This Man Planted 10 Million trees!

“He that planteth a tree is a servant of God, he provideth a kindness for many generations, and faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.”

–   Henry Van Dyke  

He is a man on mission to plant trees and bring back the green cover. Wherever he sees a barren spot, he takes out seeds from his pocket and plants them. People say he has planted over a crore trees. He is passionate about his work. He recollects that as a child he saw his mother saving the seeds of ribbed gourd for the next planting season. He learnt his first lesson from her. He says, “Seed is the secret of evolution. God has given life to it and it proves to the world its existence by giving birth to a plant when wedded to soil, during monsoon. “The plant then withstands several onslaughts by the humans around her, finally to grow into a mighty tree and save the same people who tormented her. Not satisfied with just her own survival, she strews seeds on the ground to create the future generation and continue with her good work.”

Meet Daripalli Ramaiah, of Khammam district presently in Telangana State. People in Khammam know Ramaiah as “Chettla Ramaiah”, where Chettu means tree. Peddling a cycle, holding the handle with one hand and sprinkling the choicest seeds on the sides of the pathways is how he started his long and audacious journey of greening. “Of all the species that consider the earth as their home, the most exalted is the human being. He supposedly has intellect, can think, can do and can get things done. Nature has bestowed her choicest blessings on this form of life. Therefore, we have a duty towards Nature. Protect the nature; protect everything created by God, for the posterity,” says Ramaiah. What is it that he gets in return, is the moot question one asks, in this materialistic world? Satisfaction, contentment and sublime peace is what he gets on seeing the millions of saplings grow around him, taking deep roots to stand erect as huge and mighty trees.Ramaiah proved to this world that you need not be rich to start philanthropic activity. What you need is passion and the path starts appearing before you, paving the way for the road ahead.

Daripalli Ramaiah

Being passionate about his mission, he collected various native seeds such as Bael (Bilva), Peepal (Bauhinia Racemosa), Kadamba (Nanclea Cadamba), Nidra Ganneru (Albezia Soman), Kanuga (Pongamia), Neem (Azadirechta Indica), Erra Chandanam (Red Sanders), and many more and chose the canal banks from Khammam, Palleguda Bridge and started greening the four kilometre stretch on both sides of the path. He raised plants in every small piece of barren land, which have now become huge trees saluting him with all their humility.

His activities did not stop here. He planted many trees in the local library premises as also the local temple. He knows the history of almost every tree there. He recollects with satisfaction how he requested the then local MLA to plant a tree and shows it to people with pride. He makes it a point to request any big dignitary visiting his area to plant a tree. This nature lover not only plants trees but also paints slogans and messages about the environment and the need for trees in Telugu on all the walls of the villages. Not stopping here, he collects all waste material such as used clutch plates, tin pieces – you name it – and paints slogans depicting the importance of trees. His main slogan is “Vrikshio Rakshati Rakshitah”, which means if you save the trees, they will save you. He wears them as his crown and moves about in his area with pride.

One who smears sacred ash is a priest, one who wears Khaki is a policeman and one who adorns a green scarf is Ramaiah, is his reply to all his critics who feel that he is wasting his time. Yes! He is the uncrowned king of nature. He equates plants with children and professes that both require initial care so that they grow strong to take care of you. It is not just that he plants trees, he also knows their uses. His profound knowledge acquired by reading old books purchased from the second hand book shops along the road side by means of his very limited resources makes him a walking encyclopedia on plants. Once, an elderly person who liked his work gave him ₹ 5,000/- on the occasion of his son’s marriage. He used the currency notes to propagate his mission. Money, or lack of it, does not deter him from pursuing his passion. A relative who knows only the commercial value of trees advised him to cut and sell the red sanders trees in his court yard which had attained sizable girth. Ramaiah did not give this a thought even for a moment. He said that he is developing a seed bank for posterity and all his trees will only help in producing more trees.

“I do not believe in people who cut trees but prostrate before a stone. For me, Nature is God and God is Nature. “He collects the seeds every season and raises a nursery of red sanders and distributes the plants for free. He takes whatever anyone gives as price for his plants and uses the money for raising more plants. He is not just an environmentalist but also an economist, sociologist, scientist, and mathematician and, above all, a Met physicist. He asks, “Why doesn’t the State plant commercially useful species like Teak and Red Sanders in the waste lands, rear them and sell them in the market?” Maybe the State Governments have to seriously think of this option.

Ramaiah became a sculptor also by accident, or should we say, because of an accident. When he was chased by children while on his cycle, he fell and sustained a fracture. This immobilized him for few months. His undying spirit told him that while his legs are immobile, his hands are still free. Thus he learnt sculpting with the help of nails and hammers. He painted and sculpted all stones nearby with slogans and images of leaves, plants and trees. “Every sapling that I plant should survive, come what may. That is my motto.” he says with pride.

