Deepavali at Rishi Valley - Vignettes from Nature

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Sanctuary Asia talks about the way forward

The Way Forward

October 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.

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!

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.

Photograph by Anish Andheria
by Praveen Pardeshi, First appeared in: Sanctuary Asia Vol. XXXII No.3, October 2012

Birds of Pangot and Sattal

Flamingo flock makes pit stop in Chennai - The Times of India

We saw them at Kutch, and at Pt Calimere, and now they are here.

Flamingo flock makes pit stop in Chennai - The Times of India

Karthikeyan Hemalatha, TNN | Oct 29, 2012, 03.38AM IST

CHENNAI: These are special guests in times of destruction and degradation. The arrival of a flock of flamingos in Chennai has excited birdwatchers, 
photographers and environmentalists. Around seven Greater Flamingos, including six adolescent birds, were spotted at the Pallikaranai marsh on 
Sunday morning. Ornithologists said the birds are probably on their way from Rann of Kutch in Gujurat to Kodiakkarai (Point Calimere) in 
Nagapattinam. Rann of Kutch, close to the Pakistan border, is one of the largest flamingo breeding grounds. 

"During winter, they travel south to feed. Chennai, however, is not a feeding ground so they are probably making a stopover here," said K V Sudhakar, 
president of Madras Naturalist Society. Flamingos are more common at Pulicat Lake, around 60km north of Chennai. 

"It is very unlikely that they will stay here for more than a few days," said Sudhakar. The next time one will have a chance to spot them in the city is in 
March, when they start their return journey back to their breeding grounds. 

But birdwatchers in the city say spotting these elegant birds has become rare over the past decade. "We spotted around 40 the year before last. 
There have been very few sightings and it is a privilege to see them," Sudhakar said. 

Flamingos were sighted in the Adyar estuary till two decades ago. "But now they do not come to the mouth of the river any more because of 
encroachments in the area," said T Murugavel, a city-based environmentalist. "One or two birds still stop there sometimes during migration and 
also in the backwaters in Sholinganallur." 

There are five species of flamingos in the world. Two of them are found in India, the Greater and Lesser Flamingo. These birds can grow up to 
145cm in height and have a wingspan of up to 165cm. They are known for a distinctive pink hue and their peculiar way of feeding. "The pink hue 
comes from aqueous bacteria and beta carotene in their diet," said Sudhakar. 

They have long necks and they are their beaks sieve the algae, plankton, shrimp and small fish they eat," said Sudhakar. 

There are about two lakh flamingos left in the country.

Tibetan mountain finch rediscovered after 80 years

Now, if only something like this had happened on the day i stayed back at Ghangria!!!  Or maybe there was some elsuive species and I just did not see it.  Possibilities and dreams are endless!!

BBC News - Tibetan mountain finch rediscovered after 80 years


Tibetan mountain finch rediscovered after 80 years
By Adrian Pitches
Environment correspondent, BBC North-East

A chance encounter put this finch back on biologists' map
It has been missing for 80 years but Sillem's Mountain Finch has now been rediscovered on the Tibetan plateau by a trekker who was too ill to leave camp.

The mountain finch has been an enigma ever since its discovery in 1929, not least because it wasn't identified until 1992.

Two specimens of the sparrow-sized grey and white bird with a russet head were collected by Dutch ornithologist Jerome Alexander Sillem on an expedition to the Karakoram mountain range in 1929.

Nowadays this is the disputed border region of China, India and Pakistan and a no-go area for birders.

The specimens were labelled as a race of Brandt's Mountain Finch (Leucosticte brandti) and consigned to a drawer in the Amsterdam Zoological Museum.

And there they remained until 1992 when a modern-day Dutch ornithologist, Kees Roselaar, opened the drawer and realised the two specimens were a distinctive species in their own right. And he named the new species Leucosticte sillemi - after the original finder.

Fortunate misfortune

But then the trail went cold - until June this year when French nature photographer Yann Muzika was trekking in the Yenigou valley of Qinghai province in China. However, he contracted food poisoning on the eve of departure and was soon confined to camp.

Yann takes up the story: "After the second day, I decided to take a day break and explore the surroundings as much as my condition would allow.

