India

OISCA North India Office

OISCA North India organized the Children's Forest Program (CFP) with 24 schools in and around Delhi, out of which four schools newly joined in the CFP this year. They planted 860 trees. In addition 265 trees were planted through non-CFP activities of this Chapter. Out of the total number of trees planted, about 70 % survived. A few schools did not have enough space for planting trees so the staff encouraged them to plant seedlings in pots. Through the Children's Forest Program, the North India Office aimed to enhance the awareness among the children about the environment, the importance of forests, garbage management, etc.

As part of the five year environmental project carried out by the government of Haryana and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, OISCA North India introduced the Children's Forest Program to 80 new schools in the districts of Faridabad and Gurgoan, Haryana. Two staff members worked on this project. An orientation course was held for the benefit of teachers of the 80 schools in the region. The North India Office also organized inter-school painting competition with the theme of forestation and environmental protection.

Profile
Location:	A 1/3, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi－110017
Leader:	Mr. R. K. Jaitli
Staff:	4 persons (2 male, 2 female)

	OISCA Manipur Chapter
		■Greenerization Mr. Somand Singh and his supporters organized the Children's Forest Program, involving 31 schools in Manipur and planted about 12,000 trees on 7 hectares of land. ■Development and Relief Activities They manufactured low cost irrigation pumps, and provided them to poor farmers. They also distributed to poor communities relief clothing shipped by the Japan Relief Clothing Center through the OISCA Headquarters.

Profile
Location:	Sangaiparou, Air Port Road , Imphal－795001, Manipul
Leader:	Mr. Yamben Biren Singh

	OISCA South India Office
		■Nagercoil Tree Planting Project OISCA International started this Tree planting cum water conservation project in 1996. This project has already attracted the attention of public and Medias by its nature. We believe that this project had a key role while considering OISCA for the IPVM Award, which the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India conferred on us. This is a project to regreen 40ha of two barren hills situated at Nagercoil on both side of NH-17 at Chungankadai. About 40,000 plants were grown from 3 to 15 feet in height, in this totally moisture less rocky area. Scarcity of water is the main problem to grow trees on the hills. We harvest the little rain pouring on the hills, in the ponds constructed in lower area. As this is the only source of water for irrigation, during summer the harvested water pumped to the top of the hill, stored in small tanks and distributed manually to all plants. This project on Ayyappa college hills and Chnugankadai hills are aimed to regreen this area and bring back the past glory of marsh lands on the valley which was converted in to dry waste land due to the deforestation on the hills. Mr Masanori Tanaka Executive Director, Green Fund Japan, Mr Fumio Kitsuki and a team of 17 members visited Nagercoil and Trivandrum this year. Mr K Sudhakaran, Minister for Forests hosted a dinner in honor of this visiting team.

■The Eco-development Project

This January the National Afforestation and Eco Development Board of Govt. Of India sanctioned the Eco Development Project. Under this project we will plant and maintain trees in 7 educational institutions in Calicut. The project will start this monsoon and we are to plant 80,000 saplings. The total fund sanctioned for this project is INR. 900,000.

■Mangrove Conservation Project

Kannur is the richest district in Kerala in Mangrove. The rivers in this district have rich mangrove growth. The main emphasis of this project is to initiate an action oriented program for the bio diversity conservation and ecosystem restoration of mangroves with proper technical advice. The period of the project is 3 years. The Kerala Forest Dept. and Kerala Forest Research Institute provides the technical assistance for the success of this project. There is active participation of public in this project.

■Sacred Grove Conservation Program

OISCA South India started a project with the Forest Department, Govt. of Kerala to conserve a sacred Grove in Malaparamba, Calicut. In addition to Forest department, Zoological Survey Department of India and the Botany Department of Calicut University are extending their technical support to OISCA. An inventory preparation on the existing plant life is going on by the scientists from Calicut University. We are planning to plant maximum possible trees in this 3ha land during this monsoon. One area is earmarked to grow a 'Star Forest'. Star forest is a concept to plant trees according to the planter's zodiac sign. We expect this concept will attract more people in tree planting and thus this project will become a grand success. The temple authorities, neighbors of the project site and the local people are already extended their support in planning activities and already cooperating with us in weed cutting. OISCA Save Green clubs working in colleges will dig a pond in the lower part of the grove very soon.

■OISCA Jalanidhi Project, Thiruvambady

As we know, the Kerala Water Supply and Sanitation Agency has been set up by the Government for improving the quality of rural water supply and environmental sanitation service delivery. It is implemented in four districts of the State, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Malappuram. In Kozhikode districts, 10 panchayats are doing this project, and one of them is the OISCA Jalanidhi Project in Thiruvambady.

Thiruvambady is a hilly area, 35 km away from Kozhikode City .The entire area is divided into 13 wards, namely Pullurampara, Muthappanpuzha, Kavungalel, Kodakkattupara, Ponnankayam, Punnakkel, Vazhikkadavu, Paambhizhanjapara, Theruparamba, Thondimmal, Ambalappara, Thiruvambady Town, and Thambalamanna. As a result of the survey conducted by KRWSA, it was found that this region faces acute water shortage during summer. There are a lot of Kerala Water Authority Schemes in the Panchayat, none of which are working. There are at least 500 KWA consumers in the Panchayat, but the water Supply is not sufficient to meet their needs. Some stand posts are not working and there is no maintenance of the water taps or water tanks provided by the KWA.

As per the survey, there are lot of areas where water is available through gravity sources. In spite of this, the water is contaminated. This is because of the unhealthy sanitary and hygiene practices. The Panchayat applied for a Water supply Project. As a result, the KRWSA implemented its project in Thiruvambady, and the Panchayats selected OISCA International as the Supporting Organisation. The time frame of the Project is two years. Each Panchayat can use up to 3.5 Crores for the Water Supply and related activities. The Supporting Organisation is given 3,000,000 for carrying out the various activities of the project, i.e. for payment to the Staff Members, Infrastructure building, GP Strengthening etc.

■Project Philosophy

Demand driven approach - Unlike the supply driven approach hitherto followed, this project is implemented based on the need of the people. The Project has been introduced only in areas where interested groups of people show their willingness to participate in the project and abide by the conditions of cost- sharing. The group then gets a legal entity by registering themselves and only then proceeds with the rest of the planning. The source selection, technology selection, purchases, contracting and implementation is done by this registered body, the beneficiary group with technical help from Support Organisations. This inculcates a sense of ownership in the people.

Profile
Location:	OISCA Youth Center , UKS Road , Calicut 673001 Kerala
Leader:	Mr. M. Aravind Babu
Staff:	3 persons (2 male, 1 female)