Showing posts with label Melghat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melghat. Show all posts

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Sanctuary Asia talks about the way forward

The Way Forward

Credit:Mihir GodboleOctober 2012: Praveen Pardeshi, Principal Secretary, Forests, Government of Maharashtra, has been one of the architects of wildlife conservation in this proud state for decades. He writes here about his vision for the future and the steps taken by the Maharashtra Government to implement plans to secure the natural heritage of generations unborn.

The Great Indian Bustard and Nannaj

It is four a.m. in Solapur, the year is 1996. My five-year-old daughter and I creep across the still dark grasslands of Nannaj to sit in our little hide. As the sun rises, casting a pinkish glow across the eastern horizon, a soft booming call echoes across the undulating landscape. An alpha male Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is courting females, head thrown back, gular pouch raised, and tail up. Moments later, a covey of female bustards shufflepast, foraging for crickets that have come to gorge on the fresh, green grass.
Though this bustard and his countless ancestors have exhibited their mating rituals on the small lookout plateau of Nannaj-Mardi for millennia, there is no guarantee that our children will still see this display 20 years from now.
The GIB sanctuary was scattered over 8,200 sq. km., whereas a much smaller forest area needed to be made inviolate for the bustards to breed. If even this small area could be well protected, we could secure the future of this endangered bird for posterity. It was vital, however, to include areas such as the Gangewadi grasslands into this more tightly-protected bustard haven. People had begun to turn hostile towards the birds because they considered the declaration of a vast 8,200 sq. km. sanctuary dedicated to bustards as illogical, since the birds were not found in most of the areas here. What is more, entire towns such as Solapur, Mohol and Karmala were included within the Protected Area boundary! Wildlife conservation was proving to be an obstacle as it came in the way of the alignments for highways, canals and even in the decisions they had to make about how best to use their own lands. Blackbuck learned to hide in protected forest patches in the day and then to devastate jowar and groundnut crops of farmers at night. Had the state government not denotified a huge chunk of the GIB Sanctuary, neither the blackbuck, nor the bustards would have been able to survive.
Today, a major effort is underway to win support for organic farming in the neighbourhood of this sanctuary, a step that will enhance the food availability and safety of the GIB which consumes beetles and other insects.
How quickly things can deteriorate can be judged by the fact that as the District Collector of Solapur from 1995 to 1997, I would see GIBs on every visit to Nannaj.
On none of my recent visits was I able to see a bird, not even on the bird’s favourite hillock, where my daughter and I used to see them so often. It worries me, of course, to observe how farmers who were once happy to grow coarse grains like jowar now want to grow sugarcane, flowers and pomegranates, thanks to the abundant water they obtain from the Ujjani dam. If this trend continues, then grassland species, such as the blackbuck, chinkara, grey wolf and the GIB face a bleak future.

The Melghat Tiger Reserve: Cattle and people

I first visited Melghat in 1979, when it had just been brought under the Project Tiger mantle. On night drives, we came across gaur and sambar, but during the day all we saw were cows and buffaloes… no wild herbivores. A decade later, I returned as Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad, Amravati, with a clear mandate to implement programmes to reduce poverty. The sustenance of Korku tribal communities  depended on lightly-cultivated soils on which they grew wild millets including kodo and kutki. Each year roughly half their crop would be lost to deer and wild pigs, not to mention beetles and grasshoppers. The sanctuary regulations did not permit black topping of access roads, new dams for irrigation or setting up cotton ginning and dal mills, all of which were possible just a few kilometres outside the wildlife sanctuary.
Protecting wild animals in the 1,500 sq. km. Melghat Tiger Reserve, with 28 villages, a population of 16,000 humans and 11,000 head of cattle, was a huge challenge. Particularly, when you consider that the estimated number of herbivores was a mere 3,500 on which 34 tigers were supposed to depend. At that time, neither the tiger, nor the Korku people seemed to be doing too well. The tigers would resort to cattle raiding, particularly during the monsoons, and Korku cattle owners and farmers had to suffer not only crop losses, but bear attacks and cattle kills.
We had to cut this Gordian Knot if both people, and the reserve, were to be provided a real and sustainable future.
We took a conscious decision to develop variegated strategies based on local geography, social conditions and ecological circumstances. We also aimed to involve local communities in regenerating ecosystems on which their own lives would ultimately depend. In the last 18 months, with the support of the Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan and Forest Minister, Dr. Patangrao Kadam, Maharashtra’s political and administrative system, the Forest Department has been able to put these plans to the test. And while it is still too soon to pass judgement, the landscape-wide approach seems to be showing results that point towards a renewal that will benefit both livelihoods and biodiversity conservation.
Summer is the ‘pinch’ period for animals when water becomes scarce. This is when animals are forced into much closer proximity than they would normally prefer, as can be seen from this image of a sloth bear, awaiting its turn at a waterhole occupied by two tigers.
Photograph by Mihir Godbole/Wild Maharashtra

