INDIANANGLER

Hi,

I am starting this new thread to:

- Provide an update on my recent visits to the Bheemeshwari stretch.
- Highlight work done by some volunteers to clean the sanctuary and river banks.
- Focus on the Cauvery.

I have done 4 camping trips plus a 4 nights stay at Bheemeshwari with JLR between end August,2006 till Jan 10th, 2007. I saw a poacher in action even as early as August when the river was high and un-fishable. The best fishing was in November 06, by Christmas we had only 2 decent fish, and in January 07 a 2 lbs Mahseer was the biggest. I have reasons to believe that poaching is happening in the Sanctuary.

I am a volunteer in a group called "Clean and Green" http://cleanngreen.blogspot.com who have cleaned the picnic spots at Mekedatu, Sangam and now Mutthatti near Bheemeshwari. We remove the plastic waste in particular but other waste too.

Our major sponsor is Jungle Lodges who offer the volunteers a simple lunch, transport the waste collected to the nearest town for disposal, and allow us to address their guests to keep the sanctuary "litter free".

We have contacted:
- The panchayat president
- Fr.Abraham, a priest, working for and with the local community.
- The Range Forest Officer
- Nahar and Sundar, the managers of the Bheemeshwari and Galibore fishing camps.

All of them have offered their support.

Vijay Vidyarthi, a WASI member, has offered to pay for the salary of a person / family for one year to keep Mutthatti clean and collect the plastic left behind by tourists / picnickers.

Volunteer are planing their next clean up trip on January 21st,2007.

Our trip reports are emailed to:
- MD of Jungle Lodges(our main sponsor)
- Principal Chief Conservator of Forests- Wildlife

Their email id's are:

ceo@junglelodges.com
pccfwl@vsnl.com

Please do email them on all conservation related suggessions you may have. Thanking JLR for supporting Clean and Green in trying to keep the river and the sanctuary clean and litter free will be a positive reinforcement for good work done.

Outrigorsandeep

Great work Sandeep.

To follow up, the more people who email or write to the above, the more chance there is that someone in a position of power will put a hand in their pocket to help out.

It seems from previous posts and emails from Sandeep that the PCCF has shown no interest in Clean and Green's work. I for one have written to him suggesting he get on board.
Maybe a few more of you could email him...

Don't think it will put him in a good mood, but maybe someone could mention article 48a of the Indian Constitution: duty to improve the environment.

Steve,

Thanks for your appreciation and support. We must meet when you are in Bangalore.

For the 21st Jan. clean up drive we have 24 volunteers so far with more expected to join in.

The need of the hour is to:

- Keep the river and sanctuary clean. We cannot stop picnickers, tourists and pilgrims from visiting the river, but we CAN request them not to litter and clean up the existing mess.
- Step up patrolling the river and set up anti-poaching camps. Jungle Lodges who have the lease of the river and are earning good money from the anglers have the primary responsibility followed by the Forest Dept.

If we can keep a sustained pressure on these two organisations, something WILL get done.

Please pitch in.

Outrigorsandeep

Hello,

37 volunteers visited the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary on Jan.21,2007 and picked up 164 kg of plastic from the picnic spot at Mutthatti. This plastic was brought back to Bangalore and given to K K Plastic who re-cycle it.

The village Panchayat President with 3 panchyat members, Fr. Abraham and the Range Forest Officer were present.

The Forest Dept. has put up boards which clearly state the the sanctuary is a Plastic Free zone but no one bothers as there is no enforcement.

Littering and poaching will continue in the CWS until the authorities enforce the rules.

Please email pccfwl@vsnl.com asking him to act.

Let us unite in our effort to protect and save our wilderness areas.

Regards,

Outrigorsandeep

Is there no way to enforse a fine for littering there?

Mutthati is such a beautiful picnic spot, with more huge shady spots than you can find anywhere along the river. Sorry to say, but we have no civic sense.
The place is turned into a environmentalist's nightmare every week.
Hat's off to you Sandeep. Wish i had more time on my hands, i would put my rods to good use[color=darkblue]

Hi guys,
We collected 164kgs of plastic from Mutthatti on jan 21st & brought it back to Bangalore for recycyling by K.K.Plastic. A picture of some volunteers at work.



Sandeep.

Hi,

With the river running as low as this the fish are very vulnerable to poaching. Nothing much is being done on the anti poaching activities. This picture was taken on Jan.21st 2007, downstream of Bheemeshwari.



Sandeep

Keep at it Sandeep!!

This is the time to be out there with a rod Sandeep!

Damed good effort on your part Sandeep.Keep at it and best wishes to your other volunteer friends
Best
Axx

You make me feel very small, Sandeep and at the same time very proud .... Keep it up .. Best // Fred

Guys,

I am overwhelmed by your appreciation!! Honest. Will ask the volunteers to visit IA and check out your comments.

Steve, your letter to the PCCF-WL has been forwarded by me to the MD of Jungle Lodges. I have also thanked her for JLR's support but raised the poaching issue and have requested her to start the anti-poaching patrolling.

Clean and Green plans to get the press involved. We are having an early morning meeting tomorrow,Republic Day.

Thanks once again for supporting the cause.

Cheers!

Sandeep

Great job Sandeep !

I did see the disgusting piles of garbage near Muttathi village, when I visited Bheemeshwari (Dec. 18-21).

It is nice to know, that some dedicated souls are taking action to clean
up the Cauvery riverside.

