https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_Qk4Ob2DQ This Tamil Nadu man turns 100 acres of barren land to an indigenous forest
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/video/environment/this-tamil-nadu-man-turned-100-acres-of-barren-land-to-an-indigenous-forest-83160 Born into a small farmer family near Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu, Saravanan always had a special connection with nature. At the age of 14, he participated in the 100-day march for the ‘Save the Western Ghats’ rally which deeply influenced his path in life... After being active as an environmentalist in his youth, Saravanan took up the project in Auroville in 1994. With the help of the residents, students and the local community, Saravanan decided to grow a 100 acres of land into an indigenous forest.
Response on Whatsapp:
BA: I feel proud that I was part of the core group in the Save the Western Ghats (Sahyadri Vaachva) campaign around 35 years ago. This man's efforts are commendable and are the result of the campaign. In 2016 I conducted 'Save our Sahyadri Cycle Rally 1200 kms with 40 Cyclist participants and another 40 members as Support Team. This was to assess the in situ state of the Sahyadri range in Maharashtra and weave a network of like minded people who are working towards conservation of our eco system all over the Sahyadri region.
RR Today we should look back and recall that environmental activists including the petitioner in this present case who had predicted/anticipated that this environmental disaster would occur even when the project was proposed. Unfortunately neither the successive Governments nor the Courts paid any heed to it.
Today we are saddled with a polluting power plant which will continue polluting the Western Ghats as well as continue paying token fines which will end up in Government coffers only to be misused by those in power. Western Ghats will continue to be polluted and the company will continue to make profit even after paying a small portion of its profits as 'fine'.
A Pessimist.
AP: Suggest a solution to the problem or else its a dead-end rant, which gets us nowhere Conservation or any form of Activism works only with an inherent and endless optimism. Pessimism is the perfect way to get depressed and loose all energy to make any form of change, be it to the Western Ghats or any place in the world. Its best kept out of such groups.
JD: One of the solutions, is to understand that what will be.. is the fruition of all efforts.. The pessimist included, contributes to a soul searching.. while there has been a change as a result of struggle, legal battles, positive and constructive work, and we must recognise them, there will be those who wish to highlight the structural struggle.. which I suppose will be ongoing.