Pawan Sharma was born in a small village called Mahagauli near the small town of Pinahat in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. He often saw his father talking about the farming problems and finally one day his father quit farming and moved to Delhi to work in a pharmaceutical company. However, Pawan always knew that he was going to go back some day and help the farmers solve their problems. And when he got a degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIEC, he started thinking about how he could use his skills to help farmers in distress.

As luck would have it, in 2013 he met Ayush Agrawal, another engineer who did Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi, in one of the orphanages where Pawan and Ayush taught at the time. Ayush, who is from Jaipur, was also concerned about the farmers’ well being, especially when he would hear of low rainfall in Rajasthan. As both the men shared common views,they became good friends soon and started thinking towards their common goal — to double the income of farmers and introduce sustainable methods of farming.

After rigorous research and two failed startup attempts, the duo finally came up with a project model to help the farmers, in October 2015, and called it Kaushal Gram.

Today, project Kaushal Gram is helping farmers with training and technologies, and assisting self-help groups with business models, finance and administration training. They are also helping kids with creative ideas and youth with career counselling and communication training.

So far, they have covered 21 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal. As many as 2,800 households are impacted by their work and 200 plus kids are being taught under their initiative ‘A day of joy’.

However, the journey has not been easy. Pawan and Ayush were a team of just two without any financial backup. They were also working as full-time employees so had only weekends to work on their social initiative.

“I am working as a project consultant in Nasscom Foundation and Ayush is working as a data scientist in Policy Bazaar. We both decided to keep some portion of our income for this social cause and work on weekends. But how will just two people help thousands of distressed farmer in a minimum time frame? That was the big question,” says Pawan.

The duo then decided to make videos of successful farmers who were using technology and natural farming methods. They would make videos and show it to the other farmers on the projector in their village.

“Generally farmers believe only what they see. Just telling them about sustainable farming was not enough. They would also question our expertise as we both were engineers and not hands on farmers. Hence, showing them what their fellow farmers were doing different to be successful really worked,” says Pawan.

You may also like – 51 Types of Mango on One Tree! An Engineer-Turned-Farmer’s Unique Plan to Save Endangered Varieties

Pawan and Ayush also realised that most of the farmers had small plots of land and were unable to afford expensive technology even if they were willing to adopt the same. They then started to build their own technology for these small farmers under their project ‘Route to Roots.’

Some of the low-cost technologies that two engineers havedeveloped are as follows –

Bio Gas System –

A low-cost bio gas plant was invented,costing just Rs. 5,000, as opposed to the system that costs almost Rs.50,000 to Rs. 60,000. This was really helpful for small farmers as they would get around 20-30 minutes of gas, just enough for cooking purposes. The cow dung is directly transferred to the home-made biogas plant, which turns the dung into slurry filled with microorganisms.The slurry overflows to the farm irrigation system, thus transferring the manure without manual work and efficiently producing organic crop. So far, 40 such bio gas plants have been installed at various places.

 Solar Dryer –

The team also made a solar dryer just at Rs. 4,000.

Watch Pawan explaining how it works

Drip irrigation system with waste drip-bottles:

As Pawan’s father was working in a pharmaceutical company, he had always come across drip bottles that were thrown away as waste after use. Pawan noticed that these bottles could be used effectively in drip irrigation. Today, they have helped many farmers with this technology without any cost.

“We have not registered this project because we believe that farmers should be the last owner and that’s why we have made our technology open to everyone without any vested interest of making money from this,” says Pawan

The duo also reached out to maximum number of farmers to help them switch to natural farming.

“There is a misconception amongfarmers that organic farming gives them low returns. We completely shattered this myth by showing them numbers of examples of farmers who were already doing it through our videos,” Ayush explained.

You may also like – As an Engineer He Earned Rs 24 Lakh. As a Farmer He Earns Rs 2 Crore!

They also conduct workshops on the basics of natural farming, right from training the farmers to making fertilizers and pesticides using cow dung and urine to showing them the correct method of seeding. They are also educating people on banking, financial and insurance sector along with training on digital aspects of daily life.

“In a country where over 75% of the rural population is unaware of digital transactions, we’re taking technology changes to people,” says Ayush.

“I’ve learnt about bank and finances. They helped me open bank account; put my money and how to transact. I’ve never felt so good,” says Geeta Devi, a small farm labourer in Uttarakhand.

Ayush and Pawan also understood during their journey that the farmers also need all the information right from weather to the possible solutions handy. They wanted to have a portal where a farmer can get all of this information without the hassle of downloading an app or logging in every time they need information. However, outsourcing this work required capital investment, which they were lacking.

Hence this civil and mechanical engineer learnt IT skills through self study for six months until they developed their dream portal for farmers.

Pawan and Ayush have developed an Agricultural Portal in which farmers can enroll for weather forecasting, state and center farmer welfare policy, natural and effective micro-organism agriculture methods. In this portal, farmers can register their mobile numbers and get information in their local language through SMS. In case they are unable to read, they will also get calls in their mother tongue. This service will be absolutely free of charge for the farmers.As many as 25,000 farmers and counting have already enrolled for this portal.

“We know there are lots of apps available for farmers but the problem is that our farmers are not literate enough to use smart phones anddownload these apps. That’s why we have developed this portal in which farmers do not need to reach technology; rather technology will reach to farmers.This is our Dream Project,” says the duo.

With youth like Pawan and Ayush we can definitely hope for a better India where technology will soon reach out and help each and every farmer of our country.

Watch more videos by Kaushal Gram here .You can also contact Pawan and Ayush at pawan.sharma.yfs@gmail.com

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When the Bageshwar district magistrate (DM), Mangesh Ghildiyal, was set to get transferred to Rudraprayag in May, hundreds of locals took to the streets to oppose this move. Though they couldn’t stop the transfer, there’s good reason why they didn’t want to lose him. Mangesh has garnered public adulation for connecting people with several government welfare programmes and providing quick solutions every time the district faces a problem.

This time, in an out-of-the-box initiative, he roped his wife, Usha Ghildiyal, to teach in the Science department of the GGIC (Govt Girls Inter College) Rudraprayag High School, when the students faced scarcity of teachers.

On being notified about the school’s science department being understaffed, and in turn affecting the students’ academic performance, the DM assigned his wife to take charge till the school finds a suitable replacement.

“While visiting the school for a routine inspection, I came to know that the students did not have a science teacher. I requested my wife to volunteer there and she immediately agreed. After having a conversation with the school’s principal regarding this, my wife joined the school as a science teacher. Recruitment for teachers at the government level will begin soon. Until then, my wife will continue to volunteer her services there,” he told YourStory.

Usha has started teaching science to Class 9 and 10 students, and dedicates two and a half hours each day to teach these children, reported the publication.

