Mission Possible - The Northern Edge!

Arriving from Delhi for breakfast with Rajeev Khedkar at his Comfort Zone home in Pune was interesting. It was to occur to me later that the poha cooked by him (Rajeev) would be the best for the entire trip. 

Pandu, Sharma and Vijay

Vijay and saarthi Ravi travelled from Sangamner (about 160 from Pune) to drive us through the northern Western Ghats over next six days. Vijay's knowledge about the region came handy in making a sense of the twists in the travels. His bio-cultural perspective on WG should lead towards creating a new set of writings on WG - region wise - as a potential new way of documenting the region. I hope it turns out to be a time-bound exercise over the coming months. However, it would need to be thought through with other similar persons to make contributions from other parts of WG. A serious but doable task!

It was shocking to see at least 15 big irrigation dams in Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts, spread over several hundred hectares. With Western Ghats mountains all around, the site seems ideal for such structures. But the villages are sparsely inhabited and poor. With the Ghats being compressed basalt, the lush grassy cover is not necessarily ‘fodder’ and hence no large cattle herds roam anywhere. The terrain is surely tough, and yet people continue to live. What are the ‘compelling’ factors that override the ‘constraining’ factors for people to continue habitating the region? Can we draw their ‘kundli’ (check left column at kanjarcare.blogspot.com to get a brief reflection on what I mean by ‘kundli’.) to make some sense. I also think some assessment of the ecosystem services (especially water) should make sense in highlighting the virtues of WG. Perhaps, very few in Mumbai realize that the water they flush comes from WG. Efforts in this direction would enliven the discourse on WG. I think important is to locate such questions for finding new answers.

I would imagine ‘sacrifice’ to be an important take home from this trip. The Malin tragedy (see Day 2 below) should be capitalized to recreate the value of conservation in people’s mind. The day can be observed in some form to connect with wider audiences. I suspect if many people travel to the disaster site. The sacrifice of the non-descript humans should not go waste. Human psychology has special place to value such sacrifices, and we must not let it pass.

Follows below is day-wise itinerary

Day 1: Started from Pune at around 1200 hrs, and reached Ahupe village via Manchar. Dimbhe dam was sighted on the way. We had to stay at the house of an Adivasi under most compelling conditions but had good interaction with him about their lives and challenges. Worst, there was power shutdown for better part of the evening. A perfect start to an interesting journey.

Malin: The Eco-Disaster Memorial

Day 2: We started from village Ahupe , which is tucked in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 3,000 ft, and is 140 km from Pune. We also went to Ghoregaon, Junnar, and Naneghat where we went up to the majestic cliff which is on old trade route from Paithan to Kalyan and so on. We visited a sacred grove in village Talmachi, where Tiger is the deity. Total distance covered 145 km. It was painful to visit perhaps the only eco-disaster memorial site in Malin village where a landslide had consumed 151 lives during the monsoons of 2014. The memorial has names of women and children who had perished in the tragedy.

Day 3: We had started the day from the Tulsi Vihar Agro-Tourism Madh Village on the Kalyan-Nirmal National Highway in Junnar block of Pune district. We visited Otur, Brahamnvada, Kotul and Rajur villages in Akole block of Ahmednagar. We observed the landscape and recorded the changes the area is going through. We visited 11th Century temple in village Ratanwadi, and also the Ghatghar Hydel Project. Staying at the ecotourism site in tent was first such experience for me. Total distance travelled was some 169 kms.

Day 4: We located the Sanket Guest House in the district town of Ahawa in the region called Dangs in Gujarat, which is about 32 km from the tourist town of Saputara. We had started the day from Waki small-dam site (where we had stayed in tents) near Bhandardara irrigation dam in Akole block of Ahmednagar district. On way, we visited one of the 12 Jyotirlingams in Triyamabkeshwar (from where Godavari originates) and went to the only of its kind coin museum (Shanti-Krishna Museum of Money & History) at Anjaneri village on the Nashik highway. Met young Yogesh at the same village, a potential case for initiating a ‘Gen-Next Fellowship’ program to engage with next generation in understanding the value of WG from a distinct 21st century perspective. Total distance travelled during the day was 180 km.

Day 5: Dangs turned out to be picturesque and forested landscape though teak plantation was heavily infested. Ayurvedic practitioner Yogesh at Subir village told us that adivasi life is shattered on account of forest destruction and outside influences. We travelled to the very beginning of the Western Ghats at Navapura, and travelled back to reach Nashik through pesticide-loaded grape plantations. Amidst it we found a Bee Centre-cum-Park for children’s picnic at Pimplegaon Baswant - a good concept but badly executed. The agro processing centre by the same guys is a recent start. Stayed at Shri Siyaji Hotel on the outskirts of Nashik during the penultimate day of our WG yatra.

with Ashok and Jyotsna

Day 6: A visit to NIPHA wines on the outskirts of Nashik was the high point of the trip. Ashok-Jyotsna run winery offers the perfect combination of Science (Ashok)+Arts (Jyotsna) of wine making. They are deeply involved from producing grapes to fermenting wines of different flavors. They are great teachers, demystifying many myths about the so-called organic wine. They sell about 15,000 bottles a year and are into profit. In their case, it takes almost a year to make wine whereas commercial setup like Sula bioengineer the process into just 3 months. It is a inspiring case of entrepreneurship.

Our next stop was at Ojhar water user cooperative - 24 WUAs engaged in water distribution and management from dam Waghad on Kolvan River. Met Sh. Ramnath Wabale who explained the work of Samaj Pariivartan Sanstha. The cooperative water distribution is running for some 29 years now, and it only led to the birth and success of Sahyadri Farmer Producers Company. After lunch, Pandu and Sharma departed for Mumbai whereas Vijay and Ravi left on their 80-km home bound journey to Sangamner.

Epilogue: All credit goes to Pandu and Vijay for planning the agenda-less trip, and for Ravi to ferry us around without any fuss. Bhakri (Jowar roti) was lead cereal during the trip, alongside local vegetables. 

(The travel was conducted from Dec 22-29, 2019. and many of its findings are still relevant.)