Keep it up !!

regards

Makarand

Hi Sandeep,

This 14th trip ??? I would like to join.

How do we get there and back ??

What the ETD Blr and ETA back in Blr ??? on 14th saturday .

I have some engagements on Sunday and may not be able to do an overnight...though I would have loved to.

Is it okay to bring friends ??

Jude

Hi,

70 + volunteers from Sun Microsystems. 308 kg of plastic collected for re-cycling.

Sandeep

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your encouragement and support.

The Clean and Green volunteers want to escalate the problem of plastic littering to other authorities beyond the Karnataka Forest dept. We are thinking of approaching the Pollution Control Board.

Has anybody had any experience with this body?? Any advise will be welcome.

Outrigorsandeep

Guys,

I seem to be only one bashing on regardless! Anyone willing to help??

Now for the news:
- On June 17th 2007 about 10 volunteers cleared 54kg of plastic litter from Mutthatti.
- Volunteers educated tourists / shopkeepers not to use plastic and not to litter. Some tourists helped in the clean up too.
- Clean and Green volunteers have so far cleared over 500kg of plastic waste from this site on the banks of the Cauvery.
- The PCCF Wildlife of Karnataka Forest Dept. has given us permission to put up boards and bins in Mutthati.
- We have a Corporate Sponsor to fund this.

If any of you wish to support this effort the least you can do is to email pccfwl@gmail.com and tell him to help us to save the sanctuary.

Remember that the river, in the sanctuary, is home to the Mahseer.

Outrigorsandeep
- Volunteer: http://cleanngreen.blogspot.com/

Hi all,

The next clean up at Mutthatti is scheduled for August 12th,2007. If any of you wish to paticiate contact:

Rakesh Chandra : rakesh24@gmail.com : +91 99007 00811
Roopa Sankaran : roopasankaran@gmail.com : +91 98453 45813


I was at Bheemeshwari July 25th -27th and noticed that Mutthatti was much cleaner than in the past. Plastic still litters the place but it is not as bad as it was.

Our volunteers are still trying to attend the Eco. Development Council meeting to try and declare Mutthatti and the Sanctuary a Plastic Free zone.

Regards,

Sandeep

Hi Bobbee,

I remember your offer to bring in a celebrity, and we should do it but the timing has to be right.

Our groups' intention is to meet with the Eco. Development Council (EDC) based in Mutthatti and get the local people to accept a 'no plastic' environment. Without the local people's support we will not be able to achieve any long term and sustainable progress. There is also a political angle to all this as the Panchayat is a political body.

Meanwhile, all of you who are concerned can email the DCF in charge of the Cauvery Wildlife Santuary and urge them to consider declaring the Sanctuary a "no plastic" zone. The email ids are:

dcfcauverywl@gmail.com

cwlkanakapura@yahoo.com

We need to keep the pressure up while volunteers of Clean and Green continue to clear the plastic waste left behind.

Any voluneers for the August 12th clean up??

Regards,

Sandeep

Glad to hear that you are still doing a great job out there. I was very impressed by your efforts last time you visited - there are plenty of places in England that could do with the same treatment, it is a worldwide problem not just an Indian one.
Can they not get some recycling bins installed at Muttathi or at Bheemishwari? Or the companies that make all these plastic bottles could pay a few rupees for their return (we used to do the same in England with glass bottles) as even if some people couldn't be bothered and still threw them in the bushes others would collect them if they could make a bit of money from them.
I must admit that the first time i came i was amazed at the amount of rubbish along the river - looked pristine though after Sandeep and his crew had finished last time i visited.
Would like to be able to help as I've fallen in love with the Cauvery river system, but not practical as I'm 6,000 miles away!

Hi Guys,

We need to declare a war on PLASTICS. Long article but worth reading.

http://www.bestlifeonline.com/cms/publi ... e_we.shtml

Regards,

Sandeep

Great job!!! Sandeep.
I would like to add... wish all our dams had fish ladder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_ladder

Regards
Tathagata.

Is it true that nearly all the dams and barrages built after independence don't have fish ladders.

I know both Pong and Bhakra don't... nor does the Tehri Dam. In fact the small dams in HP don't seem to either.

Hi Guys,

May I suggest that "fish ladders" be a seperate thread.

Sandeep

Hi Guys,

The next clean up trip at Mutthatti is scheduled for Sept. 9th. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact me on:

- outrigor@airtelbroadband.in
- 98441 15315

Sandeep

Sandeep, I am really proud that one of us is notonly worried but also taking constructive steps towards preserving the environment. You are doing a fantastic job and I hope that it bears great results. Best of Luck and take care.

A thinker and a doer. Thanks mate. I have to catch up.

Hi,

A quick update:

- Was fishing at Doddamakli on Oct.31st,07. The river is running very high. No fish hooked or landed.

- Saw a dead fish about 1.5 kg floating in the fast current. Possibly a victim of dynamite upstream. As we all know there is no anti poaching activity happening upstream of Doddamakli.

- The forest road access to Monkey Pool has been blocked by the Forest Dept. which means no anglers can fish upstream of Bheemeshwari at Monkey Pool,Hati Pool or further upstream. JLR has taken it up with the RFO and I have sent an email to WASI to take it up suitably with the Forest Dept.

- Mutthatti is looking a lot cleaner and not like a carpet of plastic!!

Sandeep