Read more: After Adopting a School, This District Magistrate in UP Has Now Taken up the Role of a Teacher!

In keeping with her new role, Usha not only took responsibility and attended work punctually, but also became the favourite teacher of the students in a short time. According to the school’s principal, Mamta Nautiyal, Usha’s calm nature along with her sound teaching techniques have made her very popular among students.

Usha holds a doctorate in Plant Pathology from Govind Ballabhpant University.

In an interview with Amar Ujala, she said, “I want girls to excel in fields like arts and science and make their district proud.”

Mangesh is an IAS officer of the 2011 batch, who also secured the fourth position countrywide. He was offered the opportunity to join the IFS, but he chose to serve the home cadre. He is reportedly planning to open a coaching centre for civil services aspirants in the district. He has also been consistently working towards his aim of improving the state of schools in Uttarakhand.

Connect to Mangesh Ghildiyal here.

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Have you heard of the ghost villages in the state of Uttarakhand?

Lack of employment resulting in excessive migration has pushed the rural regions of the state to the extent of having almost no inhabitants in its villages.

Out of 16,793 villages in Uttarakhand, a total of 1,053 villages have been emblazoned with the tag of ghost villages for not having a single person left to tell the tale.

Located in the Garhwal region of Tehri district in Uttarakhand, the 300-year-old village of Saur was declared a ghost village after only 12 families remained.

Much of the village rattles in a sad state of abandonment with old and dilapidated houses sans people.

A group of people decided to venture in a project that involved documenting the life lessons along with the folk tales from the ghost village of Saur and paint these time-tested anecdotes on the exterior of every house walls including the abandoned ones.

The Wise Wall Project is an initiative of Project FUEL in collaboration with RoundGlass. Spearheaded by Poornima Sukumar, a wall muralist, the art for the entire village was derived from the Gharwal school of painting, laced with Mughal miniature style influence.

Here’s a glimpse into the ghost village of Saur, now resplendent with yesteryear yarns interspersed vivid hues and shades:

Interestingly, as part of the project, a new font was crafted by Niteesh Yadav, who is a typography artist. After studying the handwriting of the remaining 12 families, he created the font using which all the life lessons were painted on the walls.

Project FUEL, which was founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, aims at documenting the life of the people through the life lessons, and passing them on for every human to live their best, where FUEL stands for Forward the Understanding of Every Life lesson.

You can get in touch with the folks behind Project FUEL at contact@projectfuel.in.

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The ongoing census at Uttarakhand’s Corbett and Rajaji tiger reserves might just make the hilly state the ‘tiger capital of India’ after an additional count of 60 big cats were recorded in the past three years, reported Hindustan Times.

According to the 2014 stats, Karnataka had a total of 406 tigers across its five tiger reserves while Uttarakhand had 340 — 215 at Corbett, 16 at Rajaji, and 109 at various forest divisions.

The tiger population in any reserve or state is estimated in terms of range with an upper limit and a lower limit, and the best estimate. For instance, at the All India Tiger Estimation 2014, Corbett’s figure of 215 was drawn from an upper limit of 261 and a lower limit of 169.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2015 reported at least 163 tigers in Corbett, based on camera traps. The then forest minister, Dinesh Agarwal, said there were 240 tigers at the reserve, with the difference between the lower limit and the best estimate being 77, reported HT.

An All India Estimation is carried out every four years using parallel surveys, scat analysis (used to understand diets for terrestrial carnivores), camera traps etc. to get an estimate of inhabitant tigers in the territory.

Read more: Want to Adopt Wild Animals Like Tigers & Elephants? Delhi Zoo Might Soon Let You!

Phase IV monitoring is conducted annually through photographs to estimate the minimum number of tigers in a reserve. With the minimum number increasing to 208 in the latest round, experts expect the rough estimate at Corbett to be close to 280, with an upper limit crossing 300.

“The details of Phase IV estimation definitely give a hint that the tiger population estimates in 2018 will surprise everyone,” Amit Verma, deputy director, Corbett, told HT.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve, too, reported an increase of 18 tigers during the Phase IV monitoring, bringing the total to 34. The population in the six adjoining forest divisions in Ramnagar, Haldwani, Lansdowne, Terai East, Terai West and Terai Central, is also growing. Together, they report at least 190 tigers.

The tiger population shouldn’t be the base of any inter-state competition, shares the former chief wildlife warden, Srikant Chandola. “There’s no competition between states as such, but based on the recent figures, I believe that Uttarakhand will at least report 400 tigers in the upcoming estimation,” he told the publication.

They believe that their hard work is paying off. “Uttarakhand is blessed to have a healthy tiger habitat, but our field staff’s work towards conserving the striped cats has paid off.” Digvijay Singh Khati, chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand.

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Hostels have always beckoned backpackers and travellers from faraway lands; especially those who are traveling on a shoestring budget.

Keeping this in mind, a few hoteliers have come together to provide travellers with a safe haven in the valleys of Uttarakhand.

They have opened the Heart Of Travellers (HOTs) hostel in Patwa Dunga region. Claimed to be India’s first ever hiking hostel, travellers can bunk in here at charges as cheap as ₹399 a night!

Pretty cool, right? And that’s not even the best part.

To reach this hostel, which is inside a 150-year-old colonial era building, one needs to trek a distance close to 800m.

Harshit Kandpal, who was previously working with the Oberoi Group, came up with this idea early this year. He then partnered with Devendra Singh Digari, who owns the hostel property in Uttarakhand and they were open for business within a few months.

“It is not just about providing backpackers with really cheap accommodation. Many people opt for places like Manali and Kasol because they can find more budget-friendly options there. So I wanted to start this as a first in Uttarakhand”, says Harshit.

And if you think that it’s a new place that probably hasn’t seen the light of the day, think again!

“It’s been only 2-3 months since we started, but we are completely booked out for weeks together”, laughs Harshit.

Not just a bed to bunk, HOTs also provides guests with open spaces where they can chill or jam with fellow backpackers, or just meditate. In addition to a kitchen, the hostel also has a cafe.

Moreover, HOTs has been employing staff from the Uttarakhand region itself. “Over the years, many youngsters have left the state for better prospects. Through this venture, nobody will need to go off anywhere”, adds Harshit.

You may also like: 5 Must-Know Ideas to Make Your Next Road Trip to Himachal Pradesh a Memorable Affair

Currently the hostel has a core team of three members including fellow hoteliers Vivek Dhanik and Amit Attri along with Priyanka Chanana. Harshit mentions that they have plans of taking up more projects in the state and probably expand to other states as well.

Heart Of Travellers hostel is bound to become the heart of travellers soon, and that too without burning a hole in people’s pockets.

You can check their website here.