The last remaining vast forests of Vidarbha: A nuanced approach to protecting Melghat, and Tadoba

The Satpuda and Tadoba landscapes are two of the largest contiguous forests remaining in Maharashtra. Home to source populations of tiger, gaur, chital, sambar and endemic birds such as the Forest Owlet, the hill forests of Melghat have relatively low herbivore and tiger populations, in contrast to the plains of Tadoba and the Karandla, Bor and Nagzira landscapes, all of which have dense populations of herbivores and, consequently, tigers.
Over the past two years, we have evolved a nuanced strategy to meet our biodiversity objectives, while simultaneously catering to the sensitivities and the needs of local communities. In Tadoba’s core area, we began with the voluntary rehabilitation of villages. And to provide space for spillover populations of tigers and herbivores, we have managed to expand inviolate Protected Areas such as Nagzira and Navegaon and their corridors. In Melghat, however, 15 of 28 villages will remain in the core. Here, we are trying to promote co-existence by reducing their dependence on forest biomass. This involves providing alternative fuelwood, fodder and also by encouraging eco-tourism based livelihoods.

The larger Melghat Landscape: Co-existence and conservation

In Melghat, we have been implementing a strategy of ecological development in the buffer zone villages. Six out of 28 villages have already been rehabilitated after they passed the necessary Gram Panchayat and Gram Sabha resolutions. These include Vairat, Churni, Dhargad, Barukheda, Amona and Nagartas whose rehabilitation package was specifically tailored to fit individual requirements. Churni and Vairat, for instance, wanted land for the land they gave up. This was done, even the landless got land and the new village gaothan was provided water supply, electricity, black top approach roads and access to schools. Their farms were provided well-irrigation by tapping existing state schemes. They all agreed to move away from free grazing of livestock in the forest to stall feeding, which also supplies biogas-based fuel for kitchen fires.
Amona, Nagartas, Dhargad opted to collect the National Tiger Conservation Authority package of 10 lakh rupees per adult in the family. The Forest Department and Collector’s Office chose to ‘hand-hold’ the process by providing two lakh rupees for relocation and construction of homes. To prevent men from squandering this sum, seven lakh rupees was placed in a long-term, monthly interest-yielding annuity, which cannot be encashed without the prior permission of a committee headed by the District Collector. Each family thus draws a monthly income of Rs. 6,500 (calculated at nine per cent interest with the State Bank of India). With prior permission of the Collector, 60 families chose to encash the bank deposit, and have purchased more than 70 ha. of valuable agricultural land.
Going beyond the legal stipulations of the ‘cash package’ to help develop the new village sites, the administration provided drinking water, electricity to each home, internal roads to newly-settled villages and more. All four newly-settled villages chose their own sites next to, or as part of an existing, developed gaothan so that they could benefit from existing infrastructure and connectivity to larger towns.
Credible NGOs such as the Satpuda Foundation led by Kishor Rithe worked with dynamic forest officials such as Srinivasa Reddy, then the Deputy Conservator, Akot and A. K. Mishra, Field Director, Melghat, because they knew that delivering real benefits to villagers was key to the tiger’s future.
Camera trap images reveal the return of gaur, chital and tiger to all the meadows that magically regenerated after the villages moved out. Following the principle of ‘nothing succeeds like success’, villages that were initially hesitant are now flooding us with requests for similar rehabilitation packages. This includes Semadoh, Somthana, Talai, Rora, Gullarghat and we now need to obtain the resources to enable this. An independent socio-economic study by the Amravati University reveals that in the rehabilitated villages the per capita income has tripled!
The grassland species of Nannaj like the blackbuck and grey wolf, have fought a long, hard battle for survival and are often associated with bustard habitats.
Photograph by Praveen Pardeshi

