Activity Update March 2016: Pench Maharashtra

Highlights

Ghatpendari - Our field assistant Bandu at an open well
which was fenced to prevent animals falling in

Ghatpendari - Our field assistant Bandu Uikey and volunteers
 repair a hand pump

Ghatpendari - Our field assistant Bandu Uikey leads team
on patrol in fores

Ghatpendari - Students of village's primary school show off their work
in a drawing contest organised by us on World Wildlife Day

Ghoti - SF's Mandar Pingle and Dilip Lanjewar
 explain benefits of solar lanterns to villagers

 Our field assistant Dilip leads team
in cleaning waterhole in fores

Kirangisarra-  Volunteers clean waterhole in programme 

Kirangisarra - Volunteers dig waterhole in a programme organised by us

Kirangisarra - Waterhole dug by our team in voluntary programme

Kolitmara - Our field assistant Bandu with students on a nature trail

Kolitmara - Our field assistant Bandu teaches
new recruits of Forest Dept. how to test quality of water in waterholes 

 Kolitmara - SF's Bandu speaks about conservation
to students and new recruits of Forest Department on World Forestry Day

 Kolitmara - Students on rally organised by us
and the Forest Department to celebrate World Wildlife Day

Kolitmara - Volunteers collect plastic litter from the jungle
adjoining the village in a programme organised by us on World Forestry Day.

Kolitmara - Villagers dig compost pit as part of our programme 

to reduce use of chemical fertilisers in wildlife areas. 

Salai - Students take out rally for water conservation on World Water Day

Sawara - Our instructor Ishwar Dhawale teaches
 village children how to use different software packages

Suwardhara - Dr. G. Bhasme examines a patient at our free medical camp

THE FULL REPORT:

Team: Anoop Awasthi - Assistant Director

            Mandar Pingle – Conservation officer          

            Bandu Uikey, Dilip Lanjewar – Field Assistants

Highlights

·      One waterhole prepared at Kirangisarra

·      Four waterholes cleaned in Tuyepar and Kirangisarra beats, Ghatpendari and Surera

·      Two anti-plastic programmes and two conservation rallies at Kolitmara

·      One programme to construct compost tank at Kolitmara school

·      Celebrated World Wildlife Day, World Forestry Day, World Water Day, World Meteorological Day at  Ghoti, Sawara, Kolitmara, Ghatpendari, Salai, Surera and Kadbikheda

·      Bandu and Dilip joined Forest Department staff on anti-poaching patrols thrice each

·      Organized village meetings at  Fulzari, Salai, Kolitmara, Ghatpendari Ghoti and Usaripar to discuss village development through Village Eco Development Committee (VEDC)

·      Organized environment education programmes in 8 schools -- 279 students attended these programmes.

·      Organized 6 medical camps at which 135  patients were treated

·      Assisted two unemployed youth in getting jobs locally

·      Bandu assisted in construction chain link fencing of 14 open wells in Ghatpendari village

·      Bandu helped to repair inoperative hand-pump in Ghatpendari  

Conservation 

On March 2, Mandar and Dilip led 20 villagers from Kirangisarra in a programme to construct a waterhole next to a hand pump as spill over water from the hand pump was being wasted. During the programme, a small canal was created to let the excess water flow and collect in the waterhole. The waterhole, which is located near a forest hut, will be used by domestic livestock during the day and by wildlife at night. Many wild animals like leopards, wild dogs (dhole), jackals, spotted deer and sambar deer have been spotted on numerous occasions near the hand pump by forest guards and villagers. The waterhole was constructed at a distance of 25 feet from the hand pump. This will prevent the wildlife from coming near the hand pump in future.  

On March 2, Mandar and Dilip led 6 staff of the Forest Department in a programme to clean a waterhole in Tuyepar beat. Cleaning of waterholes helps provide clean water for wildlife in the area. Regular cleaning of the waterhole also prevents potential poisoning of the waterhole by poachers and helps prevent poaching of wildlife. Another shramdhaan programme to clean a waterhole was organized in Kirangisarra beat on March 15 with the help of Forest Department staff. Similarly, Bandu Uikey organized shramdhaans to clean waterholes in Sitanahani (Ghatpendari) and in West Range of Pench Tiger Reserve on March 6.

On March 26, Dilip Lanjewar assisted Forest Department staff in fighting a fire in the forest in the buffer area near Bothiya and Wagholi villages. Forest fires are common during the hot and dry summer season in this part of the country. The Forest Department is investigating the cause of the fire.

On March 23 and 24, Bandu Uikey assisted Forest Department staff in day and night patrolling in West Range of Pench Tiger Reserve on the occasion of Holi festival. During the festival of Holi, there is great demand for fresh meat and hence there are high chances of poaching. Every year, the Forest Department organizes day and night patrolling for 2-3 days to curb poaching during Holi festival.

Similarly, Dilip Lanjewar joined Forest Department staff in East Range of Pench Tiger Reserve for patrolling during Holi. No illegal activities were reported.

On March 31, Dilip Lanjewar organized and led 6 villagers of Wagholi on a forest patrol under the Village Eco-Development Committee (VEDC) forest patrolling programme. Dilip and the villagers patrolled the buffer area of the Tiger Reserve. No illegal activity came to fore during the patrol. Similar such VEDC forest patrols were organised by Dilip in Khapa village on March 29 and by Bandu Uikey near Ghatpendari on March 6. No illegal activity was noticed during these patrols as well.

