Activity Update December 2013: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve

Team:

Bandu Kumare – Field assistant

Highlights

·      3 Community assistance voluntary work projects – one soak pit cleaned at Adegaon and area around hand pumps cleaned at Dewada and Junona

·      Anti-plastic programme at Kondegaon

·      Follow-up to plantations done earlier at Kondegaon and Moharli

·      Classroom visits to 10 schools as part of our environment education program – attended by 277 students

·      One nature trail/bird-watching trail at Sitarampeth

·      Identified and selected 5 girls for training in tailoring at R-Seti, Chandrapur

·      Film shows on nature and wildlife conservation in 10 schools – attended by 461 people

·       Medical camps in 6 villages  - 275 patients treated

·      2 visits to Bhagwanpur to follow up on status of relocated villagers  

Conservation

On December 7, Bandu organized an anti-plastic programmed at Kondegaon in which 16 students of the village Zilla Parishad Primary School (ZPPS) participated. Bandu explained the harmful effects of plastic on the environment and the need to keep plastic litter and waste buried so that they aren’t blown away into jungle areas. The children first cleared the school campus of plastic litter and waste and then followed this up through the whole village.

As part of our community assistance efforts, Bandu also organized 3 programmes during the month. On December 13, he organized a programme to clear the area around a hand pump at Dewada and on December 24 at Junona. In both places, spillover water from the hand pumps had stagnated, leading to proliferation of mosquitoes and insects. Access to the pumps had also become difficult. Our teams dug canals to drain the water away and cleared the areas. At Dewada, 2 unemployed youths from the village and 8 students from the village school joined Bandu in the programme. At Junona, 3 unemployed youths from the village joined Bandu.

On December 14, Bandu organized a programme to clean and deepen a soak pit at Adegaon. Due to growth of weeds, the pit was clogged and water was overflowing. Our team first cleared the pit, deepened it and put a layer of gravel at the bottom.

On December 19 (Kondegaon) and December 28 (Moharli), Bandu organized programmes to follow up on plantations done earlier. This is to ensure that saplings planted during the monsoon are live and have sufficient protection from grazing livestock.

Education

During the month, our team made classroom visits to 10 schools to educate children about nature and wildlife conservation.

Employment Cell

During December, we identified and selected 5 girls from Moharli to attend a training programme in tailoring at Chandrapur organized by Star Self-Employment Training Institute, Chandrapur. This institute is founded and funded by Bank of India. The 21-day programme started on December 17. The programme is residential and expenses for meals and lodging are borne by the Institute.

Education Van

During December, we organized 10 film shows on nature and wildlife conservation, attended by 461 people. The details are given below:

MHU

There were health camps in 6 villages in December.