To get in touch with Harshit, click here.

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Famous the world over, the 1,557-mile Ganga river gushes from a Himalayan ice cave, coursing eastward through the heart of Northern India to the Bay of Bengal.

A natural, cultural and spiritual wonder, it is a slow death by pollution, however, that threatens to become the river’s lasting legacy if it continues to run the same course as it currently pursues.

Years of mistreatment and unsustainable practices have placed the Ganga River among the five most polluted rivers of the world, and the Himalayas, from which the river originates, as one of the most endangered ecosystems.

For many years, governments and local organisations have invested billions of rupees in devising methods and running numerous campaigns directed at both the clean-up and the restoration of the river, but despite this, many are still mistreating the river, performing illegal and unsustainable practices, and millions continue to use the natural resource as a public drainage system, dumping in it all manner of waste.

Besides it being a spiritual and cultural centre for many Indians and pilgrims across the world, according to the Centre for Science and Environment India, for as much as 43% of India’s population, the Ganga is a lifeline. Civilisations have been built upon its banks and its water is life-giving to these inhabitants.

But what the Ganga gives, it rarely gets back.

You may also like: This Ecological Miracle in Kolkata Is Also the World’s Largest Organic Sewage Management System!

Pollution is destroying the river’s eco-balance and its natural ability to self-purify. Domestic sewage is the major cause of contamination in the river and, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 2,723 million litres a day of sewage is generated by 50 cities located along the river, accounting for over 85% of the river’s pollution load.

From the lack of properly treated urban sewage discharge to open defecation to the discharge of human and animal corpses to the practice of illegal mining of it’s riverbed, the Ganga is already seeing parts completely drying up and many more becoming toxic and harmful to humans and the environment.

In June 2014, the national mission towards a clean Ganga was launched. With a budget of Rs. 20,000 crore, Namami Gange Programme aimed to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution and the rejuvenation of the Ganga. Its implementation proposed a 10-year plan and set forth a number of activities, to target both short-term and longer-term impacts.

In its first two years, however, it was accused of having achieved just one-third of its targets due to lack of synergy between multiple authorities as well as natural calamities causing delays. More recent reports suggest that whilst action has been taken — 65 crematoriums have been built across the five states to prevent bodies being dumped in the river, along with 123 new ghats for restoration — progress continues to be slow and deadlines are frequently pushed back.

On March 20, 2017, a judgment by the Uttarakhand High Court gave Ganga the status of the “first living entity of India” bestowing upon it the rights similar to a living person. Although the preservation of the river is the main objective behind this ruling, it also means that any crimes committed against the river, mostly the dumping of waste, can now be tried in court as the acts will constitute as harm against a person.

Civil society is now calling for a legal framework to give recognition to the Rights of the Ganga River Basin. The move recognises that a fundamentally new form of governance is necessary to protect and restore this precious ecosystem and life provider to so many.

In April this year, a draft was submitted to Minister for Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharti, for the proposal of a new piece of legislation, the National River Ganga (Rejuvenation Protection and Maintenance) Bill Act 2017, mainly to ensure the cleanliness and rejuvenation of the river. The proposed Ganga Act seems to be in its final stage and, if successfully passed, will make it the first river in the country to be protected by an Act of Parliament.

You may also like: How Three Startups Are Using Innovative Methods to Clean and Restore River Ganga

If successful The Act could help protect the river in a number of ways. Not only would it help to establish the rivers rights to exist and evolve, it would also establish the rights of people and the environment to have access to a clean and health water source, ensure that any behaviour or act that directly harms or threatens to harm the river is prohibited, establish enforcement mechanisms to protect and defend the river’s rights and empower people, communities, civil society, and governments within India to protect and defend the basin’s rights. On top of this it could also serve as a guide to help protect other rivers in the future.

The legal protection of the Ganga is not the first time that law has stepped in to protect the environment. In 2008 Ecuador changed its constitution to give nature “the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles,” in 2010, Bolivia passed the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth, giving nature equal rights to humans, and more recently New Zealand granted it’s third-largest river, the Whanganui, a legal voice.

Currently, many treat the Ganga as property, leaving it vulnerable to abuse. Establishing Rights of the Ganga River Basin would enable government, civil society, and the people of India to take action on behalf of the Ganga to defend it against actions that would interfere with its integrity, existence, and functioning and help to ensure that it not only survives, but thrives.

Amid various attempts and campaigns, many startups founded by young innovative Indians are trying to clean up the Ganga. One such startup called Detect Technologies has developed a system designed to detect pipeline leakages. The Guided Ultrasonic Monitoring of Pipe Systems (GUMPS), can detect oil leakages from oil pipelines which run on the river bed of the Ganga River. Know more about it here.

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Young Uma Moy Moy Chopra’s stars changed almost as soon as she came into this world. Born as the 13th child to the wife of a potato farmer in Uttarakhand, Moy Moy’s birth itself happened by sheer chance. The farmer’s wife had made up her mind to abort the child (she had conceived despite sterilisation), but the doctor she went to said she had a family who was willing to adopt her baby in a private adoption.

The 13th child of a mother who’d given birth 12 times previously, born on the side of a road, 12 weeks premature, one kilo at birth –  Jo Chopra, the adoptive mother and an American by birth, knew the dice was loaded against the baby girl she was planning to adopt, but she decided to go ahead nonetheless. Jo had two natural children of her own, but laws and adoption agencies at the time in India were unwilling to allow a couple with a boy and a girl to adopt a third child. “The family was perceived as complete. So we couldn’t adopt a third child through the agencies,” says Jo.

So when the baby came her way, she didn’t blink an eyelid.

Her husband was not in favour of the adoption initially, as he felt it wasn’t the right time for them to have a third child. But Jo was determined.

For the first few years of her life with the Chopras, Moy Moy seemed fine. A trifle slower than other kids, she could nonetheless speak (both in English and Hindi), eat, was toilet-trained, and had a pretty “sophisticated” sense of humour for a 4-year-old. She was a “delightful little girl full of tricks”. Call it fate or the little girl’s good fortune, but her adoptive family embraced her with intense love and longing.

Of course, at the time, Jo couldn’t foresee what the future held for her and her adopted baby. “I thought then that she would be able to lead a normal life – go to school, get a job in a flower shop, or something simple like that. I knew she wasn’t going to be an academic, but she was so able, funny, and engaging that I felt things would be fine”.

It was when Moy Moy turned 6 years old that she slowly started to regress. The whole family witnessed her regression in total shock and pain.

Her son Anand (now 33) and daughter Cathleen (now 30) were by then fiercely attached to their Moy Moy – “little sister” in Cantonese.

