Exposure Trip on Climate Change to Dahanu
Youth & Climate Change: In and Around Dahanu on 20th Feb 2011.
CED organised a Exposure trip on Climate Change to Dahanu. Around 50 students participated in this trip. The students were taken to a remote fishing village, bordering Gujarat for an interaction on climate issues and to understand the problem of pollution like the recent oil spill with Fishermen and Local residents.
Students from different colleges took part in this. It was a whole day programme. The first visit was to Zai village. From there students were sent out in groups to visit and talk to the families. The groups leaders presented their observations at the group discussion.
Some of the problems they identified were :
Problem of Water: Water comes once in 5 days. Water is bitter and black. The Govt. makes promises but nothing happens. The fishermen who go out fishing on longer days who need to carry drinking water are not able to take because of non-availability.
Education: They have to send the children to Bordi village. The travel to and fro to Bordi village is very expensive. The youth here want to show their talent but are forced to work as a fishermen.
Livelihood: These fishermen do not sell the catch directly. It is the middlemen who purchase from them. If they don’t have catch, middlemen will help them with the loan.
Pollution: Disposal of bad fish. Plastics cause a lot of pollution, plastic gets stuck into their nets.
The plots/houses alongside the road, are better off; and are not traditionally fishing families. They are now involved with other fishing related activities, like trade, owning boats, dealers for motor boats etc.
The long stone barrier, and the concrete barrier behind it, is part of evidence of their adaptation to rise waters, erosions etc... but these works have been done by government agencies.
The principle beneficiaries here are the people who have beer bars, mainly for youth coming in bike from across the borders. The poorer people tend to sell off their better placed plots, and move outwards, to more vulnerable areas. They also have less pucca houses- their roofs are of asbestos, partly tiled, only the core part of their house would have exposed brick work, other parts covers with thatched, some even thick cloth, tarpaulin.
There does not seem to be a good Kerala style cooperative functioning. This explains how there are many better off families, mainly from Gujarat who have settled along the road. Some many be considered rich, but most are just better off.
From Bordi village the students were taken to Sogve, to the Chickoo farm, which also acts as a Pre Primary School for Tribal Children. The Community Radio Resource Centre hosts an Oral History Project of Katkaris’(The Katkari community is a primitive forest tribe based mostly in Raigad and Thane Districts). The Tamarind Tree is a chemical free orchard growing chikoos, coconuts, guavas, sitaphals, papanas and traditional varieties of rice and vegetables.
Entirely run on drip irrigation, the farm has a surface well for its agricultural and domestic purposes. It also has cattle and a gobar gas plant to cook food and as fertilizer.
Some of the students presented their understanding of Climate Change. Each group were given 5 to 10 minutes to present their work. Ajitha Tiwari shared her work of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
The Tamarind Tree presentation by Michelle Chawla was a real eye opener. Their work on Video Archive/Film; their plan for exploring IP TV options, and using 3G spectrum for that.
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