Once, he found it difficult to break the shells of teak seeds, it being painful and time consuming. While he spent all his spare time on this, he still found that his task was far from being completed. He then made a seat of it for his wife who sits near the fire place for cooking. Her constant movements and her frequent sitting on the bag helped in breaking the shells, making his task easier. This small episode only tells how involved Ramaiah was in his task. In his journey, his wife also played a very important role. She stood by his side through thick and thin and helped him in fulfilling his passion.                                                                                                                                                                                                        He has developed his own green philosophy.                                                                                                                                                               He says, “Instead of giving a fruit to a child, give them a plant. Let them nurture the plant into a tree and enjoy its fruits forever. This way, they learn to love nature. Today children are tomorrow’s citizens. Similarly, today’s plants are tomorrow’s trees. “What great thoughts. Ramaiah does not require a doctorate to profess these words. He is a highly honoured man in his area. He adorns himself with crowns and scarfs with slogans written on them and parades his area on his cycle like an emperor. All those who heckled him once, adore him now. He has spent his entire life time in greening the land like a soldier who spends his life time protecting his mother land.

The administration has been paying the environmental activist ₹. 1,500 a month to support his mission. Officials, as he claims, have promised to enhance it, but it has not materialized so far. A nursery to support his mission is what all he has been dreaming about.  There could be many people who have done their jobs with passion, but Ramaiah chose his passion as his unpaid job. There cannot be another Ramaiah when it comes to raising trees. He is a great model of humility and devotion to work. He is an inspiration to many, and at least at this late age, he deserves recognition.

Changing the life of rag pickers and protecting the environment

Tags

Conserve India, rag pickers, Shalabh Ahuja

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

― Edward Everett Hale

Though everyone knows that plastics are not good for the environment, yet they are ubiquitous. Until the time you and I learn to say ‘No’ to plastics, the situation may not change much. The tons of plastic waste generated daily in our cities is a major environmental hazard. Lots of people keep complaining about the menace, but thankfully some are trying to address the problem in their own small ways.

A Delhi based couple Anita and Shalabh Ahuja are doing a fabulous job, teaming up with rag pickers who supply plastic waste to them, which are made into stylish bags, footwear and other accessories and sold at boutiques in Europe. They have put into practice the three “R’s” for environment conservation viz, Reuse-Reduce-Recycle. The profitable 100 percent export venture could have become a good commercial enterprise. But the couple stuck to their guns to let it remain a non-profit one, so that the earnings from the business could be used to uplift those living at the bottom of the pyramid.

The feedback from the rag pickers is encouraging. “I was a rag picker and having a hand to mouth existence, but with the training I got from ‘Conserve India’ today I earn ₹ 16000 per month,” says Shamim, a resident of Laxminagar slum in Delhi who has been with Conserve India for past twelve years. He had been picking waste near Anita’s house, but now he is the cutting master at their factory located at Bahadurgarh in West Delhi.

But Conserve India had a humble beginning. Anita, who is the Creative Director of Conserve India, used to be unhappy about the rubbish heap in the capital and the failure of the Municipal Corporation to effectively clear the garbage. She was also disturbed by the tendency of the people in the neighborhood to always accuse the rag pickers whenever a theft occurred in the vicinity. She felt the rag pickers were actually doing a yeoman service to the environment by collecting the waste and carrying them to recycling plants.

Initially, Ahuja’s got the waste of several colonies collected in a park and then got it segregated. Wet kitchen waste would be converted into compost while dry refuse like polythene bags would be put aside. That project didn’t quite work but led her to the idea of doing something about plastic bags. Over the next two years Ahuja experimented with recycling the bags. She tried weaving them together to create a tarpaulin-like covering for the shacks of slum dwellers. Another time she tried pasting pieces of the polyethylene onto canvas and cardboard. She saw that a thicker fabric could be used to make bric-a-brac like pen holders and file folders, and realized she’d finally found a successful recipe when her homemade products were popular at a fair at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi. She decided to venture into accessories.

In 1998, when the Delhi government launched the ‘Bhagidari’ campaign, asking its citizens to participate in civic initiatives, the conservationist, Anita Ahuja and her IIT-alumna husband Shalabh rose to the challenge and launched ‘Conserve.’ With a seed grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the duo began advocating waste management through seminars and workshops. Initially they planned to wash, dry and press the plastics into thick sheets and sell them as cheap night shelters. However the finished sheets gave the look of leather and a designer friend used it to make a few handbags that became a hit with buyers. In 2002, Shalabh designed an innovative, now patented, process that “up-cycles” this dirty waste into beautiful Handmade Recycled Plastic, known as HRP. It is made from polythene bags picked from Delhi’s streets, rubber from old truck tyres inner tubes, old denims and saris. The processes used to make ‘Conserve’ bags and accessories have been specifically developed to be as energy efficient as possible and to keep out polluting dyes and chemicals.  This not only helps the environment, it also cuts costs, giving the organization more money to invest in other social projects.

