Footprints on the Mountainside

Its becoming a habit. I have a conversation with someone that sets me thinking and I come here and write about it

This time it is about Kanheri Caves and what is happening out there.

When I learnt climbing, Kanheri was a regular haunt of climbers. On Sundays and public holidays, the place was literally swarming with outdoor people. A public bus service ran up to the caves from the Borivli station. We used to use that shabby bungalow to hold training camps. Those were the good old days.

Today, the crowd is hardly there. For some bizarre reason, the authorities have forbidden climbing there. Probably something to do with their weird sense of preservation of ancient monuments.

Let’s face it. Rock cut caves that have withstood the centuries and have fairly nothing in terms of paintings or delicate art are not exactly going to crumble when they see climbers. In any case, no one actually climbs the cave walls (mostly - no promises - climbers are crazy). Climbers sweat a lot, but I am fairly certain that caves will not faint or erode from it.

Sarcasm aside, I see this as a situation changed for the worse:

1. The area has hardly any people any more, and trouble with anti-scial elements is on the rise. Earlier, the abundance of the climbers made it a pretty busy area with an abundance of fit and valuable free people who were passionate about the sanctity of the place likely to come across trouble makers.
2. Climbers generally have a well developed sense of affinity with nature and served as excellent policing of trash throwers and often brought back stray trash they found in remote spots. Today, you have families throwing garbage all over the place with no one to try and make them aware of the need not to do such things.
3. The social feel of the place. The climbing community, the families and the overall busy feel brought an impression of a busy, thriving place with immense value to a variety of people. Today, there are few people who dare to go beyond the main area for fear of the isolation, except for couples who use the caves like private bedrooms to make out in.
4. Monkeys are a menace there. A busy community makes it less likely for someone to be attacked and hurt. A simple suggestion of not bringing any eatables to the caves would have sufficed to discourage moneys over time when they realized that there was no food stuff forthcoming. However, the authorities are not interested in anything like that, even after repeated suggestions of solutions, complaints about monkey attacks…..

I miss the old Kanheri Caves, where I as a teenage girl could walk around without fear; where we were there to stop tourists from littering, rather than make occasional visits and be depressed by the litter; when monkeys could actually be scared away without resorting to extreme measures……..

I found this page on the greenpeace site, and throught it is important for readers here to notice.

©Bivash Pandav

Consider this… Olive Ridley turtles rely on an inexplicable, in-built
navigation system that guides them, when it’s time for them to
reproduce, back to the precise coast on which they were born.

Now
consider something else… The proposed Tata port at Dhamra threatens a
nesting site that is amongst the last honeymoon suites for the
remaining Olive Ridleys, a highly-endangered species that swims all the
way here from places as far away as Australia and the Philippines.

When
you consider these two facts together, it seems only logical that Tata
would reconsider its decision to build the port at Dhamra, and build it
in an area that’s less ecologically sensitive. It seems especially
logical when it’s Tata we’re talking about.

After all,
Tata has grown from a national giant into an international player,
while constantly stating its commitment to the principles of social
upliftment, environmental justice and sustainable development. The Tata
brand is ubiquitous, present in hundreds of products that have
genuinely improved the lives of generations of Indians; from the Tata
salt that flavours our daily bread, the Tata BP solar geyser that warms
our winter baths, the Tata Telecom that manages our communications, to
the Tata cars that ‘drive a billion dreams.’

©Bivash Pandav

And yet, in Orissa, we’re witnessing a different side to the same Tata.
A Tata that shuts its ears to reason. A Tata that looks the other way
when confronted with evidence. A Tata that cares nothing for the
community, and even less for nature.

The port Tata is proposing to build in Dhamra will directly
affect the Olive Ridley turtles. With 150,000 to 350,000 Olive Ridley
turtles nesting in the vicinity, the average number of hatchlings is
believed to range from 15 million to 35 million.

When confronted by Greenpeace
Tata promised concerned citizens that it would abandon the port ‘if
evidence of turtle presence and the ecological significance of the area
were ever unearthed.’

©Pratyush Mohapatra/Greenpeace

The evidence was submitted , but this promise wasn’t kept. The perfunctory EIA
carried out in this area isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Another
nesting season has passed us by, with turtle mortality from mechanized
fishing agonizingly high. Coming in addition to this annual death toll,
the Tata port could be the final nail in the turtle’s coffin, ensuring
that this area is never safe for turtles again.

Will this willful destruction be the legacy that Tata leaves behind in Orissa?

Not if you can help it. To write directly to Ratan Tata and ask him to change his mind, simply sign the letter on the right.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like shutting down Wide Aware completely and I would, if that would stop people from “loving” the outdoors so much. But it will not, so the best I can do is to do my bit for the outdoors.

