In a city like Mumbai where there is a shortage of open spaces, I am so glad to have one of the largest open space in the city so near. Although its a racecourse, it has a considerable amount of biodiversity. Every morning I get a chance to have look at some of the common city birds like black kites,sunbirds, flower peckers, egrets, mynas etc. along with not so common birds in this area like - drongos, prinias, neelkanth etc. here at the Racecourse. There are even records of purple swamphen nesting here. Huge trees surround this place. One can see about 20 kites sitting on the open cleared patch of ground right in the middle. Tree like Gulmohor, Sonmohor, Cassia, Rain tree, Mango, Banyan, Peepal, Bakul etc. are some of the trees that are planted over here and all of them are huge in size. This place has a charm of its own in every season. A carpet of grasses with lovely green colour covers the ground in rainy season, winter season arrives with sweet calls of birds. One more sound is added with the arrival of summer i.e. call of male Koels. One can devour variety of colours from green, brown, red.... in these seasons. The climer named 'railway creeper' a species of 'Ipomea' is currently in full bloom. If you are a fitness freak then this is a perfect place for you. It has
2.2 kms walking as well as jogging track. Lots of place available for
your yoga or any other fitness exercise. Lot of training sessions are conducted here as well. Tourists that visit our city generally want to see the "Dhobi Ghat" - 'Washer mans' colony which is just opposite to the racecourse and I really wonder why? Anyways, they might be having some interests of their own. But, I would also suggest that one should visit this place as well. Preferably in early morning. Even there are so many Mumbaikars (Mumbaites) who are totally unaware about this particular site. The place is under conspiracy in these days. No matter what they (Government) come up with a theme park of international level or 'smarak' of great people, the existing biodiversity of this place is definitely going to get affected. I just hope that whatever changes that will take place over here, they will / should help in making our city's environment clean. Difficult but, not impossible, isn't it?
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
The way to conservation……
Our need of food, water, clothes,
medicines, houses, even our modern equipments all of them, have their origin in
nature. There is no doubt that in past few years we have over utilized our
natural wealth; in fact we have exploited the nature without thinking about our
future. And we are facing the consequences for all our wrong doings – for
instance the prices of petrol, diesel, food items, and things as such have
raised so high making it difficult for a common man to survive. Conservation of
our natural resources has become a critical issue as far as survival of all
living world is concern. Many countries (almost all of them) have taken legal
steps in protecting the natural wealth. Even in India we have very strict rules and
regulations.
In ancient India when there was nothing called
as ‘Ministry of Law and Justice’ this natural wealth was preserved through
strict rules (sometimes strange beliefs). Almost every village had a sacrosanct
patch of forest dedicated to a deity, which was left untouched by villagers.
Even today, these forests are protected by religious sentiments of the people
and are found throughout India.
Although the degree of sanctity of the sacred forests varies from one grove to
another, ex. the Garo and the Khasi tribes of northeastern India completely prohibit any human
interference in the sacred groves. Even dry foliage and fallen fruits are left
untouched. Where as, the Gonds of central India prohibit the cutting of a
tree but allow fallen parts to be used. This fact is now well recognized by the
ministry of Environment and Forest, which has
already documented Sacred Groves (S.G.) all over the country which possibly
hold some of the last treasures of biodiversity.
Sacred groves are broadly divided in to three types – 1. Traditional
Sacred Groves – these do not have a properly built temple. The deity could be
represented by any kind of symbol such as stones, tree etc. 2. Temple Groves -
Which have a properly built temple, 3. Groves around the burial or cremation
grounds.
SGs act as a gene pool. i.e. The
sacred groves are important repositories of floral and faunal diversity that
have been conserved by local communities in a sustainable manner. They are
often the last refuge of endemic species in the geographical region. The groves
are often associated with ponds, streams or springs, which help meet the water
requirements of the local people. The vegetative cover also helps in the
recharging the aquifers. The vegetation cover of the sacred groves improves the
soil stability of the area and also prevents soil erosion. So, basically
when you conserve a sacred grove you are conserving biodiversity, helping
aquifers to recharge and conserving soil.
These sacred groves still exists
in almost all states of India.
The maximum number of SGs are present in Himachal Pradesh (nearly 5000) and the
minimum are in Uttarakhand (around 22). Kerala has around 2000 of them. Sacred
groves are called by varied local names according to the states. In Maharashtra, it is called as Devrai, Jharkhand – Sarana,
Kerala - Sara kavu, Tamil Nadu - Koilkadu etc. But, all of them are not
preserved properly rather many of them are on the verge of getting vanished.
There are several threats to them. Such as, disappearance of the traditional
belief systems; rapid urbanization and developmental interventions, invasion by
exotic weeds; pressures due to increasing livestock and fuelwood collection.
Many groves are suffering due to ‘Sanskritisation’ or the transformation of the
primitive forms of nature worship into formal temple worship.
While pursuing my M.Sc. Botany
from Mumbai University, I did a project on a SG which is in Lanja Taluka,
Ratnagiri dist, - my native place in Maharashtra. This Sacred Grove is facing
all the threats that are mentioned above but still ‘existing’; there are certain
plants that are only found in this area and nowhere in rest of the village. The
local ‘Grampanchayat’ has put a ban on cutting of these trees from last two
years and there is a hope for better future. Later I had been to a SG in
Kudawale village of Chiplun Taluka, Maharashtra.
This remarkable SG holds a magnificent variety of flora with the locals
protecting it. Although there are less religious sentiments attached to this SG,
they have understood the importance of it in sustaining their life... the
sacred grove holds a perennial water stream and villagers get potable water
supply throughout the year. As an education officer with WWF-India, I arranged
a camp to the Konkan region in the past year.
It was during our Konkan camp, we came across a person who owns a patch
of land which also holds the sacred grove. What pleased us was that he is
preserving the grove as it is, instead of just cutting it and planting some
cash crops. On his land one can experience the pristine forest even though it
is surrounded by agricultural land.
You may agree that, it really doesn’t
matter which profession you belong to you can help in conservation even though
you are staying in the city. Remember, when you don’t waste paper, water, also
when you switch off non-essential lights and electronic equipments you are
taking your small steps in conserving the nature. One just has to respect the nature
and use all the resources carefully. Ultimately it depends a lot upon us whether
to conserve the natural wealth or just go on using the resources until we
finish them all.
More readings:
http://www.sahyadrica.com/2012/09/barefoot-in-kurne.html
More readings:
http://www.sahyadrica.com/2012/09/barefoot-in-kurne.html
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