The couple took to the business and it grew into 100 percent export venture. In foreign stores their products are marketed on the strength of the environmental and social causes they support. Profit from the business was ploughed back into training the rag pickers and many were absorbed into Conserve India as permanent employees. Most of the rag-pickers are poor, illiterate and belong to rural immigrant families. Many start working at the young age of five to eight years. Most of them have never attended any school. While collecting rags they are subjected to chemical poisons and infections. Due to malnutrition, they suffer from stunted growth and anemia.

Conserve India pays above the prevailing market rate to these rag pickers for the waste they supply, and cares for their wellbeing. There are about 600 rag pickers working with Conserve India. They pay about ₹ 5200 per month to rag pickers working with them. Those who bring sorted plastics are paid ₹ 18-₹ 25 per kilogram, which is more than the ₹ 12 per kg market rate. Conserve India has tied up with a local hospital, which sends doctors to visit slums where the rag pickers reside to address their health needs. They also run a primary school for kids of rag pickers, where about seventy children are now studying.

The rag picking community is unorganized; it is difficult for them to protect their rights. By giving them ‘Conserve Employee Cards’, Conserve India helps them have a voice in the society. Conserve India has also started a campaign called Recognition for Rag pickers. As part of this, the organization is trying to persuade the Delhi government to create an official register so as to recognize Delhi’s 150,000 rag pickers and give them their right to a fair wage. It has not only brought dignity to the rag pickers but also helped them to improve their economic status. These workers of Conserve also undergo medical screenings to help them diagnose health problems on time and send their young children to the Conserve School. It has trained more than 1200 people in making of handbags and footwear. With an initial funding from Asian Development Bank, Conserve India is now starting two new projects for tracking the general welfare of its workers and providing health clinics for those who have no access to healthcare.

Transforming a backward village to an ideal one

“I would say that if the village perishes India will perish too. India will be no more India. The revival of the village is possible only when it is no more exploited. “

– M. K. Gandhi

In 1995, the Adarsh Gaon Yojana was launched. Hiware Bazar in Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) was selected as the village that could be developed as the model village in the district. A befitting tribute, in the words of P. Anbalgan, Collector, Ahmednagar “Hiware Bazaar has become a model village. The Government wants to replicate this ideal across Maharashtra.”  It has become the village with the highest GDP in the country. Each resident of Hiware Bazar village earns almost double of most of the country’s rural population.

Hiware Bazar was not always like this. It used to be a poor village of Maharashtra. But after the drought of 1972, the peace was shattered. People became irritable and restless as the struggle to stay alive became severe. Petty reasons were enough to trigger-off bitter quarrels, as there was so much despair and frustration. Villagers started consuming liquor and it added to their ruin. Many residents migrated to nearby cities to work as daily wage laborers. The local economy collapsed. So did the social fabric that held the village together, in spite of its backwardness. Ninety percent of the villagers migrated. Despondency, hopelessness and unaddressed anger punctuated the villagers’ lives. Lack of water turned the fields barren. There was no governance worth the name. Lack of groundwater and the failure of successive monsoons at Hiware Bazaar, a village of 1,300 people in Maharashtra’s rain-shadow area, made it impossible to grow anything other than bajra. Conditions deteriorated to such a level that no government official wanted a posting there. Barely 12 percent of the land was cultivable and the village would receive hardly 200-300 mm of rainfall. Agriculture and all the allied activities were unprofitable. The existing school was only up to Class 4 and students who wanted to study beyond that, would have to go outside the village.

You would be curious to know, who is the angel who transformed this backward village, to an ideal one. It was Popatrao Pawar, the only postgraduate in Hiware Bazar. Sensing his potential, the youth pleaded with him to contest for the sarpanch’s post in 1989, but Pawar was not interested. In fact, his family totally disapproved of the idea; they wanted him to go to the city and get a white-collar job. Pawar wanted to become a cricketer as he was a good player and his family also thought he had great promise and would play in the Ranji Trophy someday. But as the youth persisted, he agreed to contest. He was elected unopposed. Pawar realised he had got the chance of a lifetime to usher in change. Inspired greatly by the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Jayprakash Narayan, Anna Hazare, Vinoba Bhave and Baba Amte, he was driven by a deep desire to save his village from desolation and isolation.

Pawar began by asking the villagers to become proactive towards creating their paradigms for development. The village was caught in a pincer of alcoholism leading to frequent brawls and violence. There were 22 liquor shops in the village. He got them closed after convincing villagers that alcoholism had made them poor and addicted. He got the gram sabha to tie up with the Bank of Maharashtra to grant loans to poor families, including those who were brewing illicit liquor earlier.