The larger Tadoba Landscape: Inviolate core with eco-tourism and sustainable agriculture in the buffer, inclusion of corridors in expanded Protected Area network

“Why is the tiger coming to our village every day? Do something about it!” That was the continual refrain of one resident of Jamni village who kept disrupting a meeting I was attending to discuss the park-people relationship. I imagine that in bygone days Jim Corbett must have faced similar outcries, but the villager no longer had the option of summoning Jim Corbett to solve the problem his way!
Later that day I was at the Pandharpauni lake in Tadoba, when I saw a tigress with her four cubs that showed up as if on cue in response to the heat of summer. Ideally, villagers living around Tadoba and similar wild landscapes should profit from the presence of tigers. Instead today, the tourism trade and visitors benefit, while villagers are left paying the price in terms of loss of livestock, crop raiding and constant fear.
Tadoba, Jamni, Navegaon, and most of the families of Kolsa have opted for voluntary rehabilitation outside the park. Funds were allocated for Navegaon and Jamni to move to chosen sites at Amdi and Khadsanghi on the Mul-Nagpur road with irrigation, electricity and drinking water facilities at the gaothan itself.Tiger conservationist Bandu Dhotre, and the husband and wife team Poonam and Harsh Dhanwatey who run the Tiger Research And Conservation Trust (TRACT) have both played positive roles by working with the Forest Department, while representing the villagers’ interests.
But this is not enough. In the buffer zone and in forests under the Territorial Division of the Forest Department, serious tiger-poaching incidents have recently taken place. It is here that the spillover populations of tigers are lost after they leave the protective care of the 10 to 12 breeding females that occupy Tadoba’s core critical habitats. Strengthening less-protected forests such as the corridors leading to Bhivapur, Navegaon and Bor is therefore essential. This is what has occupied Dr. Vinay Sinha, Field Director, Tadoba, who did his PhD. in participatory Forest Management, over the past year. Working on a strategy to share revenues earned from tourism with villagers in the buffer zone, he used the gate fees of Rs. 45 lakhs lying with the Tadoba Tiger Foundation to give a sum of Rs. 51,000 to each of the 53 villages in the buffer zone. This was used for community welfare on necessities such as biogas plants and stall feeding of cattle.
He also placed a moratorium on more than 51 vehicles entering Tadoba’s core, while empowering the Junoana and Devada villages outside core areas to erect a gate and collect fees from visitors who chose to avail of a specially-created wildlife route managed by the village Eco-Development Committees (EDC). Additionally, local youth were trained as wildlife guides. With 15 more routes planned in the protected buffer, these areas promise wildlifesightings comparable to those in the core. The experiment seems to have succeeded. Seeds have been sown for livelihoods that sustain people, while benefitting the tiger.

Sustainable livelihoods linked to a rise in tiger and wildlife populations: Koyna, Chandoli and Bhimashankar: A mix of rehabilitation and community based eco-tourism

Villages in the Koyna Sanctuary, like Dichauli, Punawali, Nahimbe and Ambheghar suffer a double burden. The Koyna reservoir has cut them off from their normal economic markets in Karad and Satara, and the declaration of the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary has led to further restrictions on them, making transportation, livelihoods and energy a huge challenge. Such villages have been petitioning for rehabilitation for several years and we are trying to raise resources to meet their demands. Over the past year, the state Forest Department has managed to develop village infrastructure in Pulus and Babar Machi, where nearly 200 families have already shifted, free from crop depredation by wild pigs and sambar!
In the vast buffer zone around Koyna, Joint Forest Management Committees have become active. Working with the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve officials they have developed trekking routes for intrepid hikers who will be invited to walk designated trails on the understanding that theirs will be zero-garbage visits, and that all waste will be carried back out of the park. Local village guides, familiar with the area have been trained by expert naturalists who will add to the monitoring strength of poaching squads, particularly in the remote crest areas that are difficult to reach daily, even for forest guards, particularly during the monsoon.

