Towards a Green cover

Started a decade ago by Shrikant Paranjpe and Ravi Purandare,Green Hills Group initially began as an informal gathering of tree lovers who would come together to water the plants on Chatushrungi hill. It was only later that the group was registered as a trust with eight members. Since then the group has planted 5000 trees at Chatushrungi and 4000 at ARAI.

Members are assigned to particular areas where they meet at least once a week to water the plants in their respective zones. At ARAI,members meet every Saturday at 7:30 am and switch on the newly installed drip irrigation systems. At Chatushrungi,a similar routine follows on Sunday mornings at 7:30 am. At Hanuman Tekdi however,members meet everyday and have to use cans to water the trees,which makes the whole process time and energy consuming. The group hopes to raise enough funds to install a drip irrigation system at Hanuman Tekdi soon.

“Initially it was difficult for us as we didn’t have funds or enough water to tend to the trees. Now however,with the support of PMC and many companies,we have enough of both,” says one of the trustees,Sanjay Athavale. Earlier,there were no water sources at the top of the hill and the members would have to carry water cans all the way to the top. “When you want to do something good,people will always try to help you. It was heartening to see that on temple hills like Hanuman Tekdi and Chatushrungi,temple visitors often volunteered to carry water cans to the top for us. These little things make a big difference,” says one of the founders,Ravi Purandare. Now the group is supported by various corporations such as HSBC,Cummins,Tata Motors and others. Tata Motors for instance donated several water tanks and the drip irrigation systems to help the group. Due to the drip irrigation system,the efforts required to water the plants has greatly reduced. Other corporations have also contributed in cash and kind and their employees have also pitched in as volunteers. The group also harvests rain water,with mini tunnels in the ground leading run-offs to tanks on the hill. This water is then used for the trees through most of the year from October to March. From April,till the onset of monsoons,the group then depends on tankers to bring them water.

The group’s activities also include weeding the surrounding areas and cut the grass to keep damage from forest fires at a minimum. “The grass in these areas grows to a height of up to 6 feet and in November,they start drying up. Once dry,they often lead to forest fires and the trees on the hills get burnt as a result. So now we remove the grass around the trees and in the rest of the areas on the hills,we simply cut them short. While there are still instances of forest fires,the grass is too short for the fir to actually harm the trees,” says Athavale.

The group also collects seeds from the indigenous trees and distributes them to local nurseries. Some of the seeds are grown by the group and then used for plantation in the forests. The seeds come from 45 different species local in the region,such as peepal,palas and tamarind,amongst others. “We are all just nature lovers and want to plant more and more trees and see them grow to great heights. It is great that we are receiving such positive response from companies and volunteers,” says Athavale.