"It was a trek, not a birdwatching trip, but I was nevertheless carrying a camera and a 400mm lens, just in case.

"I came across a flock of Tibetan Rosefinches (Carpodacus roborowskii) and with them there was a single bird that I did not know, resembling a Brandt's Mountain Finch but with a rufous head instead of dark brown. I took one picture before the bird flew away.

Fantastic! At last the proof that sillemi still exists”

Kees Roselaar
"On my return home, I just downloaded the pictures and left them for a few weeks. I still couldn't identify the finch but in the Birds of China field guide there was a brief description of Sillem's Mountain Finch that seemed to match pretty well... but then we were talking of a bird that had not been seen since 1929.

"As I was reaching the limits of my expertise on birds, I sent the picture and others taken during the trek to Krys Kazmierczak who manages the Oriental Bird Images database for the Oriental Bird Club."

He immediately realised the significance of the "mystery bird" photo that had been emailed to him.

He told BBC News: "When I saw the excellent photo of the mystery bird my immediate thought was Sillem's Mountain Finch! However, being of a cautious disposition I did quite a bit of checking and consultation with others.

"Now we are pretty sure that it is Sillem's Mountain Finch, especially since it has been endorsed by Kees Roselaar, who simply said: 'Fantastic! At last the proof that sillemi still exists'."

The June 2012 bird was found 1,500km to the east of the original sighting in 1929 and the Oriental Bird Club is now urging birdwatchers to search for the bird above 5,000m over a vast swathe of high altitude Pakistan, China and Tibet.

And his blogpost with pictures is here:  http://thewildernessalternative.com/2012/10/20/sillems-mountain-finch-rediscovered/

The Hindu : FEATURES / METRO PLUS : Hullabaloo in the banyan tree

Hullabaloo in the banyan tree

AKILA KANNADASAN

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• Coming homeBirds roosting on treesPhotos: S. Siva Saravanan, V.V. Krishnan, S. Mahinsha & N. Rajesh
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Offbeat Have you ever noticed how many birds make their homes on some ancient trees in your city, asks Akila Kannadasan

Istand under a banyan tree in Perur, sipping coconut water, when I hear them. Is it the cuckoo? Or the myna? I can’t figure it out; but it sounds like all the birds in the city have decided to sing their hearts out. The sounds get louder as dusk sets in, and the entire area is engulfed in the music. “They gather here every day,” says Nagathaal, the tender-coconut seller. “Don’t we all go home after work? It’s the same with birds. This is their home.”

The tree must be way over 100 years old. Its branches spread out like an umbrella and the thick canopy casts a cool darkness below. Nagathaal’s shack is right next to the trunk. She has been waking up to the sound of the birds every morning for the past 35 years. “They come at around dusk and chatter till 11 p.m. They are up by 3 a.m.,” she says, speaking of her bird-neighbours. There are many trees in the area, but none of them is as alive as this one; mynas and crows seem to have a special liking for it.

“Birds are attracted to huge, old trees,” says bird expert A. Sukumar. “They roost in their branches in the evening. Dense canopies protect them from predators.” Sukumar says that many species of birds prefer banyan and peepal trees since they can feed on their fruits.

These trees are like an apartment complex where a variety of birds co-exist. They fly to their branches hoping for a good seat for the night. There is competition, which sometimes leads to squabbles. But most of them are settled amicably. After all, they are old neighbours. “There is an understanding between them,” says Sukumar. The evening cacophony has a lot of meaning to it, he adds. “A bird might be saying to its partner, ‘Come soon, it’s getting dark.’”

Sukumar says that some peepal and banyan trees can house up to ten species of birds. “Crows will roost in the top floor and mynas will take the middle floor. Smaller birds will occupy the lower floors,” he says. Many other places in the city have massive trees where birds roost in their hundreds. For example, the banyan tree at VOC Park, the one near Vasantha Mill in Singanallur and the one near Kurichi tank.

“The banyan tree is a sanctuary,” says M. Gunasekaran, an independent bio-diversity researcher. “We can sight a variety of bird species on its branches. Fruit-eating birds, hole-nesting birds…the tree is a multi-dimensional attraction.” Gunasekaran has spent long hours admiring the birds that come to roost in the banyan tree in Perur.