Hope for the future

In recent years, with advancing climate change, habitat destruction and pollution, India has been battered by bad news. But we also have news of resurrection and recoveries – for instance, the slow return of Gyps vultures (with the Bombay Natural History Society taking the lead) and olive Ridley sea turtles (thanks to Bhau Katdare and his inspirational team of volunteers off the coast of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg).
Recognising the wisdom of using the internal motivation of NGOs, the Maharashtra Forest Department is adding its strength by co-financing ‘vulture restaurants’ to ensure Diclofenac-free food. Support for collecting and hatching of olive Ridley turtle eggs and releasing them is underway. All the tiger reserves of the state have received support from Hemendra Kothari’s purposeful Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), which donates patrolling vehicles and equipment for forest staff. In the case of the GIB and the grey wolf, the process of protecting grasslands is underway, though the course is predictably long and uncertain.
It is my view that Homo sapiens may well be able to reverse the destruction of nature. This article is a plea to all of you to join hands with Forest Departments and conservationists to make this a reality. Admittedly we have a long way to go.But we now know the right direction.
Two battalions have been appointed and trained as a Special Tiger Protection Force that works with the Maharashtra Forest Department at Pench and Tadoba. They are supported by anti-poaching teams that collect local intelligence from paid informers, and help convey a message of co-existence with wildlife with other villagers.
Photograph by Anish Andheria
by Praveen Pardeshi, First appeared in: Sanctuary Asia Vol. XXXII No.3, October 2012

Thursday, May 22, 2008

A flycatcher and a Colonel

(Photo credit: Mr P Ramanan)
I saw this lovely little bird on my recent trip to Melghat and Chikaldhara. The MTDC Chikaldhara resort did have many feathered visitors, and all we had to do was sit around with our binoculars, and sure enough you would see a daily parade.

One afternoon, Mr Ramanan wandered in excitedly with his camera, and showed us this amazing capture - a Tickell's Blue Flycatcher. Though we all rushed out to try and see it, it had whizzed away by then.

I remember idly flicking through Grimmett and Inskipp's book on birds of South India, and wondering whether I would see any of the lovely, colourful flycatchers on Pg 180! And I was in luck! He showed up again the next day, and I was ready and waiting. Under the fig tree this time. Something blue whirred past my ear, and darted from branch to branch seemingly snapping things out of the air. When it settled for a rest, it was the same Tickell's Blue!

He kept me fascinated and enthralled for a while, as he showed off his flying skills, trilling excitedly (or so it seemed to me anyway!) These flycatchers eat, well flies, and so do need to do these fighter-plane type dives!


Feeling rather pleased with my "sighting" I went off and announced to all the others, rather grandly, then read up about it, and wondered aloud who this Tickell was, who seems to have a lot of birds named after him.

Then, the next day, this little fellow was down by the leaky pipe - remember the one I wrote about here and I took this picture on the left. He is quite small isnt he? Then, of course everybody got a view, and so now all the Melghat gang have seen this bird!

On our return, I did a desultory search for "Tickell", and guess what, he showed up rather quickly, on Wikipedia at that! (What would we do without that marvellous tool?!)  There's even a picture of him there.  This Colonel of the British army seems to have been one active birder, and there's this little blue marvel, plus a flowerpecker and a leaf warbler and a thrush named after him.  

My salaams to Colonel Tickell

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Melghat vistas

Continued from here...

The table tops from Chikaldhara....

The Gavilgarh hills, with their characteristic table tops.
The brown hills are actually covered with teak forests.
Will make a pretty sight, post-monsoon.
The picture on the left is the view from the resort.  Perched atop the farthest hill is the Gavaligarh fort.  The picture on the right is the hilltop with the MTDC resort.  The little speck of a building is the resort.  
Great location isn't it?
Below, the hills at dawn, and then later at midday.
A greener view ...

