Pune, Oct 2 (IPS) – Dhamapur is a small village in Malvan taluka in western Sindhudurg district, house to the well-known Dhamapur Lake. King Vijayanagar constructed an earthen dam in 1530 AD, creating a synthetic lake surrounded on three sides by hills. Canals join it to the Kali River, which irrigates lush rice paddies and farms rising the crimson soti and valai rice varieties endemic to the area.
A Bhagwati temple in-built typical Konkan fashion stands on the river financial institution. This temple is flanked by small anthill shrines devoted to Goddess Bhagwati. It’s because all through the Konkan area, anthills are thought-about to be incarnations of the Earth Goddess and worshiped as Goddess Satri. These are monuments to biodiversity and well-being; the termites, or termites, that construct their mounds are recognized to aerate the soil, help seed dispersal, and improve soil fertility. The worship of anthills is an historic Vedic observe that continues to at the present time in and round Maharashtra, the Konkan area of Goa and its surrounding areas.
The development of the earthen dam at Damapur Lake additionally displays native ingenuity. Composed of porous laterite stone discovered domestically, every layer of stone alternates with a layer of biomass made out of branches and branches.
This freshwater reservoir for irrigation and ingesting water is among the oldest engineering marvels of Maharashtra. Its waters and the Kalse-Dhamapur forest on both aspect nurture quite a lot of distinctive flower and animal species, making it a preferred vacationer vacation spot.
However past its magnificence, this man-made lake is located excessive in comparison with the encircling countryside and performs an essential function in recharging groundwater by performing as a sponge throughout the monsoons. Apart from being an essential supply of ingesting water and irrigation water, Damapur Lake nourishes the complete ecosystem. Its waters and surrounding forests assist all kinds of wildlife, a few of that are endangered species. Its significance will be seen from the 2020 World Heritage Irrigation Buildings (WHIS) award awarded by the Worldwide Fee on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).
However lately, a number of incidents of encroachment have affected this huge water physique. Inns, wells and walkways constructed within the floodplain to advertise tourism have been encroaching on its huge space, ignoring the wildlife that thrive in its pristine waters.
Struggle for Damapur Lake
In recent times, nonetheless, Dharmapur Lake has discovered a savior in Sachin Desai and his group Syamantak Belief. By the way, Sachin Desai and his spouse Meenal have an fascinating background, which explains their love for the pure world and India’s lengthy custom.
The Desais believed in house schooling and due to this fact fought the authorities to have their daughter homeschooled. In 2007, the 2 professionals gave up their well-paying company jobs to determine the College of Life on their ancestral lands to familiarize younger folks with conventional bricklaying, carpentry and agricultural abilities. Love and respect are instilled in younger folks. That’s how the Syamantak Belief got here into being.
Over the subsequent few years, learners and younger individuals who hung out on the College of Life used the information they gained to specialize of their respective fields or enterprise into entrepreneurship, promoting native merchandise to the vacationers who frequented Dharmapur. Rohit Ajgaonkar, a former pupil of Life College, has turn out to be an energetic volunteer at Syamantak and runs a small eco-café in Dharmapur. The eco-café makes use of native elements and affords a variety of native delicacies comparable to kashayam and jackfruit, wooden apple and mango ice cream.
Rohit and his mom Rupali Ajgaonkar run a store subsequent to their eco-café, promoting hand-pounded native masala, mango and jackfruit toffee, native pickles, cashew paste, kokum syrup and kokum butter. Prathamesh Kalsekar, one other Life College pupil, is the son of a neighborhood farmer and is presently pursuing his bachelor’s diploma. (Agriculture) in Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth. He planted a non-public forest on his property in Dharmapur and now has many native fruit and vegetable bushes, shrubs and vegetation, with a particular concentrate on nutritious wild varieties. He additionally established a nursery of saplings to distribute to native farmers.
The continuing combat to avoid wasting Dharmapur
These abilities and respect for nature got here in helpful when Syamantak started a community-led marketing campaign to avoid wasting Dhamapur and different water our bodies in Sindhudurg district, after the authorities constructed a pedestrian bridge and ran diesel engines in 2014. Village Autonomous Our bodies) function boats for vacationers. However regardless of fashionable enthusiasm, that is simpler stated than accomplished.