What is this bizarre mood I’m in? Its no bizarre mood. It is looking at some photo albums on the net. Lovely pictures of hill forts in the Sahyadri, with litter in the foreground.

What struck me, is that it is really no shock to find garbage almost anywhere you head out into the outdoors in India. Its like free decoration of the mountainside. Why is it so? Because there are so many people who love the outdoors, that they just have to go there. Apparently, once they have seen the place, its done. The place can go to hell for all they care after that.

You think I’m being anal? Think again. Been to Kondana caves? Why go that far? Been to the National Park? Even with people employed to keep the place clean, the garbage is not under control. The poor playground near the train station is literally swept with brooms every day and all it manages to achieve is soil erosion I guess. The flood of nature lovers doesn’t end.

Do everyone a favour folks. Stay the hell away from the outdoors, if picking up after yourself is beyond your capabilities. Pick up every bit of garbage you throw whether it is biodegradable or not. Smokers, don’t forget the stubs. and gutkha eaters, the wrappers are not for permanent route marking for hikers to come.

And yes, I’m angry. So would you be, if every spare moment in the outdoors was about cleaning up the place. And if you don’t, please do. Pick what litter you find. Speak with groups you come across and ask them to do the same.

Please, while you’re at it, pick up the degradable stuff as well. LEAVE NO TRACE. If possible minimize traces people have left too.

Bio-degradable stuff has an impact on the environment too. Plus, it is going to be litter until it decays, and the place will never be clean, because there will be other people throwing bio-degradable stuff constantly. To put it bluntly, shit is biodegradable. Do you like sitting next to it?

Think of a beautiful location in the outdoors. You’re the only person there. Its untouched. You like? Untouched is only going to be possible when we clean up the place and give it some time to recover. Not if we keep allowing “touches” to remain behind - degradable or not.

I almost forgot: Leave no trace! READ IT, PROMOTE IT, PRACTICE IT.

Just as I was sad about how I missed the regional event and how it would be expensive to now go for a National event, I got the newsletter from ISABS that announces a new regional event that is IN Mumbai, very low budget and coming up soon.

I guess my ISABS journey is destined to go on without delays.

For folks in Mumbai, this is an unparalleled opportunity. The Umang 2007 event is from the 10th Oct to the 14th Oct 2007 and takes place in Malad - Aksa beach and overcomes one of the major hurdles for the common man to participate - money. Accommodation is dormitory type, but that is what brings it within reach.

So, where I was planning to go, my husband is also planning to join me this time with his BLHP.

Seriously folks, don’t miss this one. For more information, go the the ISABS website.

There is a dog in our building. He was hurt last week. Quite badly. I tried to help him, but he wouldn’t let me come near. He usually doesn’t allow anyone to come close. He’s a stray.

I called up the folks at Karuna last Friday, after trying for two days unsuccessfully. I was told that they were overloaded with requests and the van couldn’t come before Monday. I waited.

The van came on Monday night. The dog wouldn’t come close and couldn’t be cornered and caught, so the folks had to return. They came again at my request today, and I’m just back after a second unsuccessful round of catch-the-dog.

I feel so angry with the poor dog. After seeing me for over a year, he still doesn’t trust me to come to his aid. Actually, I don’t blame him. A street dog’s life is probably not a honeymoon, but still……

The Karuna guys have seen it all many times. They just asked me to make a fresh request and they could come again on the next day.

For those who don’t know what Karuna is, its an NGO committed to the animal welfare in Mumbai. If you find a horse, dog, bird, cow…. any animal that needs medical attention, or intervention, feel free to bring it to their attention, and they may be overworked, but htey will certainly come. If you have some money to spare, you might also consider donating, so that their overworked service can be extended to come to the aid of many more animals that need it.

As far as I know, they don’t have a website, but you can call them on these numbers (below) to request for services, or express your appreciation for the work they do. God knows we need people like them around. Their staff is working from early in the morning to very late at night, constantly attending to the needs of animals. You make a request, and their ambulance will come around - completely free of cost to help the animal. They care. You can see it in their actions, in their untiring efforts, and their willingness to go the extra mile to hunt for the street dog that suddenly went missing when they arrived to treat it, or even bringing their team of people to help catch it.

Do keep them in mind and keep these numbers safe for the sake of any animal you could end up helping without doing much more than a phone call:

28763856, 28761313

Please keep in mind that for every request, they will need the contact of a person in the area, who can identify the animal and be there with them when they arrive. So if you’re calling about an animal on the highway, it might be worthwhile to speak with a local shop or something and provide their contact, unless you intend to camp there until they arrive.

You can also call them for pets. They don’t charge any money, so don’t hesitate, just be there for an animal that needs it.

Well… our dog needs to wait some more I guess, but another very injured bitch came to notice just as they were leaving and they went there and treated her. So the trip was not a wasted exercise.