“It was like watching an elderly person with Alzheimer’s. She started to get seizures, forget things, she wasn’t getting her sentences right, she became ungainly, started to trip and fall.” She was no longer reliably toilet-trained, eating became a challenge, and soon the little girl lost the words that previously tumbled so happily out of her mouth. “She was speaking in full sentences, then some words, then some sounds, and now…” says Jo.

Now 27, Moy-Moy is sitting next to us at the couple’s house in Dehradun’s VasantVihar Enclave in a wheelchair, her head slightly tilted. She is silent. Her eyes are unblinking. My impression is that she is trying to say something, but her body fails her.

After she turned 6, the child went through a steep decline over 10 years or so. At 16, a tube had to be inserted to allow her to eat. The family went through a harrowing few years. Moy Moy’s disabilities did not allow them to do any of the normal things that families do together.

“Travelling was hard. With Moy Moy, everything had to always be accessible, and nothing is accessible in India when it comes to people with disabilities, as you know,” says Jo.

If Jo Chopra had not been a picture of tranquility, I would probably have burst into tears. Never have I felt so humbled at someone’s ability to take what many would feel is a tragedy beyond belief with such dignified composure.

“Why didn’t you produce a third child instead?” I ask. The enormity of what Jo is having to deal with is yet to sink in, and makes me question why she didn’t simply follow her own mother’s footsteps : Jo is one of seven children. But I learn that her mother too adopted one of those seven (a girl), whose name is Moy Moy. Jo’s Moy Moy is in fact named after her aunt. Jo already had two “homemade” children – she was quite clear she wanted to adopt.

Jo in fact wonders how her life would have progressed if Moy Moy had been like a regular child.

It would have been easier for the family, and of course for Moy Moy, but a number of other children and parents may in fact have lost out a lot.

Moy Moy’s misfortune has in fact become the good fortune of thousands of handicapped children. Thanks to Moy Moy, Jo started KarunaVihar Special School in 1995 – a school for children with disabilities. “We had planned to have just the school and the creativity center – which is a fun place for kids to learn and play  – but the need was just so enormous.” One thing led to another, and now Jo has a “mini-empire” she runs. She is grateful to Moy-Moy for giving her a purpose and something to live for. The girl has helped Jo find her “calling” in life.

Besides the special school, there is Latika Roy Foundation, the child development centre, and the centre for vocational training. There are seven centres all over the city. There are waiting lists at every center. There’s a centre at the Doon hospital, where they do diagnostics and assessments. With a staff of 115 (all salaried), they do training, awareness, outreach, and advocacy. Her staff, she says, is a “remarkable” group of people, and they are the backbone of the foundation today – a lot she feels privileged to work with.

The foundation works with 300 children with special needs on a daily basis. The school looks after the children who are more able academically, who can learn to read and write and have less severe disabilities. “Many of our kids can manage independently with a bit of help, can hold down a job, and maybe even get married” – something Moy Moy can never hope to do. Children with more severe disabilities are managed at the child development centre.

“We start with newborns, and the earlier we start, the more we can achieve with the children,” she explains.

At the Doon hospital – where they do OPD and infant monitoring – the Foundation’s doctors and trained specialists work with and treat close to 2,000 children every year. Regular follow-ups are done for these children who live in the region, but mostly not in the city.

Jo’s own life has changed completely. She travels all over the country to speak and raise awareness and money, and gives TED talks while keeping home and hearth together. Raising money is something she has been doing herself. She writes proposals, meets corporates, and speaks at any forum where she may be heard.

Yet at no stage during our hour-and-half long chat do I find her overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before her. “The organization has added so much work for me, yet it is them who make it possible. Many of my staff – who have got jobs because of Moy Moy – are devoted to her. If I am travelling, 10 people will be willing to come and look after her in my absence.” But as far as possible, the couple doesn’t travel at the same time. One of them is always there to look after Moy Moy.

“She has a circle of love and protection around her, thanks to our people,” says Jo, her eyes shining with happiness at this.

How is this whole enterprise financed, I ask. It does require quite an effort, but when intentions seem genuine, Jo feels, there are enough people with a heart. Some years ago, Thermax’s Anu Aga saw a TED talk given by Jo, made the effort of coming to Dehradun to see the whole project, and left Jo with a cheque of ₹1 crore!

Although the chuck of the money comes in through grants from trusts (The Ratan Tata trust is one of the major ones), they have been getting money now from the government, corporates, and private donations. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, so no child is refused if the family can’t afford it, but if a family can afford it, fees are charged based on income documents submitted. The highest fee charged by the foundation is ₹1,400 a month.

Disability itself has changed dramatically in India, according to Jo. When Moy Moy’s problems began, they couldn’t find therapists, specialists, or anyone. In fact, there was no clear diagnosis for a long time. Despite taking her to Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, no one could clearly identify what was wrong with the child.

Finally the couple took Moy Moy to the US for the final verdict – cerebral palsy.

Now in India, Jo says, things have improved. It may be a far cry from what is needed, but fully-trained specialists can now be found in India. The specialists can in turn train more people. Initially, even to manage the centre and special school, Jo had to get specialists from the UK to help train their therapists.

I am like a stuck record, and still reeling under the shock of how much her life has had to change, and how much of herself is dedicated to Moy Moy, a child she adopted. “You only adopted a child. You didn’t bargain for all this,” I say, a bit embarrassed at how insensitive I sound even to myself.

She laughs. There are no guarantees in life, she says. You can give birth to a child, and you don’t know for certain everything will be hunky-dory. She says this was perhaps easier in a way since she did have some inkling that things could go wrong with Moy Moy.

Perhaps she under-anticipated the extent of it, but it wasn’t as if she wasn’t aware that there is a possibility.

Jo also feels that she would never have been able to do all this in America. A college drop-out, she says she would never get to meet and work with or experience all that she has thanks to Moy Moy. In some ways, she says it was all meant to be. “I chose Dehradun, Moy Moy’s mother was persuaded not to abort her, we found Moy…Can it be that destiny did not play a role in all of this?” she asks. Even how she met her husband – Ravi Chopra, the reason she finds herself in India to start with – is destiny, and a separate story I shall refrain from telling in the interest of brevity.

I ask whether the birth mother or father have been in touch since the adoption, and do they know how things turned out for their daughter. Jo – who is fluent in Hindi – says that Moy Moy’s birth father had actually never wanted to give her up, and he felt they could have taken care of her, in addition to their 12 children. He came across Jo and Moy Moy some years ago when Moy Moy had stopped speaking but was still walking with support. He could see the regression, but just nodded his head and said in Hindi, “You must owe her something.” Uma, their daughter of the mountains.

Adapted from an article originally published on Business Standard. For more information, and to help children like Moy Moy, contribute to the Latika Roy Foundation.