Desai and his volunteers realized, “There are a number of wetlands and water our bodies in Sindhudurg district. Nonetheless, the authorities haven’t notified or demarcated any of them. This has led to encroachments, lots of that are by authorities businesses .Within the case of Dharmapur Lake, the excessive flood line was ignored and personal events encroached on the encircling areas of the lake. Even the state authorities agriculture division constructed a nursery and drilled a properly within the floodplain of the lake.
Utilizing the Nationwide Wetland Atlas compiled by the Indian Area Analysis Group (ISRO) Area Functions Middle and the Maharashtra Distant Sensing Functions Middle in 2010, the Syamantak Belief labored with the western area throughout the tenure of Atmosphere and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh to method the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal judges. Some residents of Sindhudurg district have additionally filed an Environmental Curiosity Litigation (EIL) to avoid wasting the lake. At the moment, the phytoplankton inhabitants had been lowered as a result of building of 35 pillars and a 500-meter-long cement concrete overpass.
An interim order issued by the courtroom in 2018 not solely stopped all additional building but in addition eliminated every bit of concrete from the lake space and demolished it. It additionally stopped utilizing diesel boats on the lake. Apart from, the state Public Works Division (PWD) has been ordered to allocate Rs 15 crore to take mitigation measures to reverse the harm brought on by the development of a 2.5-km aerial walkway and use of diesel boats.
In the meantime, on the orders of the District Collector, a 32-member Wetland Transient Recording Committee and the Syamantak Belief have been shaped to arrange native residents to file the wildlife of Dharmapur Lake. They have been quickly joined by college students from native structure colleges, academicians, botanists, zoologists and geographers from Mumbai and different elements of India, in addition to Dr Balkrishna Gavade and Dr Yogesh Koli who additionally contributed to the examine gained skilled information. Mapping Dharmapur helped volunteers perceive the biodiversity hotspots within the Western Ghats area, notably the forested areas round Dharmapur Lake.
After 5 months of recording the assorted wildlife of the wetland, it was found that 35 species of birds belonging to 18 households frequent the lake, such because the Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Indian Pond Heron, Lapwing, Kingfisher and Lesser Bee-eater. The lake was discovered to be notably wealthy in phytoplankton and zooplankton species, that are an integral a part of the wetland ecosystem. Volunteers may also learn the way the wax dart butterfly was first reported on the shores of Dharmapur Lake in Maharashtra.
After mapping Dharmapur, the volunteers went on to doc a complete of 57 wetlands and water our bodies in Sindhudurg district, together with these but to be listed by the authorities. These embrace Vimleshwar in Devgad, Pat Lake in Kudar and Jedgyachikond in Chaukul, amongst others.
The uphill battle to avoid wasting Dharmapur Lake
The mapping and abstract of violations will come in useful within the NGT’s combat to guard Dharmapur Lake. Nonetheless, the neighborhood’s efforts to get Dharmapur Lake acknowledged as a wetland have to date not borne fruit. “Our case was dismissed by the NGT in 2023 on the bottom that the lake didn’t qualify as a wetland below the Wetlands (Conservation and Administration) Guidelines, 2017 because it was constructed for ingesting water and agricultural functions,” Desai informed IPs.
Nonetheless, the belief and its neighborhood volunteers haven’t given up but. They’ve now petitioned the Supreme Courtroom
1) Delineate lake buffer zones and excessive flood strains; and
2) Notification of the lake by the state authorities in its gazette.
They imagine that after notified, the lake can be shielded from additional encroachment by private and non-private businesses.
In the meantime, the Syamatak Belief, along with members of the local people, continues to familiarize visiting college students and other people from different elements of India with this distinctive water physique and its wildlife via an eco-walk. Beginning this yr, Syamantak Belief has began organizing classical live shows with the theme “Connecting to Nature”, permitting music lovers to discover the wealthy repertoire of Hindustani classical music and its reference to the seasons and the pure clock.
For now, the Desai household and volunteers from the local people sincerely hope that after folks in Dharmapur and past be taught to understand and love nature, it would assist them higher join with the lake and its whole ecosystem. This can be one of the best and solely bulwark towards the harmful processes of local weather change.
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