And the rivers ..

These were at Melghat in the sanctuary.  Tributaries of the Tapti.  The Sibna, mainly.
Below, left is the small pool at Ghol Khas, where we saw water birds like the Black Ibis and the Woolly-necked stork, as well as a Malabar Whistling Thrush, which had to be lost!  Its supposed to be in Malabar isnt it?!



Above right, in the evening light, and below, in the early morning light!
 

The dry river beds revealed the lovely rounded and smooth river stones.  I was tempted to bring a few back....

Beautiful sunsets
Birds profiled against the fading light, on the tree top.


There is a view point called Sunset Point, on top of the tallest hill there called Vairat.


And the wildflowers

... Which were all so pretty.  I checked them out on  Flowers of India.

I got a few ids.



The one on the right is the Mexican Prickly Poppy.  It grows all over India, and give a yellow juice according to the site, and is toxic, so animals dont graze on it.  Pretty though.

The one on the right is either Indian Snakeweed or Blue Porterweed.  

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Dahi rabri anyone?





This terrific signboard alerted us to the local delicacy of dahi rabri or rabdi. No, no, not another daughter of Laloo, but a cooling summer speciality that seemed to be the raison d'être for the existence of the eateries that we came across in Semadoh. Funnily, we didnt find it in Chikaldhara, just 26 kms away. I wonder why....

Ordering it with curiosity and enthusiasm, the group fell strangely silent when this was plonked down on the table at Mukund Rao's hotel. Err, what was it? Well, the white clumps are the dahi, and the brown goo it is residing in was the rabri.
It was not re-ordered shall we say.

This was the pet cow that inhabited the front of this dhaba. The first time I've seen a cow behave like a dog - beg for food - gently brining its snout near our plates. I'm sure if we hadn't shooed her away in time, she would have quite happily had the dahi rabri. (Why didnt I think of it then - could've magically and quickly finished it off that way!)

Anyway, near this dhaba was a women's toilet which was an enclosed-for-modesty open to the elements square. One day we found this cow in there, using the facility! Well trained isnt she?!


We settled for rotis and dal, which were really good.  Mrs Mukund Rao sat in front of this chulha, in the scorching summer heat and produced a pile of them.  The final baking was done by the proprietor himself, on another stove.

The locals did not seem to eat a roti-type lunch.  Rather the usual order seemed to be dahi rabri, jilebi and batata wada.


This here, is our trusted jalopy.  It was a Mahindra Maxx, which rattled and shook us around Chikaldhara, Semadoh and the Melghat sanctuary.  The amazing thing was that it did not break down - this particular vehicle - throughout our stay and travels.  

This was Sajid's vehicle.  Sajid was a commendable young man.  Every morning he would be at our dorm at 4:30, drive us through the day in the dust and heat - no power steering mind you - with a cheery grin all along.  he seemed to be the local champion carrom player, because he would report in the morning saying he won a game the previous night.  

A few days down the line, I discovered that Sajid was consuming 25 packets of Gutka in the course of a day.  I also discovered that those rows of colourful sachets hanging in the dhabas were all different brands of gutka, all very correctly carrying skull and bones and health warning messages.  Aren't these things banned?  In my broken Hindi I managed to convey to Sajid in gory a manner as possible the ill-effects of chewing tobacco... he promised to stop.... he shifted to chewing gum on the last day we we were there....I do wonder if he managed to kick the habit?

So, here's a whole generation getting addicted to chewing tobacco, while Anbumani Ramdoss talks about drinking and smoking in films.  Talk about missing the wood for the trees.

I do wonder what Sajid thought of us.  Mad Madrasis is my guess.  Since he was the better/safer/more sensible driver of the two, we women were assigned him, very chivalrously by the men.  We of course spent our time in the van giggling hysterically as the dust rose from the roads, and Raji covered her head, face and was soon just a vague bundle.  We found a lot to laugh about on that trip, everything recounted in the van, to further laughter.

