Fence at Kas

When the rain starts to wane, the Kas plateau comes in bloom. All of the hill is covered with white, blue, violet and yellow hue. Beauty of this, the plateau attracts lots of tourists. Thus come the vehicles, plastic. One can't  avoid the temptation of plucking the flowers. Some people even lay down over the flower bed.

Recently, the seven kilometer stretch of Kas plateau has been made a no parking zone. Anyone found plucking the flowers are to fined. All these moves are welcome, but there is also a proposal for putting down fence along the road to prevent tourists from trampling the flowers.

The fence, obviously, would serve the purpose but it would also affect the movement of wildlife across the plateau. It would also hinder grazing from cattle from nearby villages. These grazers are also a part of the ecosystem of Kas.

Moreover, the fence is meant for tourists, who are visit the plateau only for about a month.  The fence would certainly cause more damage than benefit to the ecosystem. Even the fence may not stop all the tourists from getting out of its bounds. People always find way to cross such barricades.

Some people also suggest that fencing would stop the spread of natural fires which are helpful for the sustenance of the ecosystem.

Kas plateau, like most other places of natural beauty is sure to be affected by the increasing number of tourists. However the solutions that are meant to prevent such damage must not be of more damaging kind. We should all hope that the administration take advice from some good ecologists before applying any solutions and lastly being wildly optimistic, I hope that people too understand what their enjoyment or romanticism or whatever costs to the beauty of such places and the survival of the species living there.

  

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A group of Gaurs in Radhanagari had come out of the forest and were reported to damage crops in the nearby villages. The villagers are asking the forest officials to take back 'their' animals and compensate for the losses suffered by them. Farmers are now being reported to use their own methods to protect their farms from the intruders- a wire carrying electric current. Three gaurs so far have reportedly being killed, their bodies taken into the forests and the evidence destroyed.

As always, the animals are at loss in this fresh human-animal conflict. Humans ( or animals) are playing their roles very well in trying to protect their territory and in the case of gaurs, increasing theirs.
Gaurs have come out due to scarcity of food in the forest but they really are intruding into the land owned by humans (No matter how much these humans have encroached upon the gaurs' land so many years ago). However, officially (for humans) the government-protected animals have caused damage to the crops and the people are now asking to pay the government to pay for the mess their pets did.

Environmentalists are asking for identifying people who allegedly killed the gaurs and give punishment for their deeds.

Besides being an issue of conservation and property loss, all this thing is about a species trying to increase its territory and the other protecting its own. Though humans have made provision by law for the protection of some species, the species itself is trying to survive and multiply. The guars in this case, if given chance, obviously would try to occupy more and more amount of land. Humans, prior to reservation of land for forests, have done the same thing.
The farms near the forest area are bound to be encroached by the animals inside. I do not know if there is any provision in law to compensate for the damage done by wild animals  (protected by law) to such farms but it seems quite logical. Prior to the laws, the villagers could exploit the forest as they wished. and now, they can't. They are only to watch their farms being eaten or destroyed while animals like gaur, wild boars, etc. rampage through.  Most farmers in India have very little farms which when destroyed would leave them with no food and money all year. So, compensation to farmers is quite correct.
Killing of animals, however, is difficult to deal with. Humans always have occupied land by killing whatever was harmful to his purpose. Most of the developed countries have destroyed most of its wildlife while colonizing new areas. Protecting such magnificent animals like gaur, surely must  have ecological significance but by and far it is more of aesthetic value to most animal and nature lovers including me. I really admire the beauty of gaurs and want to have them survive till eternity. But this must be within their reserved areas. Any damage to human property because of them should be liable for compensation and any encroachment by humans into the forest must be liable for punishment. Laws have made borders and laws should be responsible for any problems arising from their breach.

Note: I know I am not eligible enough to comment on such issues. These are just my opinions.

 

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One morning

I was having a breakfast of Idli, the other day while I was at Pune. It was a mobile stall with only two vessels, a bundle of paper-plates and one employee who was also the owner of the stall. Students like me went their as we could get cheap and tasty idlis. That day he was accompanied by one of his friends. Now, when you are sitting at your friend's stall on a working day morning, it certainly means that you are unemployed. Incompetence, lack of interest or or just irresponsibility towards life in general...whatever the reason. He was having a plate of idli too.
A small girl child came at the stall. I knew her, she belonged to the group of people who live on footpath outside the University. Their men probably worked somewhere in city and their wives begged at traffic signals. They used their children to get sympathy. Bigger children earned their own money by begging. I had long lost sympathy towards them as I knew most of their whines.

Naturally, I ignored the girl and continued eating. She probably was just out of her bed (?) and had come there to find some food. And then the stall owner's friend ordered an idli for the kid.

"She comes here everyday and asks for food, yaar!", the owner informed.
"Whatever it is, she is just a kid.", his friend said.

She was just a kid, a 4 year old, free from all the shrewdness her parents might have. She only knew that she can fill her stomach if she asks for it. She did not knew what begging was. I do not like giving alms but she won't care for any money if she gets some. She just wanted something to fill her hungry stomach. I could have done that easily. I allowed her to stare at my mouth. A 4 year old kid. Ashamed of myself, I went away.

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Red Beach

Went to a beach near Digha. Seeing the crowd at Digha beach its easy to guess that not many people know about this wonderful beach nearby, and its good for some reason.

It was my first occasion to see life in its grand form. Just as we were able to see the sea sand... we saw these spectacular creatures standing still on the sand, perhaps warming up in the morning sun. There were thousands of them to be seen. Unusual, as I had seen only the sluggish crabs in my backyard, they were very quick. They ran inside their holes as soon as they sensed  our approaching steps. As we walked farther over the sand the ground appeared red everywhere except the sand between 10 feet radius from where we were standing. This white circle moved over the sand along with us. No matter how softly we tried to approach them, we gave ourselves away to them as they disappeared deep into there holes.

My fellow friends however found the beach to be boring as there were no other people to be seen. they decided to go to more (most) crowded Digha beach. I and one of my friends retreated, a bit sad, away from the most amazing scenery I have ever seen.  Better they be left alone. Staying there for long would only have harmed them. Hope this beach stays alive with these crabs for years to come.

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