One of the first things the sarpanch did was water conservation and management as it helped farming and brought in some money. He got the villagers to voluntarily help in rainwater harvesting. Soon, the villagers built 52 earthen bunds, two percolation tanks, 32 stone bunds and nine check dams. “We used state government funds. The volunteer labour programme cut costs and also ensured quality work. It was as if we were building it for ourselves and for our children,” he says.

The idea was to harvest every raindrop as it fell. Being in the rain-shadow region, Hiware Bazar received just about 15 inches of annual rain. Ponds and trenches stopped rainwater from flowing out of the village. After the first monsoon, the irrigation area increased from 20 hectares to 70 hectares. “In 2010, the village got 190 mm of rain, but we managed well because of water management,” says Habib Sayyed, who works on water issues in the village. Water management helped them harvest multiple crops. Before 1995, there were 90 open wells with water at 80-125 feet. Today, there are 294 open wells with water at 15-40 feet. Other villages in Ahmednagar district have to drill nearly 200 feet to reach water.

In 1995, only one-tenth of land in Hiware Bazar was arable. Out of a total of 976 hectares, 150 hectares was rocky. Nature was against them as there were recurrent droughts. Now, even the stubborn land is being tamed with the rocks being removed and ploughed so that sowing can start when the rains come. During this period, he worked to improve the village’s moral environment. Due to village’s bad reputation the administration and deputed teachers for the village school considered as punishment posting – creating an environment not favouring learning. As a result for two months school was locked by the villagers with the demand that the gates will reopen only when the district administration deputes good teachers for the village school. This was their first step in the right direction. Later in the following years, concrete steps were taken by the villagers consciously to improve the standards of education and environment in which it is being imparted.

In 1972, when the village’s percolation tank was constructed under drought relief work, one of the village’s wrestlers was given the task of supervision. In 1982 under the similar circumstances it was repaired. Drinking water for humans and animals gets the highest priority. Budgeting helps the village to be prepared for any eventuality. The types of crops to be sown are decided after groundwater budgeting is complete. Last year, 1.47 crore litres of water was surplus. The village utilised that in June this year for vegetable cultivation.

Out of 217 households only 12 are landless. Total geographical area of the village is 976 ha [about 500 ha is arable] that is divided into three micro watersheds. Of this 70 ha is the forestland, which has been developed while working with close cooperation with the forest department. However, the villager’s persistence made the department to provide joint forest management (JFM) programme to the village and the results are evidently visible to everyone. Under JFM and EGS water and soil conservation works were taken up in the upper reaches. About 52 earthen bunds, two percolation tanks, 33 loose stone bunds were constructed. About nine check dams have also been constructed in a series on the downstream nallah.

Crops grown are jawar, bajra, wheat, onion, potato, and vegetables along with floriculture and horticulture. The diary sector has also registered a remarkable improvement. In 1995, the villages’ daily milk production was 250 liters, which is 2,600 liters now. Even 35 families, who had migrated to Mumbai and Pune, have returned. The most remarkable change is that during the ‘Ganpathy Utsava’, instead of many idols the entire village got one idol, thus saving about Rs 21,000 /=, which were gifted to the wife of a Kargil martyr living in the neighboring village. During the Latur’s quake, the village has generously and collectively donated. Attitudes have undergone a sea change. A novel concept of collective farming called ‘samodayik kheti’ has solved the labour problem.  Instead of employing labour, two or three families work collectively in each other’s farm. Thus, solving the problem of labour and creating an environment of social cohesion, where people readily come together and work together. The village is also maintaining a patch of land where 100 different species of plants are duly preserved.

Between the devil of unemployment and the deep sea of inadequate water supply, the 45-year-old Pawar decided to tackle the latter first. Utilising the employment guarantee scheme, the predecessor of NREGA, the villagers and the Forest Department began constructing trenches along forest areas and planted 4.5 lakh trees. As the forest cover increased, water table rose automatically and the village got the first National Water Award for community-led water conservation from the Union Ministry of Water Resources. Over time, they also built check dams, gully plugs and bunds. The next step was to manage crops and water together. Water guzzling crops like banana, sugarcane and rice were banned while cattle were not allowed to graze in forest areas. Tree felling and open defecation were banned too. Says Pawar: “We allow crops that do well with drip irrigation or those that are rain-fed. Now we also grow vegetables and cash crops like onion and groundnut.”

It took ten long years,but the village is now an oasis in a rocky terrain. Groundwater levels have risen from 80-120 ft in 1995 to 15-40 ft in 2010. The gram sabha tied up with the Bank of Maharashtra to give loans to poor families; some of those making illicit liquor are now dairy owners. The village produces 4,000 litres of milk every day; 83 families have returned since 1997 and there are just three landless families in the village now.

