Last Dance

8220;THEY will come, just wait,8217;8217; says Jaisingh Nanekar, former sarpanch of Chincholi Morachi. In ten minutes the dull brown mono...

8220;THEY will come, just wait,8217;8217; says Jaisingh Nanekar, former sarpanch of Chincholi Morachi. In ten minutes the dull brown monotony of the village landscape breaks into shades of brilliant blue and green as peacocks descend for their daily evening feed.

This village 65 kms from Pune is known for the unique relationship its villagers share with what they call their treasure8212;an estimated 2,000 peacocks. The village8217;s population too is almost 2,000. 8216;8216;The peacocks are the pride of our village. We can8217;t let them go hungry,8217;8217; says 82-year-old Nanekar as he hands out grain to six peacocks outside his house.

But Nanekar is afraid that the birds may not always be there in the village. Here, as elsewhere in the drought-hit parts of the state, it8217;s been difficult for villagers to get food and water. Now in its third consecutive year of drought, the village is seeing its peacocks migrate in search of food.

Nobody is sure how many peacocks have migrated but the number could well be near 200. Though last year the forest department which owns around 100 hectares of land in Chincholi Morachi built five tanks to provide water for the peacocks, villagers say it8217;s not enough. 8216;8216;If only the water supply could be made permanent by arranging water from the Dimbhe right canal eight kms away, it could solve the water problem,8217;8217; says sarpanch Vishwanath Karanjkar.

Range Forest Officer, Shirur, S.H. Gawde counters it saying the forest department has forwarded a scheme to the divisional forest office in Junnar. 8216;8216;The scheme worth Rs 36 lakhs with Rs 18 lakhs for forest development and Rs 18 lakhs for the peacock feed and water has been forwarded and a decision is expected by month-end. The migration of peacocks to other villages has been on for the past two years due to drought from January to June. In May a temporary scheme to provide water for a month was undertaken, but we found that there are many volunteers who want to donate grain and water to the peacocks,8217;8217; he says.

While agriculture is the mainstay of this village it8217;s now exploring its tourism potential8212;every Sunday and on holidays, tourists come to the village to sight peacocks. 8216;8216;This May, after the visit of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, managing director, Ashish Kumar Singh, it was declared that the village would be promoted as a village tourist centre. A survey has been conducted and various schemes are already planned. Tourism, if developed properly, will ensure employment8212;we will get hotels, or villagers can become guides so we welcome it,8217;8217; says the sarpanch.