Second phase completed at vetane 40 kms towards east of satara

(2nd from left) Mr.Balasaheb Jaganath Nalawade and (3rd from right) Sarpanch,Mr.Shankar Nalawade(Vetane)

Owing towards elusive monsoon we wanted to plant trees at places where they would be taken care of regularly and effectively.So we came up with an solution of distributing trees to the farmers.Planting trees with farmers atleast assured us that they would survive independently of how the monsoon is going to be.We thought of selecting the kind of trees which would excite farmers to surely take care of the them,so we were inclined to provide them with fruit trees like coconut,mango and lemon which would also generate some revenue for them.Mr.Balasaheb Jaganath Nalawade(H.O.D electronics depatment,Y.C.I.S) was of great help in this activity.He along with his brother surveyed the village and made list of farmers that had ably taken care of their previous plantation and made a list to whom the saplings
should be distributed.
We distributed total of 120 trees(60-coconuts,40-mango,20-lemon).Chetan Nalawade,Gautam Firodiya and Pushkar Firodiya of Me and Tree were well recieved
by the sarpanch Mr.Shankar Nalawade and the people of vetane.

First Phase Completed on 30th August

Me and tree completed its first phase of planting big saplings on the barren mountain of pedhya cha bhairoba as mentioned in the previous post.We were supposed to plant 40 saplings but Aloysius Nadar provided his trax for transportation of saplings from the government nursery to foothill of the mountain so we saved on the amount of Rs.250/- and that helped us add 10 more saplings.

(left to right) Aloysius Nadar and Gautam Firodiya

Plantation wasn't easy as we thought,carrying the saplings from the foothill to the top,sapped our energies.Initially we were only six guys Gautam Firodiya,Aloysius Nadar,Sagar Shinde,Dattaray Shinde(this guy had come from malgaon some 40 km from satara),Chetan Nalawade and me,so it took almost 10 trips for each of us to carry the saplings and tools to the mountain top from the foot.

(left to right) Gautam Firodiya,Chetan Nalawade,Aloysius Nadar,Dattaraj Shinde and Pushkar Firodiya

We had hired a labour to dig pits 1.5 X 1 ft for planting in the saplings at the rate of Rs.5/- per hole,this turned to be a bad bargain:initially we assumed that we could make in atleast 20 pits by ourselves and so we would need to pay him only Rs.150/- for remaining 30 which would be Rs.50/- less than his entire day wage of Rs.200/- but we were physically exhausted by our trips uphill and he had to dig all 50 so we ended up paying him Rs.250/- that was Rs.50/- more than his one day labour charge.But we have noted this and will not repeat the mistake next time :)

The first sapling planted

Some how after regrouping our energies we started planting the sapling but after 32nd sapling we had given up succumbing to the exhaustion and decided to plant remaining the next day .This exhaustion could have overcomed if we would had carried some refreshment and water bottles(this was another thing worth noting)
But then Harshad Firodiya,Ajay Borate and Vishwas Kunwar joined us and helped us achieving our target of planting the remaining 18 saplings,they did get refreshments and water for us.Even the group of the senior citizens joined by the end of it and everything ended as planed




The senior citizen group who are going to take care of the plantation



This is how the mounatin looked on 30th August 2009

First Phase to take place on 30th august

The first phase of me and tree will be on 30th August.Plantation of 40 big saplings will take place at the at mountain called Pedhya cha Bhairoba near shukrawar peth in satara.A group 15 retired men have been planting trees on the same mountain for past year or so and are taking care of them.They assemble every evening around 5 pm at the mountain and water the trees planted.They have promised to take care of the trees we will plant and were delighted to know about me and tree campaign.They have blessed all those who have participated to continue the good work we are doing:)

Me & Tree

Me & Tree as the name suggest is tree plantation initiative which is undertaken by a group of people from satara city.
The campaign is a two fold program.
1.We have approached schools in satara city and are going to plant few trees in their respective campuses.The school authorities will further encourage their students to maintain the planted as a part of their social activity.This would ensure that planted trees would grow and create a awareness among the students.
2.We have chosen a barren mountain,surrounding the city were we have planned to plant trees.
Bhava.Awala,Gulmohar,Ashok,Jambun are the tress which we have chosen for the plantation.Cost of a small sapling of any of the above costs Rs.5/- each and well grown sapling of any of the above costs Rs.25/-(as inquired in the government nursery near D.G.College,Satara)
Small saplings could be planted in school campuses as they would be taken care of,but the saplings planted at the mountain will largely be at mercy of nature so we have thought of planting well grown saplings at the mountain which increases their probability of growing up without being taken care of.
We have planned to plant 50 small saplings(50x5=Rs.250) 50 well grown saplings(50x25=1250) on 30th august 09(approximate total cost=250+1250+500(transportation+labour charge)=Rs2000/-)).
This initiative is taken by Ameya Bhagwat,Rajeshwar Kasar and myself Pushkar Firodiya.Anybody who would like to join the Me & Tree Campaign could do it in following ways:
1.Suggest a place(currently only in/around satara city) where tree plantation is necessary.
2.Contribute for the campaign(Minimum amount Rs.50/- please make them before 25th august)[All the details of the expenditure will be posted after the campaign is over.If the funds grow more then the required amount the number of sapling to be planted will increase]
3.Spread the word: tell about Me & tree to anybody you think would like to join us.

For making a monetary contribution you can sms "donate" to 9890077099 and we will get back to you or call Ameya Bhagwat : 9096142510 anytime.
for any queries/suggestion you can post reply here or mail me at pushkarfirodia@gmail.com