Urgent Tasks

We are exploring the other side, getting to know the terrain more intimately so that during the summer months Kasi can begin to execute the first rock work, the most important aspect of all: the foundation for water conservation. Now that he is free of the nursery management, he can put all his substantial energy into this.

The acre will need to be fenced first to keep away predators. A watchman's hut needs to be constructed and pump provided for the well. Within a short time we will put figures to the initial needs. Anyone interested in this project please contact us for details.

Until the recent two years, the greatest hinderance to the growth of the forest has been the burning. This problem has been overcome for the present by the recent rains, nevertheless in future no doubt the hill will return to tinder during our hot dry summers. The forest will always require protection.

The burning problem is part of a wider issue, the solution to which potentially requires no funding: the drastic reduction in acts which break the law protecting Reserve Forest. This law - which prohibits grazing of sheep, goats and cattle, killing of wildlife, uprooting of herbs, cutting of trees, burning of grass, etc., would be profoundly influenced by the psychological involvement of all devotees of Arunachala and all persons concerned with ecological restoration.

"Flying Camps" conducted by Forestry Department would contribute greatly to solving the grazing problem. (A "Flying Camp" means an unsheduled inspection.) Perhaps such camps could be targeted towards aspects other than grazing. Unsheduled inspections require some planning, some cognizance of the facts on the ground: when to pounce is important.

We should all be aware that what happens at present on and around Arunachala is that actions harmful to the forest are all enabled while helpful human presences are prohibited: such as traditional bathing under waterfalls occasioned by a good monsoon, picnics by high-minded families, sits on rocks by meditative individuals and any explorations whatsoever over rocks or up mountain paths by persons described as "multi-nationals". In other words, except for the tolerance of persons legitimately engaged in reforestation, any venturing up on the hill by persons not engaged in corruption is steadfastly thwarted. At present this is the situation around Arunachala, widely believed to be the embodiment of Lord Siva, the Destroyer of Ignorance.

Perhaps Arunachala is sufficiently revered within India and all over the world now for a change in the ubiquitous turning of blind eyes towards enfringements in the law protecting forests. The prevention of friends of the forest on the hill is simply a strategy for deflecting attention from the reality. Arunachala perhaps means more to us than this.

Let's call for a more intelligent future here.

Aspiring as we do towards a more intelligent future we wish to call for assistance to send our workers out of station to attend training programmes in other areas in South India which will increase their knowledge and understanding and assist them more meaningfully to perceive themselves as part of the expansion of civic concern manifesting globally in response to environmental degradation and changing weather patterns. There are training centres for all the capacities we need to develop within a reasonable distance, in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Anyone curious to know the details of cost involved please contact us and an estimate of the most appropriate training at the time, and the particulars of the training programmes, can be sent within a reasonable time. This clearly would be an extremely powerful contribution to the work, carrying ramifications far beyond immediate circumstances.

For years we notice the potential of the area behind the nursery on the south side of the mountain and aspire towards the formation of a water catchment zone at the convergence of two streams in a natural delta area.These streams converge slightly higher on the slopes behind the nursery area and with careful planning a substantial volume of water could be held back during the monsoon to form an extremely beneficial catchment area. Bunding and check dams assist in holding back the volume of water rushing down these streams during the seasonal monsoon, and further bunding in the delta area will contribute towards withholding the greater bulk of precious run off which until now runs into a seasonal lake behind the old forest, and stagnates there. We could utilize this water for growing trees on the mountain.

The approximate cost of the formation of the delta area is: 3,000 US$. We would very much like to undertake this work because its value is inestimable. Anyone sufficiently able to be interested, please contact us for a detailed estimate.