The per capita income has shot up from Rs 832 in 1992 to Rs 40,000 in 2010. Children study up to Class X and the primary health centre is equipped with modern facilities. Once basic infrastructure was out of the way, Pawar swung into action to better the quality of life. “We established health and animal centres and anganwadis. Everyone in the village is aware of the importance of family planning and all couples have to take a compulsory HIV test before marriage, we do not have a single political statue in the village. A mosque was built with the village contributions for our fellow Muslim residents.” says Pawar.He adds that there is no violence in the village, and the female to male ratio is higher. Pawar, meanwhile, has no plans of slowing down. As Executive president of the Adarsh Gaon Yojna, his mission now is to sustain the movement of development and make 100 other villages better.

Turning 5000 hectares barren land to a fertile green belt

“To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy.”

― Clarissa Pinkola Estés,

One woman’s decision to stand up and take charge of her life changed the destiny of an entire village. She had in fact been married off as a child, even before she entered her teenage years, at a tender age of twelve. She belongs to the backward caste of ‘Tanti’ (weavers) and as a child had seen how the upper caste members of her village terrified the women from her community. Hailing from a backward community, she was harassed and suppressed. Poverty, hunger and atrocities towards women and children, was what she saw during her childhood. Due to this, she could only study till class IV and was married off at the age of twelve. She delivered a baby at the age of sixteen. She fought life’s odds to become a change agent .But she let none of these factors stop her from growing up into the gutsy woman that she now is.

Meet Jaya Devi, a social activist from Naxal-infested Dharhara Kol region of Munger district, who has received National Youth Award for 2008-09, in the field of Environment Protection & Rainwater Conservation from the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. “The award would boost my morale to fight against odds.” she said. She recently attended a training programme in South Korea and has also shared her experiences and initiatives for saving water as a natural resource and other green initiatives. Today, Jaya is known to the outside world as the woman who had transformed Dharhara Kol in Bihar’s hinterland from an almost barren land of 5000 hectares to a fertile green belt, in which over 12,000 fruit-bearing saplings and grass have been planted, which will enhance soil-and-moisture conservation in the region This she had achieved with the help of the villagers, whom she mobilized to participate in various community inspired water conservation and tree plantation programmes.

Recounting her early life, which was characterized by poverty, hunger and caste oppression, Jaya says her life took a positive turn after her interaction with the Sisters of Notre Dame Health Centre in Jamalpur, a nearby town. She had gone to the center for a health checkup as a 16-year-old, when her second daughter was barely 7 months old.

The Sisters invited her to attend a 12-day training programme in Hazaribagh on creating self-help groups. When she spoke about her desire to attend the programme, nobody encouraged her at home. However she brushed aside the protests in the family and participated in the programme.It proved to be a life changing event for her. Back in the village, she started self-help groups, which began by encouraging the practice of small savings among women.

Dharhara Kol is predominantly inhabited by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes. Dharhara Kol is a hilly, forested and difficult terrain largely without drinking water, irrigation and electricity. Though working with nuns of the Jamalpur-based Notre Dame Health Centre and undertaking various social development activities in the area, Jaya was largely ploughing a lonely furrow till 2001. It was like a tryst with destiny when she came across the Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar Kishore Jaiswal in the autumn of 2001. Fondly called Kishore Daâ by villagers, he is credited to have revolutionized agricultural scenario of the Ang region through agriculture diversification, horticulture and efforts for financial inclusion besides other socio-development activities in the area. If villagers are to be believed, then Jaya has actually done wonders in the area and made a difference to the region, especially through rainwater harvesting and watershed management initiatives. The villagers started by building a tank to store the rainwater. “We decided to work ourselves, each farmer’s family would provide ‘shramdaan’ (free labour) for the construction of the tank,” recalls Jaya.

They reaped the fruits of their labour in the next season. The farmers were elated when there was bumper harvest of two crops, paddy and wheat, due to irrigation from the harvested water. It was a great motivation for them to work even harder and they made a proposal for more water harvesting schemes and submitted it to NABARD. “I was chosen as the President of the Village Watershed Committee,” says Jaya. They completed six watershed projects in due course. Each watershed was able to irrigate 85-95 hectares of farm land. Her passion and zeal made her go from strength to strength in forming Self Help Groups (SHGs). With unwavering enthusiasm, she believes SHGs has helped her serve poorest of the poor, especially women from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, mainly by freeing them from the money lenders clutches.

Later, the farmers and NABARD struck a deal to work on other projects, where NABARD would bear 84 percent of the project cost and the farmers bore the rest of the cost by giving their free labour. This gave the farmers a sense of ownership of the projects. One of the highlights was the Kareli watershed project where the farmers laid an 800-feet pipeline to bring water from the Kareli hills to the ground. That project gave huge impetus to agricultural growth in a low rainfall area.

Jaya transformed the barren land into a green patch with the help of the villagers. Next came environment conservation, and for this Jaya inspired the villagers to plant wild plants and fruit trees. With success coming one after another, and their incomes growing, the villagers grew in confidence. They became familiar with village land records and identified encroachments on their lands. Once when local government officials visited them and distributed food to the villagers in a rude fashion, Jaya told the officials not to treat them like beggars and advised them to instead spend the money on buying solar lamps for the villages.

