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.
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