A Mini Green Core Dumna in Jabalpur Under Seize

The Onslaught on Oxygen & Water Banks

Nowhere is the onslaught of the developmental spree more apparent than against remaining small green pockets of towns and cities. These are mini-ecosystems that act to preserve and provide fresh air and water, and hence are invaluable assets in preserved form. 

Most such green patches that still survive to this day have been fortunate enough to escape the wrath of concretization due to remote placement or exclusivity. Though much reduced in size and composition these are invaluable assets for rapidly expanding towns and cities of India. 

Easy Acquisition of Invaluable Greens 

It is ironic that even in these times of suffering from imminent ecological failure and climate change, natural places are not being spared. On the contrary, they are under intense scrutiny as lucrative developmental prospects  - ready for concretization perhaps due to ease of acquisition?  Another reason that seems apparent and facilitates concretization is the lack of humanity or rather the ubiquitous public ownership which makes acquisition an easier prospect.  

For developers, the eyes are always on these reclusive patches of vacant lands irrespective of their natural worth to the cities. But this should not apply to green corridors and patches they should be preserved for eternity. It is nigh impossible to regenerate natural forests after destruction.  

Save Dumna Plateau & Ecology 

Take Dumna for example. A much-neglected elevated green plateau of Jabalpur which holds an airport built during the British Era and subsequently expanded, it is now a subject of intense scrutiny.  As a matter of pride, the ecosystem stands as a fine model of urban conservation and displays impressive synergy between man and the surrounding wilderness, all this will be destroyed if urban projects devastate the home of other life forms. 

These forests border the city confines and are home to Dumna Nature Reserve with an enclosed area of 1800 acres. It is well protected and receives a large number of visitors every year. The reserve is home to a large population of spotted deer, wild boars, jungle cats, jackals, foxes, and reptiles including marsh crocodiles, and other small mammals most of which are nocturnal. But please note the forests expand far beyond the reserve and form a corridor. The terrestrial diversity comprises mixed forests, grasslands, herbs, shrubs, and scrub each invaluable on its own, and together, in this fragile ecosystem.  

The crocodiles find shelter in the large catchment of Khandari Reservoir within the reserve that supplies potable water to the city. Few leopards and perhaps hyenas survive within and outside the reserve. The ecological niche spreads out beyond the confines of the Nature Reserve and comprises invaluable species of flora and fauna, it is visited by avian migrants from the Palearctic and the Himalayas as well. 

The forests in Jabalpur's outskirts are interconnected and act as corridors for migration for the diminishing wilderness that still survives. The last remaining patch of green in Jabalpur is least capable of taking on the projects slated, being an ecologically sensitive area with a preservation history that dates back more than 150 years. The forests support a number of water bodies in the surroundings neighboring the villages. 

Planned Projects in A Leopard Habitat

The plan for a man-made tiger safari in the nature park would have wreaked havoc on the floral elements and the fauna in the nature reserve, and the visitor numbers would have been stressful on this ecosystem. Thankfully as it appears, it is nowhere in the picture now perhaps due to litigation that ensued?  A number of PIL have been filed in Jabalpur High Court against the developmental spree in this ecologically sensitive area.

The establishment of IITGM on 100 acres was the first alarm that set in among the nature lovers of Jabalpur, a number of citizens who are sizeable and active in conservation initiatives.  The establishment of IITGM is encroachment into natural land, the barbed wire wall prevents the free movement of wild animals besides enhancing prospects of man-animal conflict.   

Besides IITGM a number of projects are slated here which is not at all desired keeping the nature of the land in consideration. From amusement parks, and public offices to a five-star hotel all bode ill for one of the last remaining pieces of natural land in the town. Wise counsel should prevail to prevent this concretization and the projects should be planned elsewhere since there is no dearth of vacant land on the outskirts.  

Although the reserve was subject to exploitation in earlier times, the status has accorded some much-needed protection. Spread all around the protected area are forests mostly mixed with scattered patches of bamboo, much exploited and ravaged in the past. The network thus forms a greater ecosystem that once flourished in totality but as of now is badly fragmented but still invaluable for climate stability and for humanity.       