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After the United States pulled out of the Paris Accord, more than 180 US cities came together to let the world know that they would still adopt the accord, despite their nation’s departure. They have shown that when it comes to saving our planet, no action is too small or negligible. In similar vein, this small Himalayan village does not burn their dead so as to not damage the mountain ecology.

Dronagiri, a village in Uttarakhand, is entirely comprised of Hindus. However, all the 65 families in the village bury their dead so as to not affect the trees that grow in the area, at 12,000 feet, reports TOI.

They are especially concerned about the Himalayan Birch (Bhojpatra), leaves of which were used as paper for writing.

They also avoid felling trees.

“For household needs and firewood, we simply collect the stems of those trees that have fallen naturally or have rotted over time,” said Deepa Rawat, pradhan of Dronagiri, to TOI.

The village has always been known for being incredibly sensitive to ecological concerns. Incidentally, this village seems to have not forgiven Hanuman and do not worship him, for damaging the mountain on which the mythical herb Sanjivani is thought to have grown.

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Environmentalist Anil Joshi, was all praise for the villagers. He said, “The villagers can teach all of us how to protect the environment. Burial is more eco-friendly than burning because there is no carbon emission.”

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After the state government failed to provide even basic infrastructure facilities for children studying in government schools in Uttrakhand, the High Court has put a restraint on purchase of any kind of luxury amenities for government authorities on Thursday.

Putting a complete hold on procurement of cars, furniture, air conditioners, etc. by the state government till any implementation of the order, the division bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and Alok Singh described the situation as a sorry state of affairs, as reported by TOI.

Earlier, in November 2016, the court had reportedly directed the state government to furbish the schools with essentials like benches, desks, blackboards (with chalk and duster), computers, as well as a well-stacked library and a well-equipped science laboratory within a period of three months.

Pulling up the Secretary (education), the court demanded information about concerned fund allocation and its lack of application.

“Since the state government miserably failed to provide minimum bare facilities in schools like benches, desks, blackboards, hygienic separate toilets for boys and girls, water purifiers and ceiling fans, the state government is restrained from buying luxurious cars, furniture and air conditioners, etc. till further orders of this court,” the order said.

The order came into effect following a 2014 PIL filed by Deepak Rana, a Dehradun resident, alleging the lack of basic amenities in government schools.

While the secretary stated that a budget was allocated and sent to the education department but no reply was received in return, an official from the education department claimed budgetary constraints in executing the court orders.

You may also like: I Met the Man Who Brought Social Inclusiveness to a Forgotten Village in Uttarakhand

Taking a stern stand, the bench pronounced that every child was entitled to education and basic amenities pertaining to it by the state and cited the necessity of toilets that was interrelated to a child’s health. “The state must give top most priority to education,” the bench remarked.

The court also went on to call the state bureaucracy ‘insensitive’ and ordered the administration to “comply with the judgment or stop the salary of all gazetted officers of the state.”

The court also ordered the construction of separate and hygienic toilets for boys and girls in the schools.

“It is a pity that even after more than 68 years of independence, we are making children sit on mats,” it said.

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Pawan Sharma was born in a small village called Mahagauli near the small town of Pinahat in Agra district of Uttar Pradesh. He often saw his father talking about the farming problems and finally one day his father quit farming and moved to Delhi to work in a pharmaceutical company. However, Pawan always knew that he was going to go back some day and help the farmers solve their problems. And when he got a degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIEC, he started thinking about how he could use his skills to help farmers in distress.

As luck would have it, in 2013 he met Ayush Agrawal, another engineer who did Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi, in one of the orphanages where Pawan and Ayush taught at the time. Ayush, who is from Jaipur, was also concerned about the farmers’ well being, especially when he would hear of low rainfall in Rajasthan. As both the men shared common views,they became good friends soon and started thinking towards their common goal — to double the income of farmers and introduce sustainable methods of farming.

After rigorous research and two failed startup attempts, the duo finally came up with a project model to help the farmers, in October 2015, and called it Kaushal Gram.

Today, project Kaushal Gram is helping farmers with training and technologies, and assisting self-help groups with business models, finance and administration training. They are also helping kids with creative ideas and youth with career counselling and communication training.

So far, they have covered 21 villages in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal. As many as 2,800 households are impacted by their work and 200 plus kids are being taught under their initiative ‘A day of joy’.

However, the journey has not been easy. Pawan and Ayush were a team of just two without any financial backup. They were also working as full-time employees so had only weekends to work on their social initiative.

“I am working as a project consultant in Nasscom Foundation and Ayush is working as a data scientist in Policy Bazaar. We both decided to keep some portion of our income for this social cause and work on weekends. But how will just two people help thousands of distressed farmer in a minimum time frame? That was the big question,” says Pawan.

The duo then decided to make videos of successful farmers who were using technology and natural farming methods. They would make videos and show it to the other farmers on the projector in their village.

“Generally farmers believe only what they see. Just telling them about sustainable farming was not enough. They would also question our expertise as we both were engineers and not hands on farmers. Hence, showing them what their fellow farmers were doing different to be successful really worked,” says Pawan.

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Pawan and Ayush also realised that most of the farmers had small plots of land and were unable to afford expensive technology even if they were willing to adopt the same. They then started to build their own technology for these small farmers under their project ‘Route to Roots.’

Some of the low-cost technologies that two engineers havedeveloped are as follows –

Bio Gas System –

A low-cost bio gas plant was invented,costing just Rs. 5,000, as opposed to the system that costs almost Rs.50,000 to Rs. 60,000. This was really helpful for small farmers as they would get around 20-30 minutes of gas, just enough for cooking purposes. The cow dung is directly transferred to the home-made biogas plant, which turns the dung into slurry filled with microorganisms.The slurry overflows to the farm irrigation system, thus transferring the manure without manual work and efficiently producing organic crop. So far, 40 such bio gas plants have been installed at various places.

 Solar Dryer –

The team also made a solar dryer just at Rs. 4,000.

Watch Pawan explaining how it works

Drip irrigation system with waste drip-bottles:

As Pawan’s father was working in a pharmaceutical company, he had always come across drip bottles that were thrown away as waste after use. Pawan noticed that these bottles could be used effectively in drip irrigation. Today, they have helped many farmers with this technology without any cost.

“We have not registered this project because we believe that farmers should be the last owner and that’s why we have made our technology open to everyone without any vested interest of making money from this,” says Pawan

The duo also reached out to maximum number of farmers to help them switch to natural farming.

“There is a misconception amongfarmers that organic farming gives them low returns. We completely shattered this myth by showing them numbers of examples of farmers who were already doing it through our videos,” Ayush explained.

You may also like – As an Engineer He Earned Rs 24 Lakh. As a Farmer He Earns Rs 2 Crore!

