Ajinkyatara, jewel of Satara a symbol of Maratha pride,
courage and human spirit This fort – a witness to a glorious era is witnessing the charting of a
historic new path 3 years ago, a pathbreaking initiative
began at Ajinkyatara Dr. Avinash Pol
Dental Surgeon I used to read a lot about the
government neglecting Ajinkyatara I thought instead of blaming the government we ourselves can do something To improve the condition of Ajinkyatara
people’s co-operation was solicited Apart from Dr. Pol only 2 persons reached
Ajinkyatara after reading an appeal in a newspaper That there are 2 other madcaps like me
made me very happy One of them even asked me “We are only 3 and the fort is so huge” “When will the work be done?” I gave him an example One matchstick can light an entire forest
even though it is so small So today we are just 3 but tomorrow we
will be 30 then 300 and then 3000 Dr. Pol was proven right Gradually more people
joined the work Dadasaheb Kadam
Teacher When I watched their work
I thought I must also join Rajendra Narayan Sable
Policeman When I got posted in Satara I saw the
change taking place at the fort and felt I too should contribute What began with cleaning the fort
gradually moved towards conserving water because like the rest of Maharashtra Satara too was facing
the problem of drought After coming here I realised that Ajinkyatara could be
an excellent model for water conservation If we want to increase
the groundwater level we must begin from the top Using modern and scientific methods
of water conservation work was started around the fort We started with CCT We used the stones at the fort to slow down the water flow
and prevent soil erosion We planted 1.5 km of bamboos
to keep the soil from eroding Around 6500 trees were planted 99% survived We cared for the saplings
like our own children 3 consecutive years of hard work gave a tremendous impetus to water conservation
in Satara Water levels in the city rose Dry wells began
filling up with water in spite of low rainfall Their efforts had finally borne fruit Vilasrao Shinde This year, there has
been negligible rainfall Even then there is about
15-20 feet of water in the wells Now almost all the lakes
here have water Barren land got transformed
into deep forest Birds and animals returned 2 hours of shramdaan every day by 40 people has brought about
this transformation Even today this group begins
its day at Ajinkyatara at the
crack of dawn We do shramdaan every day We don’t take a break
even for a day not even on Diwali A unique group has formed here We call it
‘Ajinkyatara Shramdaan Group’ This is not a registered body We don’t need to SMS
or WhatsApp people about timings or about
the tasks to be done People come, take the tools
and start the work People from all walks of life have
joined this water conservation work There is no hierarchy here
All are equal and united There are people from
various professions here Doctors, contractors, carpenters,
a rickshaw driver, a gramsevak a sarpanch, a builder But after coming here
all professional identities are cast aside
Everyone is a volunteer But the question is
Why are these people doing this work? Vitthal Sutar
Carpenter I live in society I am drawing
sustenance from it I need to repay something
So I work for 2 hours daily Mahendra Jadhav
Industrialist We do this work
with such dedication so that the coming generations
can benefit from it All you need is
hands willing to work There is no
need of machines What has been
done here can be done in every village
in the country If such a project is
taken up by the people then Maharashtra’s water problem can
easily be solved Today, all of us are
facing a water crisis Water is our need,
our desire But what does water desire? It wants us to come together
to unite Because where people are united water surely flows If only 40 volunteers
in 3 years can bring such a big transformation then imagine the revolution
that can take place if people all over
Maharashtra get involved Inspired by this thought Paani Foundation has begun its work When each section of society
resolves to do its bit the day will soon arrive when
we have a drought-free Maharashtra We should take the
Ajinkyatara spirit to every village so that every village
becomes invincible