Following the establishment of  IITGM at Dumna a large number of projects are slated in this invaluable eco-niche one of the few remaining lungs of the city. The overzealous developmental zeal which is clearly evident in this beleaguered urbanity that is Jabalpur is not leaving this ecosystem a mini patch of green unscathed. 

The article does not target a particular dispensation, but it urges the planners' future and present to avoid places with biodiversity however small that which have ecological importance. Hence the plea is to leave Dumna untouched and prevent the scars that concretization will eventually bring in.     

Dumna Source of Potable Water & Fresh Air

By urbanizing Dumna, one of the last remaining green patches we are sure to lose the green lungs that the city strives for in times of intense pollution and hectic biotic activities. The hills do not have the capacity to bear the reckless establishment of structures that will come up eventually under the projects that are slated to target this valuable eco-niche. 

Khandari Dam is a wetland ecosystem that sustains fast-vanishing terrestrial and aquatic species in and around Jabalpur. It is a valuable source of water for the town, though not under direct threat destruction of the surrounding biome would have a negative impact on the catchment area.  

More on Dumna Nature Reserve

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Uday works as a freelance naturalist and loves to write on related issues. He also provides SEO and content writing services. He runs classes on digital marketing in his home town Jabalpur.  

He can be contacted :

pateluday90@hotmailcom

9755089323  

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Tiger Conservation: Urban Assault

Rising urbanization all over the World is seen as a gauge in a positive perspective...a gleaming example of development. 

An article on the UNDP website terms mega cities as centers of learning, culture, and innovation. Besides this, it surmises that these population silos are wealth/resource generators and production centers, and therefore of immense importance to human settlements connected with them. It also mentions that these silos boost holistic progress, look after the well-being of the societies, address poverty, tackle pollution, and create infrastructure.  This is UNDPs own view of urbanization which many may not agree with.

Urban Ghetto

Chaotic Traffic

The Rat Race

This is a constricted perspective of human development indices because we do not seek more pliable alternatives. The article does mention the poor quality of urban development that creates economic disparities, pollution, further poverty, hardship, and diseases, and most of them are environmental disasters. 

We all have realized this anomaly prevailing in the major cities bursting at the seams due to overpopulation and unchecked migration from suburbs, smaller towns, and now deep interiors. 

Yes, we all know this except the developers and those who reap huge benefits in terms of political agenda and the businesses amassing wealth. These are the privileged ones that unfortunately take to the helm and become city planners, developers, ruling politicians, esteemed citizens, and active propagandists that never fail to advocate reckless urbanization at any cost.  

The fall out of urbanized ghettos is limited to their surroundings and to some extent to the neighborhoods. 

Think carefully! 

In order to sustain one infrastructure another extended or connected is required...and then another till the network pathway leads to the deep interiors where our rural societies subsist on the bare minimum with rational utilization of natural resources, and where most of our tiger reserves or natural places are. 

The last leg is the micro-urban center greatly susceptible to unplanned and unchecked development or linear development to be precise. It is these micro-urban centers that eventually continue to expand haphazardly denuding and eventually swallowing the reserves.   

Over looked and accorded lesser importance our tiger reserves or other ecosystems are most susceptible to this developmental threat. The phenomenon is universal pan India and is rapid. 

In Project Tiger we have an ambitious tiger conservation program that is experiencing daylight at the moment...but the impending space constriction and environmental degradation due to rapid development is going to hinder the progress in time to come. 

We are so enamored by modern development as we see in this World that we have forgotten to set limits and checks which are of utmost importance. Though the inviolate core areas are safe at the moment, the stress is on the buffer (surroundings) where the stringent policy of protection and no commercial construction should be well in place. The region surrounding the core faces huge biotic pressure from human intrusion and livestock, and the forests are nowhere secure with wood logging and sporadic poaching. The settlements here are subject to expansion and the agricultural practices are old age with low yield. An alternative more environmentally friendly alternative for agriculture should be looked for as soon as possible. One solution is to promote the nonwood handicraft industry since some communities have proficient artisans. This is being done in many places but needs greater impetus.    

