About Pali Village
Pali is an urban village,
about five kilometers from the industrial city of Faridabad, in Haryana, India.
About Pali Bani
There is nothing
extraordinary about Pali village, other than the fact that it abuts the ancient Arvalli mountains that span
about a thousand kilometer from Delhi to Gujarat, through Rajasthan, and has
forest patch, called Pali Bani. Bani means forest and is derived from
the word van.
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| Panoramic view 1 |
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| Panoramic view 2 |
This forest comprises a waterfall. Earlier this water fall used to be active throughout the year and the sound of it could be heard for a few kilometres around the place. An ancient Shiva temple is located at the foot of the waterfall, where local community believes that saints have meditated from Mahabahart times. Local people have renovated the ruined temple, but the original Shiv Linga, remains intact and worshipped.
Mining, climate change and
deforestation have killed this waterfall.
The local community had cleared the mining debris, and today a very
narrow stream of water flows down the slopes, throughout the year. Recent good spell of rains have brought the
waterfall alive for a few days, and again the sound of gushing waters could be heard
for several kilometres.
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| Pali Bani jharna (waterfall) in full glory after recent (July 2015) rains |
Mining led to deforestation and
destruction of native Aravalli species and their place has been taken over by an
invasive weed, introduce from Mexico, locally called Vilayati Kikar (prosopis
juliflora).
Local community wants Pali Bani to be restored to its ancient glory. A local NGO, “Save Aravali”, which has a following of
about 3000 concerned citizens from Delhi, Faridabad and Gurgaon, is putting in
sincere efforts to prevent encroachment, creating public awareness, planting
trees, etc.
Rotary Shanti Van has
forged an active collaboration with Save Aravali, to revive the forest with
native species , which will regenerate the
whole ecosystem, under the banner Rotary
Shanti Van.
Key challenges to afforestation
in the Aravallis
We have had extensive
discussions with the priests and temple staff about their experience as to
threats to the plants.
All of them have invariably identified
the following key challenges they had faced:
1. Water
Water is the nectar of life. Arranging a viable, permanent and cost effective water, for the plants, especially in remote and inaccessible places like the Aravallis is all the more challenging;
Water is the nectar of life. Arranging a viable, permanent and cost effective water, for the plants, especially in remote and inaccessible places like the Aravallis is all the more challenging;
2. Monkeys
Monkeys, both the small, brown rhesus monkeys and the bigger, grey langurs are a great threat not only to the plants but they destroy permanent infrastructure like pipework, water tanks, etc.;
Monkeys, both the small, brown rhesus monkeys and the bigger, grey langurs are a great threat not only to the plants but they destroy permanent infrastructure like pipework, water tanks, etc.;
Neelgai, also called Nilgau is the largest Asian antelope that inhabit the forests of Aravallis. Being herbivores, they eat the shoots, often jumping over walls/ fences, especially during winters when food is scarce;
4. Porcupines
Porcupines dig out the roots of the young plants and feed on them, again during winters when food is scarce;
Porcupines dig out the roots of the young plants and feed on them, again during winters when food is scarce;
5. Human visitors
Surprisingly, humans, who are visitors, were identified as equally serious threat to the young plants, who rip off the leaves absentmindedly, while engaged in conversation;
How Rotary Shanti Van is meeting the challenges
1. Water
Taking advantage of the perennial water source provided by the water fall, we are building permanent water infrastructure like water tanks, pumps, pipework etc., so that the young plants can be provided adequate water throughout the year.
Surprisingly, humans, who are visitors, were identified as equally serious threat to the young plants, who rip off the leaves absentmindedly, while engaged in conversation;
How Rotary Shanti Van is meeting the challenges
1. Water
Taking advantage of the perennial water source provided by the water fall, we are building permanent water infrastructure like water tanks, pumps, pipework etc., so that the young plants can be provided adequate water throughout the year.
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| Submersible Pump |
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| Add caption |
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| Pipework with valves |
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| Pipes being laild |
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| Water tank erected and ready
Digging pits and filling with nutritious soil
In
a span of just 23 days from 1st July 2015, over 200 pits have
already been dug. This activity will continue till 30th September,
and we plan to dig a minimum of 1000 pits during this period.
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| rough fence is made out of fallen keekar tree branches at Pali Bani |
Recognising that the Pali Bani Afforestation Project is unique and deserves attention, our project was inaugurated by our District Governor, 2015-16, Rtn.Sudhir Mangla, RI District 3011, inaugurated the project on 20th September 2015.
Members of Rotary Club of Gurgaon Cosmopolitan, presidents of several Faridabad based clubs based the occasion. DRFC Rtn.Dr.Sushil Khurana, AG Rtn.O.P.Pahwa and DD-Admin, Rtn.Vivek Jain also graced the occasion.
The program started by offer of prayers to the presiding deities Shiva and Hanuman, and followed by tour of the site, inauguration of the water tank, etc.
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| Pooja before inaugurating the water tank |
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| DG Rtn.Sudhir Mangla (L), AG Rtn.O.P.Pahwa (C) and PDG, DRFC Rtn.Dr.Sushil Khurana (R), planting a tree at the Pali Bani project site, |
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| Sapling being watered by Save Aravali volunteers and Rotarians |
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| Address of gathering at project site |
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