My individual efforts never contented and satisfied me, and I thought of a collective effort to play my part as an environmental activist. I got together with a group of people, mostly my students, and formed a Social Concern Group. Through this group, we began to spread the vision of simple life, and involved people towards the conservation and preservation of one of the deepest lakes in India viz Manasbal lake which is fortunately so close to my residence. The lake is intimately connected to my heart that I often used to sit on its side and write my poetry, spending hours contemplating over the superb creation of the God .The enchanting beauty of the Manasbal had been touching my soul and I groomed myself as a nature lover. I often used to swim across its breadth of 2 kms, used to fish and harvest Nadroo [ lotus roots], a delicious curry. The lake, unfortunately, was harmed by the ignorance and greed of the people living around it . I could hardly stop them from damaging the lake. Though I was living with them but could not do anything more than watch their harsh and inimical attitude towards the lake. I often felt hapless but optimistic. This optimism paved the way for my environmental activism and endeavours.
It was this lake that would provide us [ community] livelihood opportunities to sustain our lives. The lake would produce the necessities of our living , but, alas, unaware of the blessings of the lake, some of us were using it as a dust-bin , some had begun to fill it to create land for cultivation and construction purposes. Even many would erect their latrines on it, and the excreta was let into the bosom of the lake. With great regret, people were neglecting the considerable role of the lake in the socio- economic upliftment of people living on and around its banks. Its pivotal role in terms of water, food, fodder and tourism is immense and great.
I as a child could do nothing except highlighting the issue through sending messages to radio programs and pasting handwritten posters outside mosques .I tried to convince the people to recognise the importance of the lake, and its vital role in the their lives .I did my best at that time to make them understand its socio-economic value.
Then, as a teacher, I began to take my students to the Lake on Sundays, sensitising them about the value of the lake in our lives. It motivated many young people who appreciated my motive to safeguard and conserve the fragile lake and its surroundings. I conceived an idea to form a group of volunteers to work with a plan. A handful of people joined me. In 2003, we formed an association named ‘Society for conservation of natural environment . I spearheaded the group for more than 15 years, raising awareness ,contributing articles in newspapers and attending seminars; and later changed to ‘ Social Concern Group’. We started to do practical work,we organized hiking events, and the first cleaning drive of the lake was Kickstarterted in 2017. We collected waste and other leftover things around the lake particularly plastic and polythene. The initiative was so encouraging that everyone appreciated the work .After the overwhelming response from the general public, we decided to carry out another big drive, and we invited all renowned personalities including doctors ,officers, businessmen and religious scholars. We did full day cleaning and it had an impact.
The government was serious and the concerned authorities viz Wular and Mansbal development authority took things seriously , and started to gear up their machinery for the efficient planning and surgical execution to preserve the lake. Our work had a louder and effective message, commoners realized their follies, and stopped littering in and around the lake.
Next we started planting around the catchment areas of this lake, and we ( Social Concern Group] planted hundreds and hundreds of tree saplings. We didn't stop here. Our group tried to revive the legacy of our communal harmony.
The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits had distanced them from their Muslim brethren. The breach was quite wide and alarming. Our group viz SCG started to attend their largest festival at kheer Bhawani temple so that we could win their trust and confidence. We extended our solidarity with them as part of propagating communal harmony and brotherhood. We greeted them and helped in cleaning of the temple and the Holy Spring.
At SCG we have done so many activities awareness programs ,trips, youth guidance ,No war rallies, medical camps , ration distribution and plantation campaigns.This green work of ours was very well propagated by social media especially Facebook , and during this I had an encounter with one Salvador Rico, one of the finest men I had imagined .He always remained behind me as a moral support to my cause though far apart. The man told me about Rotary ,one of the largest organisations for social service around the world, doing almost the same work as we do at local level.
I geared up to form one Rotary club in Kashmir where we had no club in the entire region, with nearly 8 million population in order to increase the magnitude of our work and to establish a global understanding and conflict resolution in this most unfortunate part of the world called 'Heaven On Earth’. Thanks to my friends, we were able to charter Rotary Club Of Kashmir on 27 th May 2019, and we had a medical camp for poor at Srinagar and after the month of August in the same
year, the situation in Kashmir turned untoward, after the abrogation of article 370, all the politicians were jailed , every activity was halted , no earning , no education,no calling or sms service, and no internet for nearly six months or more… Our part remained cut off from the whole world. We started distribution of Ration to the needy through SCG and RCK, and then another catastrophe of Covid19 struck the whole world. We started to fight with Covid 19 as the rest of the world did , and we distributed sanitisers , soaps and masks to the needy.
We have distributed blankets and clothes also through Rotary club of Kashmir. From time to time, along with other events of honoring our Nation builders who worked hard to reach out to their students in the pandemic. We also celebrated Womens day to honor our daring women who had contributed extraordinarily in respective fields. However, in these odd times, I conceived one environmental friendly project ,an afforestation program named ‘Saving The Paradise’ .
We started phase one last year in November, and in April this year, we had it's IInd Phase. We managed to plant 1000 rare species of trees
around Lake Manasbal .
Rotary club Kashmir has got support and encouragement from other clubs also, and if everything goes well ,the program could be global grant project spreading peace and goodwill in Kashmir, improving greenery , and in fact, I want to inform my readers that with the good work of my great friend Rtn Salvador we have progressed a bit and a ‘Kashmir Steering Group’ and a Board under the Chair of Rtn Sauman Ray from UK has been established comprising of good people. I mean rotarians from the world over……
Our club also got `"Significant Service Award´" this year. The joy of joining 1.2 million sincere people is beyond limits and can not be expressed in words. I'm optimistic enough to work as a harbinger of peace, in this trouble torn place ,the most dangerous place divided by bloody LOC & LAC.
Author is a Teacher and Rotarian, and presently the Charter President RC Kashmir and Founder Social Concern Group.