They also conduct workshops on the basics of natural farming, right from training the farmers to making fertilizers and pesticides using cow dung and urine to showing them the correct method of seeding. They are also educating people on banking, financial and insurance sector along with training on digital aspects of daily life.

“In a country where over 75% of the rural population is unaware of digital transactions, we’re taking technology changes to people,” says Ayush.

“I’ve learnt about bank and finances. They helped me open bank account; put my money and how to transact. I’ve never felt so good,” says Geeta Devi, a small farm labourer in Uttarakhand.

Ayush and Pawan also understood during their journey that the farmers also need all the information right from weather to the possible solutions handy. They wanted to have a portal where a farmer can get all of this information without the hassle of downloading an app or logging in every time they need information. However, outsourcing this work required capital investment, which they were lacking.

Hence this civil and mechanical engineer learnt IT skills through self study for six months until they developed their dream portal for farmers.

Pawan and Ayush have developed an Agricultural Portal in which farmers can enroll for weather forecasting, state and center farmer welfare policy, natural and effective micro-organism agriculture methods. In this portal, farmers can register their mobile numbers and get information in their local language through SMS. In case they are unable to read, they will also get calls in their mother tongue. This service will be absolutely free of charge for the farmers.As many as 25,000 farmers and counting have already enrolled for this portal.

“We know there are lots of apps available for farmers but the problem is that our farmers are not literate enough to use smart phones anddownload these apps. That’s why we have developed this portal in which farmers do not need to reach technology; rather technology will reach to farmers.This is our Dream Project,” says the duo.

With youth like Pawan and Ayush we can definitely hope for a better India where technology will soon reach out and help each and every farmer of our country.

Watch more videos by Kaushal Gram here .You can also contact Pawan and Ayush at pawan.sharma.yfs@gmail.com

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When the Bageshwar district magistrate (DM), Mangesh Ghildiyal, was set to get transferred to Rudraprayag in May, hundreds of locals took to the streets to oppose this move. Though they couldn’t stop the transfer, there’s good reason why they didn’t want to lose him. Mangesh has garnered public adulation for connecting people with several government welfare programmes and providing quick solutions every time the district faces a problem.

This time, in an out-of-the-box initiative, he roped his wife, Usha Ghildiyal, to teach in the Science department of the GGIC (Govt Girls Inter College) Rudraprayag High School, when the students faced scarcity of teachers.

On being notified about the school’s science department being understaffed, and in turn affecting the students’ academic performance, the DM assigned his wife to take charge till the school finds a suitable replacement.

“While visiting the school for a routine inspection, I came to know that the students did not have a science teacher. I requested my wife to volunteer there and she immediately agreed. After having a conversation with the school’s principal regarding this, my wife joined the school as a science teacher. Recruitment for teachers at the government level will begin soon. Until then, my wife will continue to volunteer her services there,” he told YourStory.

Usha has started teaching science to Class 9 and 10 students, and dedicates two and a half hours each day to teach these children, reported the publication.

Read more: After Adopting a School, This District Magistrate in UP Has Now Taken up the Role of a Teacher!

In keeping with her new role, Usha not only took responsibility and attended work punctually, but also became the favourite teacher of the students in a short time. According to the school’s principal, Mamta Nautiyal, Usha’s calm nature along with her sound teaching techniques have made her very popular among students.

Usha holds a doctorate in Plant Pathology from Govind Ballabhpant University.

In an interview with Amar Ujala, she said, “I want girls to excel in fields like arts and science and make their district proud.”

Mangesh is an IAS officer of the 2011 batch, who also secured the fourth position countrywide. He was offered the opportunity to join the IFS, but he chose to serve the home cadre. He is reportedly planning to open a coaching centre for civil services aspirants in the district. He has also been consistently working towards his aim of improving the state of schools in Uttarakhand.

Connect to Mangesh Ghildiyal here.

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Have you heard of the ghost villages in the state of Uttarakhand?

Lack of employment resulting in excessive migration has pushed the rural regions of the state to the extent of having almost no inhabitants in its villages.

Out of 16,793 villages in Uttarakhand, a total of 1,053 villages have been emblazoned with the tag of ghost villages for not having a single person left to tell the tale.

Located in the Garhwal region of Tehri district in Uttarakhand, the 300-year-old village of Saur was declared a ghost village after only 12 families remained.

Much of the village rattles in a sad state of abandonment with old and dilapidated houses sans people.

A group of people decided to venture in a project that involved documenting the life lessons along with the folk tales from the ghost village of Saur and paint these time-tested anecdotes on the exterior of every house walls including the abandoned ones.

The Wise Wall Project is an initiative of Project FUEL in collaboration with RoundGlass. Spearheaded by Poornima Sukumar, a wall muralist, the art for the entire village was derived from the Gharwal school of painting, laced with Mughal miniature style influence.

Here’s a glimpse into the ghost village of Saur, now resplendent with yesteryear yarns interspersed vivid hues and shades:

Interestingly, as part of the project, a new font was crafted by Niteesh Yadav, who is a typography artist. After studying the handwriting of the remaining 12 families, he created the font using which all the life lessons were painted on the walls.

Project FUEL, which was founded in 2009 by Deepak Ramola, aims at documenting the life of the people through the life lessons, and passing them on for every human to live their best, where FUEL stands for Forward the Understanding of Every Life lesson.

You can get in touch with the folks behind Project FUEL at contact@projectfuel.in.

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The ongoing census at Uttarakhand’s Corbett and Rajaji tiger reserves might just make the hilly state the ‘tiger capital of India’ after an additional count of 60 big cats were recorded in the past three years, reported Hindustan Times.

According to the 2014 stats, Karnataka had a total of 406 tigers across its five tiger reserves while Uttarakhand had 340 — 215 at Corbett, 16 at Rajaji, and 109 at various forest divisions.

The tiger population in any reserve or state is estimated in terms of range with an upper limit and a lower limit, and the best estimate. For instance, at the All India Tiger Estimation 2014, Corbett’s figure of 215 was drawn from an upper limit of 261 and a lower limit of 169.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2015 reported at least 163 tigers in Corbett, based on camera traps. The then forest minister, Dinesh Agarwal, said there were 240 tigers at the reserve, with the difference between the lower limit and the best estimate being 77, reported HT.

An All India Estimation is carried out every four years using parallel surveys, scat analysis (used to understand diets for terrestrial carnivores), camera traps etc. to get an estimate of inhabitant tigers in the territory.

Read more: Want to Adopt Wild Animals Like Tigers & Elephants? Delhi Zoo Might Soon Let You!

Phase IV monitoring is conducted annually through photographs to estimate the minimum number of tigers in a reserve. With the minimum number increasing to 208 in the latest round, experts expect the rough estimate at Corbett to be close to 280, with an upper limit crossing 300.