At one point, Sajid decided he would drive the other vehicle, at which point Raji told him (in Hindi worse than mine) that she would only travel in his vehicle, whichever one it was!!  You have to agree, that he was a brave young man, twenty something at the most, facing these 40+ crazy women!

So, if any of you fellow travellers of mine remember what it is we laughed about, please do write in.   I remember a few -
#  The wild dog, which turned out to be a goatherds dog
# Wind rustling the roof in the night and Raji swearing it was an intruder tapping the door
# Deepika asking the forest guide nervously as to what to do if she came across a bear in the jungle (his suggestion that she lie down and play dead only made her more nervous!)
# Raji and me winning the laziness competitions hands down
# Mr Kadamkar, the forest officer suggesting cheerfully that we spend the night at Raipur ( a dusty village in the middle of nowhere), and Mr Ranjan saying that he would die if we did such things!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Waiting in line



Definitely more orderly than we Indians at a bus stop! Mr Ramanan from MNS  snapped this terrific moment on a hot dusty afternoon at our Chikladhara resort, on the recent Melghat trip.  The apt title was also his.

The leaky tap proved a delight for us birdwatchers as there were several visiting dignitaries - these red vented bulbuls, yellow-throated sparrows, spotted doves and more.

The red vented bulbuls I am well acquainted with, as they frequent the trees around our apartment in Madras, but I never tire of them. They have a lovely, chirpy musical call, striking colouration and an alert, intelligent look about them, all beautifully captured in this photo.

Check out Mr Ramanan's other photos here.


Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The majestic Crested Serpent Eagle

This was the sight that greeted our jalopy as we entered the Melghat forest at Pipalpadav one evening.  I think, for me this is the closest I have been to a raptor in the wild.  

The forest was quiet, resting in the afternoon heat, when Divya spied this lovely specimen on a branch to our left.  As we watched in silence, the eagle also sat in silence, ignoring us, and keeping a sharp look out for prey.

Sekar, clicked away and came up with these compositions in brown.  Trees, leaves, bird - almost a sepia print.  

Do click on the photo, to enjoy a full resolution view.  Only then will you see the crest, its hooked beak and the black bar across its tail - all distinguishing features for the Crested Serpent Eagle.  


In Melghat, we subsequently saw a lot of these raptors, circling above, sitting on trees, calling in the forest.

They are fond of well-watered country and also eat snakes, besides frogs, lizards and rats.

That was all we saw that evening.  Not one other creature moved in the forest.

That's the beauty of a jungle visit.  The jungle will reveal when she wants to.  You are unimportant.  A visitor.  

Be patient, enjoy the quiet and you may be privileged to see some small marvel.

When I return from these trips, I am always greeted by, "So what did you see?".  Its kind of difficult to explain that I enjoyed seeing the fallen leaves, the large anthills, the round river stones and the experience of not being "at home".  This is not my habitat anymore.  I am so far removed from it, I am a city person, sure to get lost on my own in the forest.

The dry and dusty teak forest of Melghat.  Initially my mind rebelled.  I want green, I want life, energy and vibrancy it said.  But after about three days, I think it did grow on me.  We learnt to cope with it, and recognise that in Nature there is summer - hot and dry and no running away from.  Life is not always about Spring.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Travel tips for Melghat


