Newsletter No. 60;
Waterman Padma Shri Simon Oraon
IRBMS
25,000 metric tonnes of vegetables to various
districts and nearby locations.
Ranchi’s Simon Oraon, popularly known as Baba in
Bero block of Ranchi area has transformed the lives Two more wetlands in Maharastra are
of thousands of villagers in Jharkhand with his going to be as Ramsar Sites
massive tree-planting and water conservation
In India there are 26 Ramsar sites but none of
these are in Maharastra. This year 5 potential
Ramsar sites, proposed by Maharastra Forest Dept.
are likely to be accorded approval for nomination
by State’s Wild Life Board. The sites nominated
are:- 1. Jaikwadi (Aurangabad dist.), 2. Ujni(Pune
dist.), 3. Sewri Creek (Mumbai dist.), 4. Nandur
Madhmeshwar (Nasik dist), 5. Lonar (Buldhana
dist.)
Kohlapur
based
conservationist
J.S
Samant
comments that the state has only one natural fresh
water wetland with some unique features, while
the rest are either man-made or marine. And that
Jharkhand’s ‘waterman,’ Simon Oraon, will now be
working on motivating farmers to preserve rain water to
sustain agricultural activities
single one is the Lonar, which has gained
international importance because of its being the
only second such wetland which was created by a
efforts, The 84-year-old man, a Padma Shri
meteor strike.
awardee, has been working in 51 villages of Bero to
protect natural flora for decades. The residents of
these 51
villages owe him
China blocks Brahmaputra Tributary
the agricultural
prosperity he brought them through simple water
conservation efforts. Today, his village is one of the
state’s agri-produce hubs, supplying more than
China in Oct 2016 started building a dam on the
Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra. This
is to continue the construction of its “most
5
Integrated River Basin Management Society