It’s interesting to observe them, he adds. “Like men who rush to catch a seat for themselves and their family when a bus pulls over, birds fight it out for a comfortable branch.” They must have worked hard all day, looking for food, giving predators the slip…a few hours of rest will do them good. No wonder their chorus dies down a little after dusk — their day begins at dawn and they cannot afford to be up all night.

Retired zoology professor K. Rathnam explains the 6.30 p.m. commotion. “For some 15 minutes, there is a racket, and then they settle down. Birds travel long distances to reach these trees, most of which are in places they find safe.” Crows, cuckoos, sparrows…they can all be heard, but it’s the myna that’s the loudest of them all, adds Rathnam.

Resting as a group gives birds peace of mind, since there are multiple eyes looking out for danger, says bird enthusiast K. Mohanraj. He says that around 15 years ago, there was a strapping vaagai tree in Ramnagar from which you could hear the loud ‘quack quack’ of wetland birds. Sadly, the tree is not there anymore.

Now that there is the promise of rain, cuckoos will be in the mood to sing their best songs, he says. Ace photographer and writer M. Krishnan poetically titled one of his books Mazhai Kaalamum Kuyilosayum (The rainy season and the cuckoo’s song). Mohanraj adds that urban-dwellers could hear the bird song in their backyards, if they planted bushes. “Hibiscus, mullai , henna…plant them, and small birds will come to them. They will sing for you.”

Maram Thatha K.A. Nagarajan, who has raised thousands of trees in Erode, feels that there can be only one reason for birds to cause a hullabaloo when they settle down for the day. “They are happy. ‘Appada,’ they feel, ‘my work for the day is over.’”

Bharatpur may get more water

Good times ahead for Keoladeo birds with completion of Govardhan pipeline

Sunny Sebastian

The water woes of the celebrated park have come to an end

The Govardhan drain pipeline bringing flood waters to the Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur in Rajasthan.— Photo: Special Arrangement

The birds of Keoladeo have perhaps never had it so good! The water woes of the celebrated Keoladeo National Park, listed as a heritage site by UNESCO, have come to an end with the completion of the 17.10-km-long dedicated pipeline on the Govardhan drain.
The much awaited Rs.56-crore drain project, taken up with funds provided by the Planning Commission under Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to Rajasthan, was formally completed this weekend. This Saturday saw the first flush of rain water from the canal entering the F 1 and F 2 blocs of the park. As the electrification of the pumping station is yet to be completed a generator was used to pump water, which heralded a new era in park history.
“This is a momentous occasion for bird-lovers and conservationists. The absence of a guaranteed source of water for the park all these years had been posing a serious threat to the very existence of the marshland as well as its status as a world heritage site,” Rajasthan Minister for Forests & Environment Bina Kak told The Hindu .
“We thank the Centre. The support it extended through sufficient funds would surely register in the annals of conservation history,” Ms. Kak noted.
Though the monsoon season has come to an end, the glass-reinforced plastic and mild steel pipeline, bringing the flood waters from neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to parts of Rajasthan, is still expected to provide 30 million cubic feet (MCFT) to 40 MCFT water.
“The park is finally getting its due. The impact of water on the birds will be seen during the coming winter,” said conservationist Harsh Vardhan, who has been crusading for Keoladeo for long.
The Govardhan drain originates in Haryana, enters Rajasthan at Santruk village in Bharatpur district after winding its way through Uttar Pradesh. The seasonal water body finally drains out near Agra. It is estimated that during 35 days in the monsoon, the Govardhan drain pipeline can provide 350 MCFT water. “A dedicated pipeline was thought about in the wake of the bitter experience of farmers en route the canals elsewhere demanding a share of water,” noted Chief Conservation of Forests P.S. Somasekhar, who was in charge of the park in 2009 when the idea was first mooted.
The park had three to four extremely bad years between 2006 and 2009. “We were desperate for an assured water source other than Panchna dam. During these years, Rs.10 lakh on an average was spent on diesel for pumping sub-soil water to the depressions in the park in order to keep the fauna and vegetation alive,” Mr. Somasekhar observed.
Keoladeo, a place graced by the rare Siberian cranes till the turn of the Century, has been twice lucky with water this year. Only recently it started getting 62.5 MCFT water brought to Bharatpur town for drinking purposes from the Chambal river. For fully inundating its marshes — as it was during the golden days — where the heronry breeds during winter and keeping of boats for the tourists afloat, it needs a minimum of 450 MCFT water. With these two sources and a share from the contentious Panchna dam, the park now can expect to have its good times returning!