“There has to be education for further development,” says Jaya. She had visited South Korea for training in water conservation techniques and green initiatives. In Korea, she was impressed with the quality of education that was being imparted, where one teacher was assigned to five children. The villagers have realized the importance of education and are ensuring that their children are educated. Jaya now plans to introduce the villagers to Yoga and Art of Living courses in the near future.

Naturally, Jaya’s success story travelled from Munger to the adjoining districts. So much so that it caught the fancy of Jamui rural population who imbibed and begun to work on watershed management. Riding on the support wave of villagers and community leaders, Jaya Devi has undertaken various initiatives towards restoration and development of wastelands, plantations, promotion of tree and cattle-based agriculture, pollution control, limiting open grazing, farm bunding and saving trees.

Jaya was specially invited to address Youth on Water Conservation in a National Integration Camp at Etawah, Uttar Pradesh from 17th to 22nd March 2012. This integration camp was organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI. In this camp youth from eight states participated. Jaya remains a prominent figure in addressing the issues of water conservation youth workers, rural development and women empowerment etc. not only in Bihar but in other states too.

The fire in Jaya is such that has not deterred her from working even in the Naxal-hit area. Dwelling on her future plans, she says” my  vision is  to make my Ang region a pollution free zone and ensure that all stakeholders work in tandem to equip the area with all basic infrastructures such as schools, hospital, roads, electricity and above all sustainable livelihood opportunities for everyone.” Adding yet another feather to her tireless contributions, the Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy honored her with a prestigious fellowship for ˜her invaluable service to the cause of spreading knowledge revolution in rural India.”

Eco friendly rickshaw

“This is even more evidence of the clear link between vehicle pollution and respiratory illness. We must do everything we can to take high-polluting vehicles off the road.”

— Charlene Zettel

Having spent most of his schooling years at a residential school in Coonoor in the Nilgiris, Sivaraj Muthuraman did not want to stay in the campus hostel when he joined BBA at Loyola College in Chennai. He and his friends rented a house and enjoyed their newfound freedom by exploring the city and nearby places on their modified Pulsar 180 bikes. “I spent about rupees two lakhs in modifying my bike. All my friends were so crazy about our bikes and loved to go on long rides. We went around the city so much that I know every nook and corner of Chennai,” says the 28-year-old innovator of ‘eco-cab’, which is a modified cycle rickshaw that can be pedaled as well as run on solar and electric energy. It was his passion for bikes and his interest in modifying them that made him to attempt a bold innovation later on in life.

Hailing from Tiruppur, Tamil Nadu where his family is into garment export business, Sivaraj was not lured by lucrative offers of jobs in Multinational companies. He chose to listen to his heart and work on finding a solution to the menace of ever increasing pollution and spiraling fuel prices. With business in his genes, it is not surprising that Sivaraj is brimming with ideas

It has been about three years now since he built his first prototype of the eco cab, which was an improvised cycle rickshaw. It was not a solar or electric powered vehicle then. “I purchased a cycle rickshaw for Rs.9000 in Chennai and took it to Salem, where with the help of few welders we fabricated the first eco-cab. I wanted to ply it on the city roads as a free transportation service,” says Sivaraj, who holds an MBA from Heriott Watt University, Singapore campus. Unlike the majority of management graduates who are lured by lucrative jobs in multinational companies, Shivraj chose to follow his heart. His concern for the growing pollution coupled with the ever increasing prices of fuel led him to explore for a solution. While he wanted to promote an eco-friendly public transport, he had also devised a business model as he proposed to make money from displaying advertisements on the vehicle. “There is definitely a social cause to the eco cab, but remember I am a marketing guy basically,” he says light heartedly, making sure he would not be projected as some kind of a social hero.

The first prototype was built with lot of steel pipes and a fiber body. Later, he upgraded it making it run on solar and electric power. He cut down on the use of steel pipes too in the later versions, which reduced the weight of the vehicle considerably. The current version, two of which run on a small stretch between Marina Beach and Santhome, can touch a maximum speed of 35 km/h and run for about 60 km on a single charge. He introduced the pedal model eco-cabs in Beijing, Dublin and Toronto, but the concept failed to take off there as salaries for the drivers were too high and did not match with the revenue generated through advertisements.

