Inspiring example of how single city-based family can contribute to increase greenery, protect environment
When Bajrang Sharma retired from government service in India after serving very capably for decades in senior positions in the state of Rajasthan, he could take particular satisfaction from two aspects of his long and distinguished career. Firstly, he had remained exceptionally close to several famous social activists a well as some legendary government officials known for their understanding of the needs of weaker sections. This had given him a very high motivation for trying to do his best for weaker sections. In some efforts as in the resettlement of Beesalpur project displaced persons, he could make very significant improvements, while in some other efforts, as in the case of innovative efforts for afforestation related livelihoods the efforts fell short of achieving very noble objectives as he was meanwhile transferred to another post.
Secondly, wherever he lived in the course of his various postings to various districts and cities, he tried to green the nearby areas by planting many trees, taking care to plant more useful and hardy indigenous species instead of the decorative species being planted more frequently in several cities. In this task, he received consistent and valuable support from his wife Mridula who shared his passion for trees, greenery and environment protection.
When Bajrang retired from his government job, he and Mridula were looking forward to a quiet life in their new home in Udaipur which they had taken great care to create in accordance with their passion for environment protection. Any urban planner with concern for environment protection would be delighted to see their home. They have created rooftop water harvesting storage capacity of about 30,000 litres, and any surplus rainwater finds its way through pipes to pebble-filled spots below their garden plants.
They have also installed solar rooftop electricity system to generate 32 units a day, hence meting all their needs and providing a surplus too.
Care was taken to avoid any over-construction, preventing avoidable waste of cement and concrete and also reducing costs. A larger part of the housing space has been left for creating a garden, and this space itself has been exceptionally well-utilized by, for instance, multi-layer vegetable cultivation. The roadside space in front of the house has also been planted with trees.
The home garden meets most of their vegetable, legume, oilseed, fruit and spice needs around the year while at the same time providing enough for healthy food gifts to several friends. The entire garden cultivation is carried out using natural methods, entirely avoiding chemical fertilizers, pesticides and weedicides.
Bajrang and Mridula were very content with their dream garden and home, but then they heard that in a nearby space left for green cover encroachments were being made for construction and this was likely to increase. Before this urban green space could be taken over almost entirely by encroachments of influential and wealthy persons, Bajrang moved fast to meet the concerned officials so that timely efforts could be made to create a fence wall for protecting the green space or park from encroachers. At the same time Bajrang and Mridula along with several neighbors like a software engineer Kanti Jinger initiated an effort to plant trees of about 50 species on this land. Water spots for birds have also been created. Pathways have been created in such a way that rainwater can be absorbed and retained in soil. Excessive cement and concrete use has been avoided, instead relying on skilled pitching of stones to create walls. In future this neglected green space which was earlier being rapidly encroached can also take the shape of a botanical garden where school children can come for recreation and play, study and exercise.
Another opportunity for adding further to green concerns came in the form of a relatively lower cost availability of less than 2 hectares of land in a nearby Jogion Ka Guda village in Gogunda block. While others look for space that can look like a luxury farmhouse, Mridula and Bajrang were content to have a patch of land that had been heavily degraded by heavy soil and water erosion and whose sole well had dried up. The reason why they were willing to pay for such land is that they wanted to work hard for soil and water conservation, and thereby create an example of how degraded land can be regenerated. As Mridula says—Our aim is not at all to earn from this land, but instead to put in whatever savings and efforts we can to increase greenery and conserve water here.
So during the last four years with the help of workers they have created stone bunds at carefully selected places along with many contour trenches so that the rapid and torrential flow of rainwater from hills above which carries away soil can be checked and instead a lot of water can be conserved. In addition they have planted about 1000 trees of many different species (including fruit trees), several species of grasses and bushes on this land. Some crops are also grown, using only natural methods.
Bajrang also contacted government departments and panchayats so that work under NREGA could be carried out for greening the hills above this land. All this work has raised the hopes of regeneration, as can be seen in the increasing water availability in the well here.
This effort provides an inspiring example of how a single city-based family of limited means can contribute very significantly to increasing greenery and protecting environment at the home, neighborhood and also village level within a few years. In addition Mridula and Bajrang continue to be involved with several other initiatives of high social relevance including education and mentoring of girls from weaker sections.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Man over Machine, and A Day in 2071
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