Why do rains fail us nowadays? Many blame it on El Nino, some on urbanisation and others maybe on unpredictable monsoons. But these are all easy answers to cover up the disasters caused by humans to nature.
Felling of trees, encroaching forest reserve areas and dumping of wastes in water bodies are just a few of the dangerous activities mankind has entered into over several decades and if it continues at this pace, the future generation's quality of life is highly questionable. Hence, it becomes more important to create awareness among the yonger generation by inculacating the knowledge of nature and the fine balance that keep us all going. And, this is what Siruthuli's Nurture Nature Camp for school children is all about.
Close to 120 students from various schools accompanied by 25 faculty members were part of this 11th Nurture Nature Camp by Siruthuli. The camp was flagged off on the 14th of this month. Nuture Nature Camp aims at nuturing the young minds on reminding them of the social reponsibility in conserving the nature. Through the camp, the students were exposed to the four pillars of Siruthuli - Water conservation, Afforestation, Waste Management and Awareness.
Nature-based, eco-friendly activities kept the children buzzing with energy all through the nine-day camp. Field trips to River Noyyal and other water bodies, Sessions on Afforestation, Wildlife, farming activities, composting of green wastes among others were defintely an eye-opening session for the participants. The students were taken aback as they learnt the nuances of home composting which converts all household green wastes into organic manure.
Today being the last day of the camp, the students were taken to the Ukkulam lake, where de-silting work is being carried out by team Siruthuli. K.Myilsamy, Project Coordinator from Siruthuli explained the students on the need for de-silting and how the water travels from the Vellingiri hills to the Ukkulam lake.
Mrs.Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli shared with us the insights of this Nuture Camp. "This year marks the 11th year of this Nuture Nature Camp. And, we are glad that through all these 11 years, we have nurtured more than 1000 children who we are sure will practice what they learnt from the camp. It's just not about learning, it's more of a personal interaction that happens at the camp, as these young minds come out with mind-blowing questions to the tutors. Hence, each student at the camp is given personal attention. So we restrict the registrations to 100 students, every year.
More than the adults, it's the kids who have to be well-informed about nature. However, it's saddening to learn that kids have been forced to focus on just the academics and many kids don't know about the prime water source of their own city. If questioned to kids on the vegetable they eat, barely a handful of kids know if the vegetable belongs to a creeper, plant or a root.
It's high time schools teach students about basics of nature which is the core of our living. Not knowing about the very thing that keeps us alive, makes the education itself meaningless. Subjects on Nature should be made mandatory to children at all private and government schools to assimilate environmental awareness amongst the younger generation'.
When questioned about the roaring water crisis issue in the city, Vanitha Mohan said "Climatic changes are bound to happen and we have to be prepared, as this crisis might grow worse in the upcoming years. Unfortunately, we only talk about water crisis but often forget to look back at the reasons that attributed to this crisis. In the recent times, a majority of farmlands have been transformed into concrete structures and buildings. Green cover plays a pivotal role in determining the climatic conditions of that geography. As greenery aids in retaining the moisture content in the air and diminish the heat generated. But, to the contrary, the increase in massive concrete structures in place of farm lands is increasing the heat and depleting the moisture content in the atmosphere.
However, today's water crisis is a result of our prolonged ignorance. The water bodies are also not spared from the clutches of encroachments. How will water percolate, when there is an encroachment right on the heart of our perennial river? In layman's term, when there is a block in one of the perennial blood vessel, the heart shows symptoms of an ailment. If unnoticed, progressively the blockage will clog the arteries totally and bring the heart to a standstill. The same is now done to our water bodies. Encroachments and dumping of wastes are on the verge of completely blocking the water flow to the tributaries. Coimbatore has never seen such water crisis, and this warns us about the worst. Preserving and conserving our water bodies and improving the green cover multi-fold is the pressing need of the hour'. Vanitha Mohan said.
'As a teacher, I too got an opportunity to see many things which can be acquired only while working closely with nature." said Sindhu who is a staff at Airforce School in Sulur.
After explaining about the de-silting process at Ukkulam, the students were taken to a farmland in Semmedu Village. Creating wealth out of waste and zero garbage generation by Sujani Balu and Sangeetha of 'My Shoppinng My Bag initiative' was demonstrated to the students.
As said by Vanitha Mohan, it's high time that educational institutions bring up 'Nature' as a subject to their curriculum and usher students to be responsible nature-friendly citizens.