This invention entered the India Book of Records under the Science and Technology Category.Vivek Raja, adjudicator, India Book of Records, said, “If we can control the process of burning fuel, pollution can be brought down drastically. Such inventions go a long way in controlling the greenhouse gas effect. Sivaraj’s invention, hence, is laudable.” Dr Manoj Beno, Medical Director, Billroth Hospital, was also present on the occasion. Eco Free Cab which is operating in Ireland, Canada & China, and now stepping into India.  It is a modified cycle rickshaw and aims to encourage people to use Go Green vehicles

Presenting the certificate Mr. Vivek Raja, Adjudicator, India Book of Records stated that, “The world of today is desperately trying to evade the ongoing struggle with the “Greenhouse effect”.  What this world really requires is a revolution which can reduce pollution and create a toxic free environment for the next generation. If we speak about pollution, then the burning fuel from the automobiles is the major cause of it. If we can take control of at least this pollution creator, then we can reduce the level of daily pollution by 5%in every month which means 60% a year.  When more and more countries around the world are turning their heads towards green vehicles, India is not lagging behind. We are glad to acknowledge this brilliant and a noble initiative which has been taken by Mr. Sivaraj, a true citizen of India”.

When asked about the thought process which led to this innovation, Sivaraj said, “About two-and-half years ago, I felt that someone must breathe life into the rickshaw. It was then that I took this up as a project. Rickshaw-wallahs, if you notice, have more or less disappeared. They must be provided training on how to use the vehicle and be provided with a means of livelihood. “Explaining the difference between the Eco Free Cab and other hybrid and battery-operated vehicles, Sivaraj said, “Conventional battery-operated vehicles are expensive, even costing to up to Rs 4 lakh. In comparison, an Eco Free Cab would cost only about Rs 80,000. Thus, the vehicles are cost-effective and are of low maintenance.”

This rickshaw is a solar powered vehicle that can run for 150 kilometers if it’s charged for 3 hours under the sun, thanks to its solar panels situated on the roof and it can run up for a maximum speed of 45 kilometers per hour. This is a really light vehicle so in case the battery goes down in the middle of the course you can always pedal, that’s one of the added advantages of the vehicle. The cab, which runs on solar energy, will be the first eco friendly cab service in India. The vehicle, has a seating capacity up  to three persons including the driver, will provide services to the disabled, school and university students and other people travelling a distance up to 2 km. “It also aims to encourage people to use Go Green vehicles in India”. Some tests were made on classic rickshaw drivers and their reactions were that it was really easy to handle, that it was quiet and smooth. Some even said that their arms didn’t ache at the end of the day as they usually do after a long day of hard work.

As the biggest challenge that he faced with the project, Sivaraj cites lack of public encouragement. “My neighbors were baffled when they saw a prototype of my product in our parking lot. People thought I had gone mad,” he remembered. “Soon, it turned into curiosity, with people wanting to take photographs sitting in it!” The Eco Free Cab will look to raise funds through cover advertisements, informed Sivaraj. “As far as corporate sponsors are concerned, Videocon has indicated interest. However, now, we would like to focus on finishing the product development and market it in about eight months,”

In Chennai, the drivers are paid Rs.7000 per month. They ply the vehicle from 8 am to 5.30 pm with a three hour break in between. An international fashion institute, whose sales and marketing division he heads in Chennai, has taken the advertising space on the two eco cabs currently plying in the city. But it has not been a smooth ride for the drivers of the eco cabs. Sivaraj says the traffic cops sometimes stop the vehicles on the road and harass the drivers. “They ask all kinds of silly questions hoping to extract some money,” he says. Sivaraj says that the vehicle neither requires any registration nor do the drivers need a license to drive it.

Sivaraj says he has plans to develop a commercial model of the eco cab, which he estimates might be priced around Rs.1.5 lakhs at current manufacturing costs. Hats off to this young hero who  is not only  saving the environment but also  providing an alternative to increasing prices of petroleum products.

Organic Farming tripled her profits

“Organic farming appealed to me because it involved searching for and discovering nature’s pathways, as opposed to the formulaic approach of chemical farming. The appeal of organic farming is boundless; this mountain has no top, this river has no end.”

― Eliot Coleman,

Twenty years of hard work and devotion has made Kalaivani from Vellitiruppur, Tamil Nadu a celebrity of sorts in the organic farming circles in Erode district and beyond.Kalaivani, a single mother of three, took to farming after the loss of her husband almost two decades ago. Since then, she has grown all the crops on her farm without using chemical or synthetic pesticides or fertilisers. Over the last few years, she has focused her time and energy in growing organic cotton.

People often associate the cotton crop with parched lands and farmer suicides but Kalaivani insists that cotton can be profitable when grown organically. Organic inputs like Panchagavya and Jeevamritham, both of which contain cow dung as their main ingredient, not only improve the crop yield but also enrich the soil. Organic pesticides and growth promoters can be made at no extra costs. Farm and cattle left overs can be effectively used to conjure up a host of different potions to boost plant growth and immunity.