On March 3, Bandu Uikey organized a programme to construct a compost pit in Kolitmara village of West Range of Pench Tiger Reserve. He encouraged 7 villagers to volunteer in the shramdhaan program. The villagers will be able to dump food leftovers and other bio-degradable waste in the compost pit which will provide organic compost useful for farming in near future. This will reduce the dependency of the farmers on chemical fertilizers. It will also reduce the odour of the decomposing waste and help keep the premises clean.

On March 3, Mandar and Dilip celebrated World Wildlife Day along with 90 students of Zilla Parishad School, Ghoti and 83 students of Zilla Parishad School, Sawara. World Wildlife Day is celebrated to create awareness about the need to protect and conserve wildlife and provide a suitable habitat for their survival. World Wildlife Day also makes people aware about the threat from poaching to the wildlife in today’s world.

Mandar and Dilip, along with the teachers, explained these issues to the students. Later they organized an elocution competition during which students spoke on issues like ‘Rich biodiversity of Pench Tiger Reserve’, ‘My favourite wild animal’, ‘Young students and their responsibility to conserve wildlife’. The competition was meant to get students to express their thoughts about wildlife conservation issues and to improve their public speaking skills.

On the same day, Bandu Uikey organized an awareness rally followed by a classroom lecture and shramdhaan to clean plastic waste in Zilla Parishad School, Kolitmara. Students participated in the programmes with great zeal and enthusiasm. 

On March 21, Mandar and Dilip celebrated World Forestry Day with students of ZP School, Ghoti. The students participated in an awareness rally and raised slogans to make villagers aware about the need to protect forests.

Later, Mandar and Dilip informed students about different types of forests across the globe. They also taught students about the tropical forests of Central India and the rich bio-diversity harbored by them. Mandar urged the students to take up scientific approach to understand the flora and fauna and help to protect them in future.

On the same day, Mandar and Dilip demonstrated the use of solar lamps and distributed the lamps to villagers of Ghoti village. 44 villagers benefited from the solar lamps and thanked SF and VEDC president for organizing the program.

Another such programme to distribute solar lamps was organized by Mandar and Dilip in Salai village on March 22, where 35 solar lamps were distributed to the villagers. On March 21, Bandu Uikey also celebrated World Forestry Day in Kolitmara village by organizing an awareness rally, a classroom lecture and an anti-plastic programme.

On March 22, Bandu Uikey organized a voluntary work programme in Surrera to clean a water hole in the buffer area in West Range to celebrate World Water Day. Forest Department staff and Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) staff joined Bandu in cleaning the water hole.

Bandu also demonstrated the use of litmus paper to check for poison in the waterhole. He explained that regular cleaning of the waterhole helps to prevent poaching of wild animals and provides clean water for the animals as well.

On the same day, Mandar and Dilip celebrated World Water Day in Zilla Parishad School, Salai village of East Range of Pench Tiger Reserve. They emphasized the need for water conservation during a classroom lecture which was preceded by an awareness rally. During the rally, students raised slogans like ‘Humne to yeh thana hai, Jal ko bachana hai!’ and ‘Jal hi jeevan hai!’.

On March 23, Dilip Lanjewar celebrated World Meteorological Day along with the students of Zilla Parishad School in Kadbikheda village. Dilip informed students about the changing climate and its impact on the environment and human life. He also informed students that air pollution is on the rise and is affecting the climate and in turn changing the weather pattern across the globe. He urged students to try to reduce air pollution by adopting eco-friendly lifestyle.  

During the month of March, Bandu Uikey assisted Forest Department staff and VEDC, Ghatpendari village to fence 14 open wells. The open wells were posing a threat to the wildlife. In the past there have been many instances of wild animals like tigers, leopards, wild dogs, spotted deer, sambhar deer etc falling and dying in such open wells. In order to prevent such accidents in future and to protect wildlife, the open wells were identified and fenced.

Environmental Education Programmes

During March our team organized 8 environment education programmes in schools which covered 279 students.

Employment Cell

During March our team assisted 2 unemployed youth in getting job locally. We helped forest department in identifying the right candidates as daily wage laborers to work in the forest on fire protection.

Mobile Health Unit (MHU)

6 medical camps held in March in which 135 patients were treated.

Mr. Ashok Kumre, aged 29 years, resident of Ambazari is a daily wage laborer with forest department. He was suffering from chronic pain in his legs for more than two weeks. He was unable to perform any physical tasks due to the pain. Dr Bhasme diagnosed his problem and gave proper medication to him. Bandu Uikey paid visits to Mr. Ashok and checked whether he was taking the medication or not. After few days, Mr. Ashok informed that the pain had subsided and he was able to work as usual. He thanked Satpuda Foundation for treating him free of charge. He has promised to help us in our conservation activities henceforth. 

Mrs. Saiyabai Nikam, aged 42 years, resident of Shiladevi was suffering from high fever and viral infection. She is a daily wage worker and was troubled by the ailment. She was unable to visit a hospital as she said it was difficult for her to pay the bills. When Satpuda Foundation set up its routine medical camp in Shiladevi on March 11, Mrs. Saiyabai paid a visit to the camp. Dr Bhasme, who was accompanying the Medical Health Unit, diagnosed her and provided her with appropriate medication. On regular follow up by Bandu Uikey, she informed that her health had improved thanks to the treatment. She promised that she will assist Satpuda Foundation in our activities in future.