From The Hindu

Back to the chaos

Day 6 described here

Day 7 - Leaving the Valley and coming down to earth

The way up was drizzly and wet for the most part, while our trek down was sunny and cheerful - blue skies, fabuous views - to start with, and blazing hot as we finished, with aching toes and thighs trembling with tiredness!

It was a bit dreary coming into Govindghat, to the flies and garbage along the slopes of the river.  Such moments always makes me wonder about the path of development that we have chosen.  Along with this explosion in consumption, where are the necessary systems for civic smenities?  Sustainable development is just not happening as yet.

It was good to see Manmohan though, cheerful as ever, with his Tempo Traveller all ready for us.  We escaped from the flies into the Bhagat Palace, and we used the common toilet to change out of our smelly trekking clothes - atleast some of us did.

Lunch -  which was wonderfully tasty - done, and we had to go pick up one of our group from the Joshimath hospital - she had suffered altitude sickness and luckily was able to take the helicopter down.  She was also lucky that we had doctors on the group, to attend to her.  When all is well these are the things that one overlooks, and if one is going on any trip like this, we should be aware of the medical emergency help that is possible,

Early evening, and we were down to Monal at Rudraprayag. 

This is a view of the resort that faces the Alakananda river.

And this was what greeted us in the morning.  Mist over the river

The next morning, we strolled through the gardens, but Vidya, Sreelata and Damayanti with Abhimanyu were more adventurous, going back down to the river  and the Koteshwar temple, for a dip.

They reported that the water level had risen so much, it was above the steps on the waterfront, and almost lapping into the temple.  I did regret having been lazy, on hearing that, but I was in a mutinous mood - no more ascending or descending for my legs!!

Breakfast done, and it was back to the tempo and down to Rishikesh

The river was by our side all along, gushing in a narrow  gorge sometimes, and looking very lethargic in the wider spaces, but brown all along, filled with silt.

2 pmish - And then we arrived at Rishikesh.  It was drizzling again.  The pictures do not do justice to the chaos and noise around us, but here goes.  All these picture are taken on the E72 Nokia mobile.

Crossing the Lakshman jhula, the first time.  The main temple can be seen. 

Abhimanyu took us to the Ganga River View restaurant, on the opposite bank, and we were suddenly ina peaceful coccoon!

The views are just beautiful.  This, as we recrossed the jhula

The bridge itself

More river views

I think this was the Ram jhula

The Ram jhula - see how packed it is with monkeys, cattle, humans and two wheelers.  There were foreigners seeking nirvana, businessmen on bikes, housewives off on some errand, gawking tourists like us.  One white lady insisted on having her picture taken with her hand on a cow and her eyes half closed in bliss (mind you she was in the skimpiest of shorts), in the meanwhile she held up all the traffic, and the bridge seemed to sway and judder alarmingly.  Deep breathing and a panic attack averted!

6pm - and we thankfully fell back into our van and shut out the honking buses and blaring loudspeakers!

It was an emotional evening at Haridwar, which was our night halt.  We had to say goodbye to Abhimanyu, our friend and guide for this past eventful week.  We congregated in Damayanti's room, and filled in Arjun with all the stories of our exploits, and we were very pleased at how impressed he was with his wife's performance.  And the ladies had a complete giggling bout to see his horror at the massage stories - I shall not elaborate further here!

In the process, I almost broke Damayanti's sofa cum bed, and this resulted in more hysterical laughter.  A nice way to end the evening.

And so ends this Valley of Flowers diary of mine, as the next day's drive into Delhi is too mundane to write about...except the fact that Gapi and I got gypped on the huge crate of mangoes that we each took.  They did not travel well and when we returned, I had to make them into juice!

Until we meet again, here's to my fellow travellers on that wonderful wonderful trip - Abhimanyu, Archana, Damayanti, Gapi, Jayita, Manmohan, Prem, Raji, Sonya, Sreelata, Vatsala, andVidya.