So, where do you stay if you do decide to visit Melghat?  We stayed at the town of Chikaldhara, which was 26kms away from the sanctuary gates.  But little did we realise what that meant.  The 26km was bad ghat roads to be traversed in a 20th century jalopy!
So, the Mad Madrasis at Melghat were travelling 104 kms a day to just get in and out of the sanctuary!  Not advisable, no definitely not!  Unless ofcourse you have a masochistic streak and like your bones rattled and reset, everyday!
If your aim is the tiger sanctuary, staying at the village of Semadoh, in the valley, makes more sense.  The problem with Semadoh, though, is that it is HOT in the day, though cool in the mornings and evenings.
It boils down to this - 
Semadoh for proximity 
Chikaldhara for better weather, scenic views of the hills and good birding.  But be warned of the long rides.
If you do choose Chikaldhara, then the MTDC resort we stayed at is best avoided.
We took the dorm, and the pictures below show you the state of disrepair and neglect of the property.
Fans and lights are missing, and the roof looks like it would leak in the rains - see all the stains on the roof?
Missing tube lights and stained sheets as well.
The doors of the toilet would not close, the taps would not work, and everything was falling apart. The enthusiasm and can do spirit of our group ensured that before we left, things were a bit better than when we arrived!
The whole property showed a lack of supervision and maintenance, scrap and rubble all over the place, broken chairs and window panes.
Then of course there was the dining room, where the cook and assistant had gone off on vacation, and we were fed by the boy who is probably a helper in the kitchen. The sunny temperament of this boy and his willingness to accommodate our need for less spice and oil were the saving grace. The kitchen would've been closed down by any sanitary inspector - roaches and grime kept our food company.
The dining room was another Mr Bean moment, with its oddly skewed pictures on the wall, broken window panes and wires running all over the place.

As with all government properties, the MTDC place has a superb location, and the view into the valley provides great birding opportunities, as also the fig trees on the campus.

The district was also in the throes of systematic power shutdowns. The notice board carried a weekly schedule of the timings of the power cut. While there was definitely no power during the times promised, it did not mean that we were assured of electricity the rest of the time!
These are issues that you expect to face while on the move in small town India.

The only thing that bugs me is the apathy of government officials, and the complete indifference of the public sector employees. My point is, why is the government in the business of running hotels in this country?
The most memorable and telling quote is probably that of the manager of the MTDC place, who moaned to us that even he could not get tea from the kitchen, leave alone us!
That summarises beautifully the state of affairs - the complete lack of accountability of the system, despite the dozens of registers, and the customer is not important attitude of all the staff.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Mad Madrasis at Melghat


We did make it!

75 + birds species
Dry - I mean really dry - teak forests
Five dry rivers
Brown everywhere
Including the gaur, sambar and wild boar
MTDC horrors at Chikaldhara
A leopard seen while on foot
Bone-rattling jeep drives
Dahi rabdi at Semadoh
40 degrees + temperatures with no power
New friends - Sajid the driver and Neelkant the make-shift cook boy

MNS camaraderie
Endorphins released to last us a year, I think!
Nothing-is-impossible Vijay
Been there done that Mr Ramanan
Ever giggling and helpful Divya
Sweet-tempered Shoba (doesnt anything make her mad?!)
Mr Ranjan from Kochi
Deepika and Shoben - between them we had everything from a knife to bottle opener to kakras and teplas
Raji - our quack doctor with her Himalaya ayurvedic supplies
Stoic and wry Sekar


A trip full of memories and incidents to last a lifetime.  Pioneers, maybe we were?  I wonder if there is anyone in madras who has been to Melghat?!

More, as and when I recover!

Continued here.


Friday, April 18, 2008

Will we make it to Melghat?

Our train tickets to Badnera are still waitlisted, for our journey to the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.

So, silence for the next ten days on this blog means good news, and that we did make the train.  Else, I'll be back and blogging my blues away.

Where is Melghat?

Good question!  I was also ignorant until a month ago, when the MNS trip was announced. Now, I know that its in the Gavilgarh hills, which is an offshoot of the Satpura mountains in northern Maharashtra.   

What I am looking forward to is the 5 tributaries of the Tapti for which it is the catchment area supposedly, as also the peak Vairat, which is at a height of 1,000+m, and the forests and the cool weather (I hope!).  Maybe the Gavilgarh fort as well.

How are we getting there?

We are taking Navjeevan express from Chennai to Badnera, a 19 hour journey, and then driving down to Chikaldhara, where we will probably stay at the MTDC accommodation.

And will we see the increasingly rare tiger?  

Here are some links about the state of the sanctuary:

Day 3 Andaman - The road to Rangat

 Feb 12th 2024 Continued from here. A strange day it was, with so many new experiences, some amazing, some frustrating, some bewildering and...