Team:
Mukund Dhurve – Conservation Officer
Jivraj Salam - Field
assistant
Salimkumar Dhurve – Field
assistant
Highlights
· Joined Forest Department staff on 3 night patrols and 3 day patrols
· 2 community assistance voluntary work projects – programmes to clean areas next to hand pumps at Mangezari, Kodebarra
· 1 programme to clean water hole in the buffer area of Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in compartment no. 89
· 2 programmes to plant saplings at Mangezari, Berdipar - total of 67 saplings planted
· 3 awareness programmes on the occasion of World Ozone Day at schools in Tiroda, Wadegaon, Kodebarra
· 6 classroom visits to conduct environment education programme – attended by 1,889 students
· Organized 12 medical camps at which 497 patients got free treatment
Conservation
On September 2, we organized a
programme to clear the area around a hand pump at Mangezari in which 7 people,
including unemployed youths and school students, participated. A similar
programme was organized on September 5 at Kodebarra to clean the area around a
hand pump. 7 people joined Mukund and Salimkumar in this programme.
In both places, water had spilled
over while people drew from the hand pumps and had stagnated, leading to
proliferation of mosquitoes and insects. Our teams cleared the areas, removing
scum and organic growth and dug canals to drain away the water.
Our team joined the Forest Department
in day and night patrols on the road from Mangezari to Kodebarra and Mangezari
to Jindatola on September 22, 23 and 26. Power cables run on poles erected by the side of the
road. In the past, there have been instances of poaching on this road when
poachers used hooks and wires to draw power from the cables and killed animals
by electrocution. Sometimes, wires are drawn several hundred meters into the
jungle from the cables. At least one gaur and one leopard have been killed over
the past year, using this method. Besides our staff, volunteers from a youth
club at Mangezari also joined in the patrols. The youth club was set up with our
assistance and is mentored by Mukund Dhurve.
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| Our team on patrol in Compartment 89 |
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| Youth Club on patrol on the Mangezari-Govindtola road |
On September 22, we also organized a patrol
in Compartment 99.
During the month, we also organized
a programme to clean a water hole in Compartment 89. The water body was clogged
with organic litter and dust. Our team removed the litter and de-silted the
water body. Photo below.
September 16 is World Ozone Day.
To mark the occasion, we organized
awareness programmes to explain the importance of the ozone layer and how this
gets damaged due to the use of CFC gas. The programmes were organized at Meritorious
High School, Tiroda, Bheemrao High School Wadegaon, Harikrushna High School,
Kodelohara.
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| Talking about the ozone layer at Kodelohora |
 |
| World Ozone Day event at Tiroda |
We also organized 2 programmes to
plant saplings at Berdipar and Mangezari. A total of 375 saplings were planted
and the species planted included karanj, khari, sattaparani, semal. The
saplings were provided by the Forest Department. Students and teachers from the
schools in the 2 villages joined Mukund, Salimkumar and Jivraj in the
programmes.
The Government of Maharashtra has
issued the buffer zone notification for the Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve.
Following this, doubts have sprung up in the minds of villagers as to how they
will be affected by the notification. Due to the doubts, some villagers have
started opposing the notification. To clear these doubts and misgiving, we organized
a series of awareness programmes in various villages during September. The
details are given in the table above.
Education
There were 6 environment
education programmes at schools during September.
Education van
There were a total of 6 film
shows on nature and wildlife during September.
 |
| Film show at Wadegaon |
 |
| Film show at Shukadi |
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| Film show at Kodelohara |
MHU
There were 12 health camps in September.
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| Free medical camp at Asalpani |
