of operations. 

    Ghatkukda: Bandu Uikey conducts an environment education programme

Kadbikheda: Dilip Lanjewar teaches a class on environment and conservation

Class on nature and environment in Kadbikheda

IT Education Programme

We started our second programme to teach the basics of handling computers to village children at Pipariya School in August. Till date, we are running this programme at Sawara and Pipariya in Pench (Maharashtra).

Employment Cell

We assisted 6 village girls in joining a programme in getting trained as beauty parlour assistants organized by M-SETI (Self Employment Training Institute), funded by Bank of Maharashtra at Nagpur.

Education Van Programme

There were 5 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation in August.

Fulzari - Mandar Pingle speaks to students before a film show on wildlife

Ghoti - Saket Agasti speaks to students about conservation before the
film show begins

Kirangisarra - villagers watching a film on wildlife

Mobile Health Unit (MHU)

Our team assisted Nature Conservation Society, Amravati in conducting 4 medical camps in August. 

* Some villages were not accessible due to streams overflowing on the approaches to the villages.

NCSA's mobile health unit conducting a free medical camp in Kirangisarra

Collecting medicines from the ambulance during the medical camp 

in Kirangisarra

Village meetings on relocation

Kirangisarra: Villagers at a meeting to discuss possible relocation

Anoop Awasthi, RFO Pokhle and Saket Agasti