“The details of Phase IV estimation definitely give a hint that the tiger population estimates in 2018 will surprise everyone,” Amit Verma, deputy director, Corbett, told HT.

Rajaji Tiger Reserve, too, reported an increase of 18 tigers during the Phase IV monitoring, bringing the total to 34. The population in the six adjoining forest divisions in Ramnagar, Haldwani, Lansdowne, Terai East, Terai West and Terai Central, is also growing. Together, they report at least 190 tigers.

The tiger population shouldn’t be the base of any inter-state competition, shares the former chief wildlife warden, Srikant Chandola. “There’s no competition between states as such, but based on the recent figures, I believe that Uttarakhand will at least report 400 tigers in the upcoming estimation,” he told the publication.

They believe that their hard work is paying off. “Uttarakhand is blessed to have a healthy tiger habitat, but our field staff’s work towards conserving the striped cats has paid off.” Digvijay Singh Khati, chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand.

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A promising student from NIIFT, Mohali, Shweta Tomar had her boutique until 2015 and could have been a successful fashion designer today. But she chose a different path and started goat rearing in a remote village instead. Here is her journey.

It all began when Shweta shifted from Dehradun to Bengaluru after getting married in 2015. Until then, she was a successful fashion designer. After moving to Bengaluru, she would often think of restarting her business.

“I was sure that I couldn’t just sit at home. I had to do something,” says Shweta while speaking to The Better India.

However, her interests took a U-turn when she visited a nearby farm over a weekend with her husband.

“It was a goat farm, and I loved spending time with them. I felt that I would enjoy taking care of them if I too started a goat farm,” she says.

After this visit, Shweta continued to visit the farm every day. She took formal training in goat farming and also gained hands-on experience for over a year in this farm. Once she was confident enough to start her own goat farm, she discussed the idea with her husband, Robin Smith, and had his full support for it.

However, Shweta, who was born and brought up in a small village, did not want to start her farm in a city. Instead, she decided to set up her farm in a village – hoping that she could prove that youths need not leave villages to find employment.

With that in mind, she left her comfortable life in Bengaluru and shifted to her ancestral land in a small village called Listrapur, in Ranipokhri area of Dehradun.

“Initially everyone was shocked with my decision. But looking at my determination, they agreed to let me follow my heart,” she says.

The initial challenges were many. The village had no goat farms so far, and so there was little optimism or enthusiasm for Shweta’s venture. The plot was bordered by jungle, and elephants and deer would pass-by often, which made it difficult to maintain a farm. This was why the area had remained barren for all these years.

However, nothing could stop Shweta. She took a loan and began her farm with some 250 goats.

“Looking at our urban attire, even bank authorities were shocked when we applied for a loan for animal husbandry. I had taken almost ₹ 30 lakh as a loan. It was a huge amount. I couldn’t have afforded a loss. I promised myself that I am going to make it successful – come what may,” says Shweta.

In September 2016, Shweta and Robin laid the foundation of ‘Prem Agro Farm’ in Listrapur village.

The farm is spread over 3000 sq. Ft with all modern amenities like 24×7 online surveillance through CCTV and an elevated platform, so that dung and urine can pass below and the platform remains dry and clean.

“Though this model required double the amount of building a traditional goat farm needs, we still preferred doing this so that the goats can stay in a clean environment. With this model, we have to clean the place just once a day,” informs Robin.

Shweta’s farm has only desi breeds of goats. The goats are of high quality, which breeds only two kids per year. The farm does not indulge in the artificial breeding method.

The animals are kept with utmost care. A water tank and a fodder tank are always filled, and the goats can eat or drink whenever they want.

Pregnant goats are kept separately from the herd and fed nutritious food. The newborns are also kept warm and clean. The goats have a very small mortality rate due to these favourable conditions.

Shweta has also started training sessions at her farm for anyone who wishes to start a goat farm. She believes that such businesses will encourage youth to remain in their villages and develop them, rather than migrating to crowded cities for work.

For anyone who wants to start a goat farm, Shweta advice is, to begin with just 10 – 20 goats – which would cost them around ₹ 8-10 lakh. Each goat requires ten sqft. to stay comfortably, hence it is advisable to use one’s own land rather than taking land on lease.

The most important aspect of starting an animal farm, according to Shweta, is that you must have interest and love for animals.

“These animals can’t speak – just like a baby. You have to become their mother and understand their gestures, their signals and their wordless language. This is possible only if you love them like a mother loves her baby. My most memorable moment was when the first two kids were born on our farm. It was December, and I would make bedding for them in my own room. I would also keep a hydrogen light near them to keep them warm. It was as if I had become a mother,” she says.

Shweta sells these goats to small farmers in her village. She doesn’t like to sell them to slaughter houses. She has also reared hens and plans to expand her business in the coming years. Right now her yearly turnover is ₹ 3- 4 lakh and she is happy with the same.

Shweta has also started farming in half a bigha of land. She uses fertiliser made of only goat dung. The vegetables grown by her are more than enough for their consumption. Hence, she also earns extra from selling surplus veggies.

“No work is big or small. Nothing can be achieved easily. If you work hard and dedicate yourself to a cause, you are definitely going to succeed,” she concludes.

You can contact Shweta on 9035699161 or 9720250290.

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“Jungli, guardian of the forests”. Though it may sound like a character out of a Rudyard Kipling book, this Jungli is for real. Jagat Singh Chaudhary, an ex-BSF soldier from Rudra Prayag in Uttarakhand, was bestowed this unusual moniker at an environmental seminar in 1993 for having transformed 1.5 hectares of barren wasteland into a thriving agro-forest.

Working tirelessly for over 40 years, Chaudhary used his own resources, hard work and ingenuity to usher in positive change. Here’s the story of this inspiring one-man army.

Photo Source

It all started in 1973 when Chaudhary, then a BSF soldier, returned home to his native village of Kot Malla for a vacation. One evening, he got the news that a village woman had fallen down the mountain while trekking to collect fodder and died of fatal injuries.

The tragic demise kept Chaudhary up all night. He realised that the tragedy wasn’t anything new for Kot Malla and its surrounding villages, with the local womenfolk having to hike to treacherous heights to gather fodder and fuel wood. The reason? Years of deforestation and degeneration of forests around the villages.

Moved by this plight, the young soldier spent the rest of his leave finding ways to reduce the drudgery that was part of every local woman’s daily routine. Chaudhary had inherited a straggly, rock-strewn patch of land from his father and he decided to use it to cultivate plants that would provide food, fodder and fuel.

He began by clearing the barren area of weeds and rocks. Since no water was available near the land, he would carry water pots on his shoulders for 3 km daily to irrigate the land. He continued developing the forest whenever he came home during breaks from his job.

