Nanmangalam reserve forest - the landmark hill within Yesterday, we revisited Nanmangalam, with the same bunch of school kids from last week. They were armed with some tree knowledge from last week, and the idea was to take them into the forest, help them understand the web of life, the importance of a forest, and the need to make sure that these treasures are protected.
I was all brave about taking them along as I assumed that DCF, Mr Ashokan would be around, but he wasn't. Thankfully, Sheila came along or I would have been stuck with 60 kids, and one binocular, trying to show them birds as I don't know much about trees anyways! The kids were really happy to be on the walk and enthusiastic, and the teachers too. so we meandered along the fringes of the forest I think, because the vegetation was sparse.
Its been more than a year, I reflected since I visited Nanmangalam. I remembered crossing this large maidan on the way to the bubo bubo quarry. But instead of heading to the quarry, we walked towards a temple, led by the helpers at the extension centre.
We saw too much eucalyptus for our liking and explained why it's not such a good idea to have too much of this fast growing tree. We also saw another colourful weed - lantana - in plenty. As we crossed the maidan, there was a movement in the bushes and a snake came slithering across the open ground, with a bunch of crows circling its head. The reason for the crow's interest was a fat frog caught in the mouth of the snake! I have never seen a snake slither on the ground with it's head held aloft like this, and it moved purposefully into the next clump of bushes and vanished from sight. It had the markings of a rat snake, Sara pambu. That was excitement enough for the group!
We saw drongoes, bulbuls, sunbirds, doves, and could we have seen a black-headed munia? I thought there was a whole bunch of them. White browed bulbuls called agitatedly from the trees, but I didn't see one. A lapwing flew across, calling in al,arm at this bunch of people descending on the forest.
I was saddened to see the increase of litter in the forest, as we walked on to the quarry. There are obviously favourite spots, where groups sit, marked by plastic water bags, cigarette packs and pan parag sachets. Empty PET bottles too. I spied a large bag among the bushes, and picked it up, and we rallied e kids into picking up any litter that we could easily remove. The children were most cooperative, and we had to prevent them from putting their hands too deep into the bushes as they spied a sachets pack glinting among the greenery.
I hope our sermon on not throwing litter, improving our civic sense and reducing the use of plastic, had some influence.
At the quarry, more pain. The water's surface was filled with thermocol. I had not seen this earlier. What is the forest department doing to clear this? I was appalled.
We saw too much eucalyptus for our liking and explained why it's not such a good idea to have too much of this fast growing tree. We also saw another colourful weed - lantana - in plenty. As we crossed the maidan, there was a movement in the bushes and a snake came slithering across the open ground, with a bunch of crows circling its head. The reason for the crow's interest was a fat frog caught in the mouth of the snake! I have never seen a snake slither on the ground with it's head held aloft like this, and it moved purposefully into the next clump of bushes and vanished from sight. It had the markings of a rat snake, Sara pambu. That was excitement enough for the group!
We saw drongoes, bulbuls, sunbirds, doves, and could we have seen a black-headed munia? I thought there was a whole bunch of them. White browed bulbuls called agitatedly from the trees, but I didn't see one. A lapwing flew across, calling in al,arm at this bunch of people descending on the forest.
I was saddened to see the increase of litter in the forest, as we walked on to the quarry. There are obviously favourite spots, where groups sit, marked by plastic water bags, cigarette packs and pan parag sachets. Empty PET bottles too. I spied a large bag among the bushes, and picked it up, and we rallied e kids into picking up any litter that we could easily remove. The children were most cooperative, and we had to prevent them from putting their hands too deep into the bushes as they spied a sachets pack glinting among the greenery.
I hope our sermon on not throwing litter, improving our civic sense and reducing the use of plastic, had some influence.
At the quarry, more pain. The water's surface was filled with thermocol. I had not seen this earlier. What is the forest department doing to clear this? I was appalled.
I plan to send these photos to the Assistant Conservator of Forests, Chennai.
The quarry - filled with rain water, but look at the floating thermocol
The quarry - filled with rain water, but look at the floating thermocolMaybe we (Nizhal), along with tree sensitizing can get the visiting children to make boards in English and Tamil requesting people not to litter.
I wonder if it would help if there were dustbins, with lids, in the park area. Maybe some "trails" could be laid out, with some interesting facts on trees?
Clcik on the pcture, and you will see that the white floating substance at the far end on the water is more thermocol
Clcik on the pcture, and you will see that the white floating substance at the far end on the water is more thermocol
The bags of garbage we cleared in one hour...there is much more.
I remember visiting parks in Bangalore in the early 70s and it was littered badly. My father would pick up as much as he could and put it in a dustbin. This made me realise we should never litter. Luckily Chandigarh is quite clean and please do USE the USE ME boxes.
ReplyDeleteWow! When you live somewhere where finding forests like this, you are angered against this this. some of my friends showed me some of their pics.
ReplyDeleteI remember sharing one pair of binoculars with a lot of people like that way back in 90s. However, there weren't as many as 60!
ReplyDeleteI too am quite disturbed when I see garbage in wilderness areas. I think we need to educate the public, by means of ads during the Bollywood films shown here. Wanna know what our film industry is affectionately called? PLYWOOD!!! :)
Hey! Viru is poised to get another century. Getting his wicket is, in my opinion, half the battle in getting a result in the current Test series. I sense that Indians will payback. And bat on, and on, and on....till the end of time.
Avdi, I hope by the time my son grows into a man, the litter on the streets and in the forests belongs to the bad ol days, only!
ReplyDeleteDavid, thanks for stopping by but really, whatever do you mean?!
Amila - Plywood??! Why?! And I hope you are right about the cricket!!
Because it is weak!
ReplyDeleteLacks substance...And sucks big time. A quick YouTube visit with the right key words will prove it. :)
It's a batter's paradise, the SSC.
Downside is, it creates too many flat-track heros, who eventually perish in bouncy tracks overseas.
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I found this site recently and love to read about the city where I have spent a lot of my childhood and younger days. It is sad to read about the garbage in the forest, and it makes sense to have some bins at strategic spots so that people can drop their garbage there. I was really embarrassed to find lots of plastic water bottles and plastic bags littered at the back of the Taj Mahal, and that is a national monument, with policemen busy checking bags at the entrance. We really need to raise the awareness of people at a national level about using garbage bins. I am glad to see that there are organizations such as yours that are rendering such great service to the city and the nation.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you "Travel"! I am delighted!! Though I do think that this blog is quite a ramble and not entirely useful for people looking for travel info on Chennai?
ReplyDeleteLalitha, I agree it a national malaise and very depressing. Why do we keep our homes clean and our cities so dirty? The other day, I was walking with a friend on the beach when I saw this well-dressed youth in a car, get down and kick the empty bottle of some beverage in his hand (like Messi!) into the beach. I could not stand it and asked him to stop littering the beach.
In another instance, a young chap in a car was next to me at a traffic light, and I think he decided it was time to clean out his car, so what does he do - one by one i saw peices of paper just being flicked out onto the road!! When he saw me gesticulating widely and looking shocked, he atleast had the decency to look sheepish and try and get out and pick it up!
My opinion is that the Indian education system is letting us down. We learn physics, Chemisty and Maths, but we dont learn civic sense, good citizenship, community living, etc etc.