Cotton is a six month crop. Flowers bloom when the crop is a month and a half old. This gives way to the unripe fruit at the end of two months. During the first three months the farmers concentrate on providing good overall nourishment to the plant. Once the flowers appear after the third or fourth month, the field is flooded with water mixed with organic inputs like jeevamritham and amrithakaraisal .As a result of this the soil is thoroughly nourished and there is improved earthworm activity. A potion made from leaves called ‘Arappelaicharu’ is added to the soil and organic pest repellants are sprayed. In an acre of land, pots filled with neem seed concentrate are put at five to six places. This takes care of the insects which frequent fields during night time. The insects are attracted by the smell but when they land on the neem solution they die. The pod doesn’t burst until the fourth month. At the end of four months, the fruits slowly dry up and dehisce or split open. Cotton picking commences a few days after the first burst. The first three months pass in anticipation of a fruitful, pest-free harvest.

In conventional farming even if they spot a single insect they bombard the field with chemical pesticides. What most farmers fail to understand that when they spray insecticides they destroy insects which can do well for the plants along with the pests. On an average, a farmer invests around Rs. 10,000 to 15,000 for an acre of organic cotton. This includes the cost of seeds, costs involved in preparing the land and wages. Organic cotton is sold at a higher rate compared to those grown using chemical fertilizers and pesticicdes.When chemicals are used, the crop lasts around six months and cotton can be picked three times at the most. When purely organic inputs are used, the crop stands for more than 6 months, so more than 3 pickings are possible. More cotton equals more money. In addition, over time, the quality and texture of the soil improves and the amount of water required for the crop’s sustenance substantially reduces.

In conventional farming by spending about Rs 20,000 on cleaning the field, ploughing, spraying pesticides, labour charges etc, a farmer makes a profit of about Rs 15,000 only per acre. In the case of organic farming ,the yield increases to about 13 to 15 quintals of cotton per acre by using a variety called MCU 5.One can harvest somewhere between 13 to 15 quintals of cotton per acre. After deducting the input cost of around Rs 10, 000, the net profit is around Rs 80,000 per acre. So it would be wise to triple the profits, without slogging it out using pesticides and weedicides, by going the organic way. It also helps to save the soil which is spoiled by frequent use of chemical fertilizers. Overall, moving away from chemical farming has proved to have a lasting effect on the soil as well as the yield per acre. In her spare time, Kalaivani travels to villages in the vicinity, to spread the word, encouraging the farmers to switch to organic farming.

Converting barren land to an organic farm

Oddoor farms, around 25 kilometres away from Mangalore city is a great example of a very successful effort made by Rajesh Naik who has transformed 120 acres of barren land into a self sufficient organic farm by developing a 50 feet lake on two acres of land. The journey has been a long one and not without its share of challenges, but persistence and constant optimism and hard work to overcome challenges has reaped results in the last twenty years, informs Rajesh.

He further adds, “I come from a family of agriculturalists and this land is my ancestral land, which was written off as barren and of no use because of lack of water and the hard laterite rock structures making it very difficult for holding water and for the vegetation to grow. People thought I was taking a great risk when I shared my plan of developing this land and thought that it was impossible and that I was risking my career. However, I was determined to do something about it and that is how I gradually came upon the idea of first working on developing the water resources in the area”.

Rajesh Naik near the lake he has developed at the Oddoor farms near Mangalore

It took a lot of financial resources and time to create a lake that gradually started filling up with water and now it generates around 40,000 litres of water that is used for irrigating the whole farm. This has not only helped in creating and developing greenery in the area, but has also helped in increasing the water table in the surrounding areas of the farm. There is plenty of water in the two wells in the surrounding areas in the farm. Rajesh plans to and has already started working on creating another lake adjacent to the area of this lake. The earlier lake has now established itself; springs have already started appearing in the area.

It is very difficult to believe that this was a land that was once uncultivable, when one sees the two acre lake filled with water and the lush green vegetation surrounding the lake. Oddoor farms is one of the largest organic farms in the area with areca nut plantations spread across ten acres of land besides growing coconut, mangoes, haldi, pepper, bananas, cashew nuts, fruits and vegetables.

 Besides growing fruits and vegetables, Rajesh has also started a diary farm that has around 200 cows that supply approximately 800 to 1000 litres of milk that is regularly taken up by the Karnataka Milk Federation. There is a big grass cutting machine in one of the sheds that provides the ample supply of green grass to the cattle. “We grow the grass on our own farm”, informs Rajesh, “and there is plenty of space here for the cattle to move around”.

 The peculiarity of the farm is its self sufficiency in every aspect including manure production as well as electricity generated for the farm. The farm uses manure generated from cow dung and cow urine is used with other local herbal products to generate organic pesticides to take care of the pests on the farm. The cow dung and urine along with the wash water are collected in a tank, which after fermentation generates large amounts of methane, which is used to run a 60KV generator that produces its own electricity to run the whole farm. The biogas is also used for cooking. The slurry generated is used in the fields and is rich in minerals and calcium.

“If this model can be replicated in every part of the country, the whole country will be able to take care of its water problems and will have agriculture totally based on organic farming. If I could do this on this piece of land, it can be replicated anywhere, what is important is the will of the people and the support from the government to do so”, signs off Rajesh.