Photo Source

In 1980, Chaudhary retired from the BSF and began devoting all his time to developing the forest. Using the money from his pension, he planted around 56 species of trees on the land. This included conifers (like deodar and oak) and indigenous grasses (like namcha and teliya) to flowers, climbers and rare medicinal herbs. He also planted patches of vegetables, tubers, pulses and spices to help the local earn a livelihood by selling them and the honey harvested from the forest.

Under Chaudhary’s careful nurturing and protection, a beautiful agroforest soon spread over the land, breathing life into it. Other than improving the microclimate and augmenting the water table of the area, the forest also solved the problem of the village women going on long, arduous treks to collect fuel wood and fodder.

Interestingly, in stark contrast to the monoculture pine plantations of the forest department in the region, Chaudhary’s forest teemed with wildlife thanks to its thriving biodiversity. In his forest, species as diverse as like oak, betel, olive and cane (not grown elsewhere in Uttarakhand) all grow together!

Photo Source

Inspired by Chaudhary’s dedication and unbridled enthusiasm for the project, many villagers joined the effort or started similar projects of their own. Following the example set by the retired soldier, they introduced mixed agroforestry on their land, which enhanced the incomes of families while restoring ecological balance to the region.

Nearly two decades after Chaudhary began working on his land, in 1993, IAS officer R.S. Tolia surveyed ‘Jungli’s jungle’. Impressed by the impact he saw, Tolia issued a circular recommending that it become the model of agroforestry followed by the whole of Uttarakhand. Chaudhary began being invited to deliver lectures at schools and colleges. Many accolades, including the ‘Him Gaurav’, the ‘Indira Gandhi Vrikshmitra’ and the ‘Pariyavaran Premi’ awards, followed soon.

In 2002, Chaudhary was felicitated by the Governor of Uttarakhand for his outstanding work in the field of nature conservation. However, the humble ex-soldier decided to gift the entire reward amount to the unemployed youth of his village. In 2007, he was invited by HNB Garhwal University in Srinagar to develop a model agroforest on the campus. He completed the project successfully in 2010.

Photo Source

Over the years, Chaudhary has continued working towards creating a healthy, well-functioning ecosystem that boosts the local economy. Other than distributing seeds and saplings free of cost, he also teaches alternative farming methods (like vermiculture, bee keeping, bamboo cultivation and rabbit farming) to the locals.

He has designed a novel way of making manure by digging pits on land (which he calls the ‘pit technology’). Understanding the need to cut down on the need for fuel wood, he also campaigns for subsidies on cooking fuel.

Now a spry 70-year-old, Chaudhary has no plans of giving up his exemplary work anytime soon. His son, Dev, has a degree in environmental science and has joined hands with his father to work towards ensuring a greener and better future for all.

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India is already a water-stressed country and rapidly moving towards becoming water scarce. The stats and figures being published daily in one forum or another are shocking.

But who’s reading them and who needs to address the issue? As water is consumed by all of us – it cannot be the responsibility of a chosen few to replenish receding resources.

Wings, an NGO in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, has been involved in several initiatives in this region but was alarmed as they learnt of the glorious past and the shrinking presence of one such lifeblood of its region – the Rai Gaarh river.

Pithoragarh is located in Uttarakhand, positioned in the centre of the western half of Soar Valley which bears a resemblance to the Kashmir valley on a small scale.

Pithoragarh is known as the gateway to the Himalaya’s from the north, as pilgrims trek through this town to the Kailas Lake in Mansarovar and Om Parvat.

Rai Gaarh is still the main source of drinking water for more than 50 % population of Pithoragarh city. In the last 15 years, unplanned development around its catchment area has not only polluted the water but also have a significant negative effect on its biodiversity.

This stream, which is a tributary of river Kali, was the home of several species of fishes, birds and other flora & fauna.

This historic river had been reduced to an unassuming gully, thanks to the negligent dumping of garbage and debris. One member of the society discovered the fate of this river and decided to take up the cause.

The group discussed how this life giver was now choking and decided that if someone had to do something about it, then it was them (to begin with).

Assessing the scope of the river and the damage, the group realized that it was sizable work and they needed more hands.

They approached local civic bodies and together the two sides decided to involve children. The impressionable minds and energy of young children could be skillfully harnessed – not just to help with the task of cleaning the river but to educate them and generate awareness.

Initially, the teams took just baby steps. They restricted themselves to 1500 meters out of a total of 40,000 square metres and decided to take up the revival project twice a month.

News of their efforts travelled to the national disaster management team and they offered to provide basic equipment to the team – including 12 walkie-talkies.

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The district magistrate also presided over the activity and after much leg work from the Wings team, a total of 300 volunteers were found – including about 100 children from neighbouring schools.

They began on Sunday, 14 May 2017.

If the pictures are anything to go by, it was not the best way to spend a Sunday morning. They started at day break, and while the core team got the logistics together and chalked out the area, all the volunteers worked from 7 to 11 am to dislodge ugly lumps from the river.

The team ensured the safety of all involved, since the majority were children, making sure there were help and nourishment for the little foot soldiers.

Due credit should also be given to the support received from our across-the-border neighbours – the Nepalese. They earned their livelihood in the hills of Pithoragarh and spent yet more hours in manual labour to revive a river that they too got their sustenance from.

The core team self-funded basic essentials like water, glucose, bananas and medicine and the municipal corporation provided them with shovels and spades. With a handsome turnout, the team was not only able to de-clog the throat of the river but was also able to garner support to work out a sustainable mechanism going forward.

You may also like: In 5 Sundays, 150 Mumbaikars Cleared 1.47 Lakh Kg of Waste From the Poisar River

In the first phase of the activity, two truckloads of waste and weeds were removed from 1500 metres of the targetted two kilometre stretch of Rai Gaarh.

This led to unrestrained flow in this part of the river. Encouraged by this initiative of the Wings society, several other groups got together – 200 school children, the Leh Foundation, the Resident Nepalese Welfare Association, the Pehlag Association and volunteers from the Himalayan Cycling Club came forth to join hands. They were also supported by about 50 locals and about the same number of NCC and NSS team members.

The society has planned to continue the revival of the whole length of the river to encourage the flocking back of 100 species of birds it used to come there.

They are especially hoping for the Black stock, a bird that migrates from almost 8000 km every year.

The district municipal party and disaster management team of Goonj from New Delhi also supported the event to the best of their capacity.

The district magistrate also recommended and appealed to all government officials to spend an hour post work to further aid in this necessarily regular activity.

Rai Gaarh is the life line of this small beautiful town, also known as mini Kashmir, and it will take many a Sundays to restore the river to its former glory. Though with that one Sunday a foundation has been laid to resurrect this originator of life.

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