Activity Update March 2019: Kanha

Highlights:

Conservation Officer Amit Awasthi, with Forest Guard S.K.Patel,
conducting an awareness programme in Dhamangaon 

Dhamangaon - Solar panels set up with our help
at Tito Bai Maravi Baiga's house.
These panels will provide power to the pump.

Dhamangaon - Solar-powered pump being set up
with our help at Tito Bai Maravi Baiga's house

Khisi - Our team training Shyam Lal Yadav to prepare vermi-compost

Kutwahi - Amit Awasthi conductes meeting with villagers
as part of the process of preparing the village micro-plan

Micro-plan of Kutwahi prepared with our assistance

THE FULL REPORT

Team: Amit Awasthi – Conservation Officer

            Sampathlal Dhurve – Field assistant

Highlights                                                                                                                                                  

·      Assisted in preparing micro-plans for 9 villages

·      Helped 32 villagers apply for LPG connection under Ujjwala Yojna

·      Assisted 20 farmers in applying for solar-powered pumps

·      Organised 3 voluntary work projects for community assistance – cleaning of area around hand pumps and making soak pit

·      3 person trained in preparing vermi-compost

·      3 compost pits prepared

·      6 awareness programmes on vermi-compost, forest fires and gas connections

·      Environment education programme conducted in 8 schools - attended by 218 students 

·      2 unemployed young villagers placed in resorts

                                                                        

 Conservation work

Satpuda Foundation is helping the office of the Range Forest Officer, Khatiya and the Green Brigade Foundation, Balaghat in preparing 5-year village micro-plans for 9 buffer zone villages. We are conducting meetings with villagers to find out their needs and to know about local issues related to conservation. We are suggesting solutions through these plans as per the needs of the villagers. We have completed micro-plans for Kutwahi and Khisi and are working on the remaining plans.

During the month, we assisted 32 villagers in submitting applications for LPG connections under the Government’s Ujjwala Yojana Scheme. We helped the villagers in filling up forms and in the required documentation. Use of cooking gas will reduce villagers’ dependence on forests for firewood. Villagers going into the forest for firewood is one of the sources of human-wildlife conflict.

During the month, Satpuda Foundation helped 12 families from Dhamangaon and 8 families from Manegaon to apply to the Government for supply of subsidised 2 HP solar-powered pumps. Our team helped the villagers to fill up the forms and collect and submit the required documents. 4 villagers have already been supplied with the pumps and the rest are expected to get them soon. The pumps are supplied by the M P Energy Development Corporation Ltd.

This initiative will help the villagers to concentrate on farming throughout the year and reduce their dependence on forests for their livelihood during the non-monsoon months.

List of villagers who have received solar-powered pumps:

On March 10, Sampath led a team of 6 people in a programme to clear wild growth around a hand pump and prepare a soak pit at Sautiya. Wild growth had proliferated around the hand pump and access to the hand pump was affected. Our team, which comprised 6 young villagers, removed the wild growth, cleaned the area and prepared a soak pit that will take spillover water from the pump and help recharge the water table.

2 similar programmes were organised on March 16 at Batwar and March 23 at Chapri.

Our team encourages organic farming as part of our strategy to reduce the impact of chemical fertilisers in fields adjoining prime wildlife areas. Part of our work includes assistance to villagers in setting up vermi-compost tanks and compost pits. During March, we helped 3 villagers dig compost pits – Banshi Lal Uikey of Kutwahi on March 5, Shyam Bai Walke of Manegaon on March 7, and Chetram Walke of Bhagpur on March 9.     

On March 14, our team provided training in preparing vermi-compost to Shyam Lal Yadav of Khisi village. During the training, he was taught how to maintain the vermi-compost tank, prepare the compost and use it properly.

2 similar programmes were organised on March 17 for Dashodi Bai Pusham of Batwar and for Son Singh Maravi of Patpara on March 18.

We held 6 programmes during March to promote awareness about conservation activities in villages. Details are given in the table above.

Education  

During the month our team organised environment education programmes in 8 schools in the villages in our area of operations.

Employment Cell

We helped 2 young villagers get jobs during the month of March

Livelihood programmes

As part of our programme to reduce pressure on forests, we have been encouraging villagers to take up alternative livelihood options. In Kanha, we have been encouraging villagers to take up vegetable farming as there are several resorts around Mocha and there is a steady flow of tourists who require fresh vegetables. Over the past 5 years, we have assisted 30 villagers in taking up vegetable farming and they are earning around 500-1,000 rupees a week in additional income. The vegetable patches are typically of small size and located in the backyards of the residences. Some villagers have now got enough confidence to expand and are planning to use part of their farm land for this activity.