The vision of wildlife and humans subsisting in harmony living in the same space  is at best romantic and purely chimerical. This idea defies practicality in modern times with limited span of ravaged forests and grasslands. Some wild animals are too sensitive to thrive along with humans anyway. And then we know the ways of contemporary human society.   

At many tiger reserves due to peer pressure, tigers move into the buffer, and some have become permanent residents. With a sparse prey base, weak crown cover, and increasing tiger population the problems are further compounded.

Munna Tiger With Kill _ Gopal Desai 

Meanwhile, the urban assault continues relentlessly with no possibility of stoppage. This is a challenge that wildlife managers and the field staff will face till some mitigating measures are put in place.

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Uday freelances as a naturalist and loves to write on tiger conservation and environmental issues.
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
09755089323

Tiger Conservation - Urbanization The Deadly Menace

Minimizing Destruction of Our Natural Lands

It keeps spreading its tentacles all around, and you cannot blame anyone except us. You cannot blame the politicians, planners, and developers. Anyway, they do not plan they just fulfill. It is we who have multiplied like rats and taken over our natural lands which the Earth had nourished for centuries right from the day evolution came into the picture.

Skyscrapers

Traffic congestion

People who read history of civilizations know that towns and cities will come and go but now in their wake they will leave back ravaged lands that may take eons to recover. In order to settle thousands of families, cities, towns, villages keep on spreading without planning and with total disregard for nature. A builder least admires an eco-niche in the neighbourhood nor does he feel guilty of placing concrete structures over them stifling microcosm of life forever. In fact we are so impressed by concrete structures that we concrete everything around us even natural gardens, wild bushes, small jungles, beautiful lakes and ponds where in lot of organisms and avian life depends upon the natural embankments and depth as well. 

Our eyes glow brightly when we see magnificent edifices the concrete structures embracing our towns and cities. That is development! (Sic). When the structures start to decay we continue living there, a stoic and helpless attitude that we have developed as a matter of consequence.

Cities are rotting, there is water shortage, dirt, smog, and pollution living conditions are like hell. Deadly pollution thanks to smoke-belching industries, cars uncountable, congestion, drying lakes and water bodies polluted to the brim, and overall the looming climate change ...there you have it! Slowly you come to understand what is unplanned development that damages the environment and invites disease, mental disorder, and more.

The ill-planned overwhelming urbanization is taking over the remaining natural lands in all settlements now from metros to even small towns. The latter come under the scanner of infrastructure development in the forms of rail lines, highways, and dams. This affects wildlife and can be disastrous for endangered species like the tiger, lion, and elephant to mention a few.

Tiger

Grasslands + Forests

The sharp reduction in the number of tigers in India has been mainly due to the loss of habitat. Tigers need specialized habitats that only dense forests containing untouched wilderness can offer. Unfortunately in India forests have been converted to agricultural fields, and industrial belts, ravaged by mines, and now urbanization is creeping into even small places auguring a dark future. If we do not reduce our carbon footprints global warming can become serious and sustenance of life may not be possible. Hence we humans are also at risk and perhaps face extinction too?

Where will the buck stop nobody knows? Man-animal conflicts, extinction of species, water shortages due to the destruction of rivers, and due to climate change all are a result of man's total disregard for nature conservation.

We should consider the destruction of nature as an impending disaster, and accord importance to its preservation. In governance this should be a major issue there should be debates and discussions on this. But this does not happen people are not aware or simply do not care, and politicians take advantage and do not take environmental issues into consideration except accord some lip service.

What future awaits our gen next? What about climate change knocking at our doorsteps? What are we doing to minimize fossil fuel consumption? What are we doing to stop the production of pollutants, toxins, and hazardous chemicals? All this should be taken into account during the political discourse? Is it being done? Ask yourself, write or raise your voice before it is too late.

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Uday works as a naturalist in India and blogs on environmental and conservation issues.
Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com