Activity Update May 2019: Kanha

Highlights:

Chapri- We arranged a village meeting on local issues,
attended by Narayan Singh Patta MLA of Bichiya block

Bhagpur - Seeds collected by village children,
to be planted during the monsoon

Chapri - Vegetable patches set up at Sarita Bai Dhurvey's house

 Kutwahi - Soni Bai Markam gets trained in preparing vermi-compost

 Patpara - Amit Awasthi conducts an awareness programme on forest fires

Patpara - Amit Awasthi conducts meeting
with women’s SHG on livelihood options

Patpara - Field assistant Sampathlal Dhurve
guides village children on their seed collection drive

Sautiya - Team prepares waterhole in the jungle

                                                                                                       

THE FULL REPORT

Team: Amit Awasthi – Conservation Officer

            Sampath Dhurve – Field assistant

Highlights  (See Table 1)

·      2 waterholes prepared

·      Two programs to clean area next to hand pumps and dig soak pits

·      Arranged village meeting on local issues, attended by Narayan Singh Patta MLA of Bichiya Block

·      Helped 19 villagers apply for LPG connection under Ujjwala scheme

·      Assisted 5 Baiga tribe farmers in getting solar-powered irrigation pumps

·      2 persons trained in preparing vermi-compost

·      4 compost pits prepared

·      6  awareness programs on forest fires

·      2 nature trails

·      Seed collection drive

·      Installed water pots for birds in 6 villages

·      3 unemployed young villagers placed in jobs at local resorts

                     ·      Meeting on livelihood options held with women’s SHG 

During the month, our team organised programs to prepare 2 waterholes inside the jungle. We have prepared these waterholes at specific locations in consultation with the Forest Range Office, Khatiya. These waterholes will help provide clean water for wild animals and prevent them from venturing close to human habitation in search of water during summer season. It will thus help mitigate man-animal conflict in this region.

On May 8, eight villagers from Sautiya volunteered to prepare a waterhole at Pittejhodi.

A similar program to prepare a waterhole was organised at Kundajhodi on May 13.

On May 19, Sampath led a team of 8 people in a program to dig a soak pit and to clear weed growth and plastic waste around a hand pump at Manegaon. Wild growth had proliferated around the hand pump and access to the hand pump was affected. Our team, which comprised 8 young people from the village, removed the wild growth and cleaned the area and prepared a soak pit.

A similar program was organised at Patpara on May 22.

On 27 May, we organised a village meeting to resolve various issues of the villagers. On our invitation, Shri Narayan Singh Patta, MLA of Bichiya (Mandla) attended the meeting with villagers from Batwar, Chapri and Sautiya. During the meeting, the villagers raised issues like employment for young villagers, skill development and training for farmers, empowerment of Village Eco-Development Committees, and promoting of employment through tourism. Shri Narayan Singh Patta has agreed to work on these issues immediately.

Satpuda Foundation had assisted the Range Forest Officer, Khatiya in preparing a 5-year village micro-plan for 7 buffer zone villages in the range. As per the micro-plan prepared for Patpara, the construction work for a‘rangmanch’ (community stage) has commenced. The work will be complete by the end of this month.

Satpuda Foundation had assisted 12 families from Dhamangaon to apply for solar-powered pumps under a Government scheme. This scheme aims to provide irrigation facilities specifically to tribal farmers. Out of these 12 applications, 5 pumps were provided in May. Earlier in March, 4 farmers were provided this facility. The remaining 3 farmers will be provided pumps next month. By using solar power, farmers are adopting green and clean electricity. Besides, in remote locations like Dhamangaon, supply of electricity is unreliable, affecting irrigation systems.

Details of the beneficiaries of the solar-powered pump scheme are given in Table 2.

Our team encourages organic farming as part of our strategy to reduce the impact of chemical fertilisers on fields adjoining prime wildlife areas. Part of our work includes assistance to villagers in setting up vermi-compost tanks and compost pits.

On May 11 and 26, our team provided training to Soni Bai Markam of Kutwahi and Mamta Bai Uikey of Sautiya on how to prepare vermi-compost.

During May, we helped 4 villagers dig compost pits - Samrati Bai Maravi of Dhamangaon on May 1, Satish Sarote of Manegaon on May 12, Gayatri Bai Maravi of Patpara on May 24 and Chandan Markam of Manegaon on May 29.

During the month, Amit organised 6 awareness programs on forest fires. Fires are a recurring hazard during summers. Sometimes, villagers start fires as they believe that tendu leaves sprout better after such fires. Collection of tendu leaves takes place during May. In our awareness programs, we explained the dangers that such fires cause to the forest and to wildlife and how they could harm villages if they blazed out of control.

In May, we encouraged villagers to collect seeds of local species of trees. These seeds will be used to prepare saplings for our proposed plantation drive during the monsoon season. Villagers collected seeds of lendiya, saja, sallan, mahua, kahua and amaltas found locally. We will now prepare saplings from these seeds and distribute them to the villagers during the monsoon season.

With the summer heat at its peak, our team has been motivating villagers to put up containers with water so that birds and small animals can quench their thirst. Around 98 containers were put up in 5 villages in May.

Amit and Sampath led children of Kutwahi and Patpara on nature trails on May 4 and May 9 respectively. On the trails, they helped children identify various species of plants and animals and explained the importance of preserving our environment.

Livelihood programs

As part of our program 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 3 years, we have assisted around 50 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.

Employment Cell (Table 3)

We helped 3 young villagers get jobs during the month of May. 

SF organised a joint meeting of the women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) working in the buffer area to discuss group-run activities such as vegetable farming, macrame art, tribal food products, sewing work, mushroom production etc.

Amit also spoke on subjects related to conservation and requested assistance from the women for check dam construction, sanitation campaigns, training programs for young villagers, and placements.