Rangloi by participants on wildlife

Gondia, September 21, 2015: Each year, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated across India with great fervor in honour of the elephant God Ganesha. In Maharashtra, Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most revered festivals where people keep Ganesha idols in their houses as a divine guest for five to 10 days. The idol is then taken out and immersed river, sea or a water body.

As part of Central India Tiger Habitat Securement Project, WTI during the Ganesh Chaturthi in Gondia organised various awareness programmes in schools and villages of the Nagzira Nawegaon corridor. The programme was aimed on augmenting the knowledge on tiger and its habitat to students and general masses.

During this auspicious occasion, a rangoli competition was held in Ushikheda village of Sadak Arjuni taluka, Murdholi (Maramjob) village of Deori taluka and Murdholi village of Goregaon taluka. The theme of the rangoli competition was ‘Tiger in Forest” wherein 23 teams that included 43 women, girls and boys participated.

Besides rangoli competition, a short documentary film by International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), ‘Tigers are for Forest’, was screened after the evening aarti in pandals. This was followed by a spot quiz based on the documentary and the winners were handed prizes. The documentary and spot quiz was also held for students in two schools in Murdholi (Maramjob).

The Sarpanch, Deputy Sarpanch, Police Patil, President of JFMC, Members of Ganesh Utsav Samitis and Principals of respective schools actively participated in making the programmes successful. WTI project team under the guidance of Project Lead Anil Nair ensured that everything was in order.

IFAW-WTI under the Central India Tiger Habitat Securement Project is working for the securement of Nagzira Nawegaon Corridor in Gondia district since 2011. Under the project various eco-development activities have been initiated in priority villages of the corridor to reduce peoples’ dependence on forest resources and enhance their livelihoods.