Siblings from drought-prone Man in Maharashtra’s Satara plant 9,500 trees, conserve water on hills in 5 years | Kolhapur News – Times of India

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KOLHAPUR: The story of a little bird carrying water in its beak to put out a raging forest fire, as related by actor Aamir Khan in one of the episodes of Satyamev Jayate, motivated a 16-year-old Rohit Bansode to take small, but sure, steps towards tree plantation and water conservation about five years ago.
Today, Rohit and his younger sister Rakshita, who joined in his effort a couple of years later, have planted over 9,500 trees on 180 acres of land and have prepared the hillslopes to retain rainwater in the tiny Gondavle village of Man tehsil in Satara district.

Siblings from drought-prone Man in Satara plant 9.5k trees, conserve water on hills in 5 yrs

The barren land has turned green in the last five years

Rohit, now in college, was recently awarded the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vanashri Puraskar, given by the state government to those who take efforts to plant trees, develop forests and conserve flora and fauna. Rohit is the youngest to having received this award, which was instituted four decades ago.
Man and Khatav tehsils fall in the rain-shadow areas of Satara district. The average annual rainfall is just 513mm here as against Mahabaleshwar tehsil of the same district which gets around 5,800mm. The river Manganga in Man tehsil is in flow for just 4-5 days a year during the monsoon. Most of the land here is barren.
Speaking to TOI, Rohit said, “The moral of the story is that no matter whether you are equipped or not, whether you are big or small, one should at least try to save the nature.”
Rohit said, “I have seen women from my village walking tens of kilometres barefoot to fetch a few litres of water. Farmers cannot carry out their activities in the fields due to water scarcity. Cattle have always been at the mercy of the government for their food and shelter. In such circumstances, I realised the importance of planting trees.”
Rohit and Rakshita would initially step out every day with shovels and spade and dig the slopes of the hills nearby. They then built retaining walls around the slopes with locally available stones and also dug trenches alongside.
“The first monsoon after our effort showed that we were on the right track. The trenches were filled with water and some greenery had also sprung up,” Rohit said.
The siblings’ endeavour soon caught the attention of local foresters, who helped them get plants, seeds and other necessities to continue on their ambitious journey.
Man range forest officer Bhagyashree Thakur said, “The siblings have done very important work. The proposal to give Rohit the Vanashri Puraskar was recommended a couple of years ago. The water conservation and plantation works have infused life into barren land. Grasslands have developed and the wildlife count has increased. Wild foxes have since made the newly developed forest their home. Birds and other small animals have also taken shelter there. Efforts like this will go a long way into achieving the goal of 33% forest cover, which is necessary to maintain balance in the ecology.”
Thakur said that through community participation, the forest department has planted trees on over 55 hectares this year itself in the drought-prone tehsil.

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