If you want to know what a model Green Village looks like, then you have to visit Satageri near Karwar.
Karwar :
If you want to know what a model Green Village looks like, then you have to visit Satageri near Karwar. Until three years ago, women had to blow and invariably inhale the smoke while cooking on firewood. Not any more. Now they boast of an LPG connection. This is not the only clean and green change in this village.
Satageri, located about 25 km from Karwar and surrounded by forests of the Western Ghats, proudly displays solar power, LPG connection and toilet in every house. Solar lamps light up the houses. People do not throw any waste on the streets, and even make vermicompost for use in their garden and fields. The village, with 70 houses and a population of about 270, sets an example of how people can live with forest and nature without harming it.
“We are happy to live here and nobody is interested in leaving the village any more,” says Gajer Vaikuntha Marathe, a farmer from Satageri.The villagers cannot thank the forest department enough for the change that it ushered into their hamlet over three years ago. The forest department took Satageri under its wing in 2016, as part of the Green Village and Smokeless Village schemes of the state government.
It distributed free LPG connections and two solar light systems to each house. A total of 12 solar street lights were also set up.According to a senior forest officer, since 34 houses already had LPG connections, they distributed free connections to the remaining 36 houses. All the people were also given fruit and flower saplings, and encouraged to grow trees near their houses. The place has now been converted into a Green Village.
The situation was far different here earlier. The village was like many others in the country. People collected firewood from the forest, electricity was a nightmare during the monsoon months and the surroundings, though enveloped by a verdant green cover, were not clean.Women had to go to the forest every day to collect firewood, otherwise they faced shortage to meet the daily household needs, says Malita Mohan Marathe, talking about how the practice has been stopped over the last three years since food in every house is now cooked using LPG.
Gajer Vaikuntha too points out that all the villagers have happily adopted the new way of life. Each house got a toilet constructed under the Gram Panchayat scheme.Vinod Marathe, who runs an autorickshaw, says he earlier used to pay `100 towards the electricity bill every month, but the charges have come down by half after solar light system was installed at his house. His family uses electricity only to watch TV, and to run the refrigerator and mixer-grinder while the house is lit using solar power.
Satageri has a primary school, and after completing Class 5, children travel 3 km to Ulga village for pursuing higher education, including graduation and some professional courses. People here are engaged in various occupations, including farming, daily wage labour, and small businesses. Some of them work in Karwar and other nearby towns while four persons hold government jobs. Women mostly look after the house and work in their fields.
They are also involved in making vermicompost, and are part of the Village Forest Committee (VFC), that strives to conserve the forest and wildlife, and protect it from poachers. They plant saplings and take up other work with the forest department, for which the latter shares its profit with the VFC.Satageri, which comes under Gopishitta range forest, was selected to be developed as a model village in 2015-16, says K Ganapathi, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Karwar Division. He lauds the women of the village for their commitment towards protecting the forest. “We wish such VFCs come up in other villages too,” Ganapathi says.
What is a Green Village?
State forest department’s Green Village scheme aims to make the whole village smokeless by making people stop using firewood and opting for LPG stoves. Satageri village of Karwar taluk was selected under the scheme on a pilot basis.
Tackling Poverty
More than 65 families of the village have Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards, and all of them have enrolled in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). They have been earning money by taking up activities such as developing the school ground, desilting the pond, and other works.
Natural Treasures
The village is surrounded by the thick and evergreen forest of Western Ghats. Along with precious wood, it is home to wildlife such as leopard and black panther. The Kali river flows just a few kilometres away from the village.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Arunkumar Huralimath / Express News Service / February 24th, 2019