Tuesday 1 October 2013

KAAS- Present and Future

If you search Kaas on GOOGLE or Wikipidia you will know that The Kaas Plateau also known as the "Kaas Pathar"  is situated in the Western Ghat Sahyadri range, 22 kilometers fromSatara city in Maharashtra , India. The name Kaas originates from Kaasa tree (Elaeocarpus glandulosus). Leaves of this tree turn green to red as they mature. It gets white flowers only for 15 days in the month of March. The area of plateau is approximately 1,000 hector








The plateau is full of wild flowers during the months of August and September. These flowers bloom on their own and stay for about 2–3 weeks (depending on the monsoon and other weather factors). Recently it has been declared as Biodiversity World heritage site by The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco). It has an small lake nearby, It is a natural tranquil Kaas lake surrounded by dense forests. To the left of the lake lies Sajjangad fort and Kanher Dam is to the right.  The place has more than 850 different species of flowers and other plants including Orchids,टोपली  Karvy and carnivorous plants such as Drosera Indica

A lot has been written and said by all of us about KAAS Plateau highlighting how ignorant, irresponsible the general public is , how they are usually less interested in Flowers, their uniqueness, their importance etc.etc and more interested in plucking them or taking photos in unusual positions , spoiling the flowers etc.There are also lot of complaints about the massive traffic jams encountered by enthusiasts during weekends, and about general lack of infrastructure.....A lot of very good suggestions are also floating around..



















While it is extremely vital  that a general awareness is being created through such posts and dialogue, we must also  understand and accept some harsh realities……
We simply love to blame others for everything wrong around us seldom accepting that we are part of the crowd as wel. We need to change the mindset , be pro-active and sensitive to environment . 


There is absolutely no harm in enjoying  but if done with a bit of caution we will be able to savor the beauty of this marvel for many many more years.There is enough for everyone here...



 We consider  breaking rules as our birth right and exercise that right wherever possible, so making more rules and regulations to keep the Crowd in control is futile…We just need to implement some of the basic rules which are already existing at KAAS… I jokingly said to the  Forest person patrolling the area that if they seriously implement the fine of Rs.200 for plucking the flowers ,the government can earn enough money to fence the remaining area, hire more people and pay everyone a handsome incentive as wel….There are many among us who must have parked their car in "No Parking Zone" till someone asked us to move…We have jumped the fences till stopped by forest officials and so on ....I have found and collected a lot of plastic Debris on the plateau as wel…Its painful to see how we are ignorant to these issues. Funny part is instead of looking inwards and accepting the need to improve we want/wish and crib that all these things must be controlled by Authorities.


Let me warn you , KAAS is not alone ,nor it is the first in this.We all will agree that similar things happen on our forts also. I am an avid trekker and it’s a fact that the forts which are famous and relatively easily accessible are littered with plastic debris, beer bottles and everything that  should not be thrown. A lot of untoward things happen on top which challenge the sanctity of the place…

This reminds me  of an old debate which was at forefront when Jog Engineering proposed and implemented the Raigad Ropeway….Lot many trekkers opposed the move saying it will have adverse impact,the true sense of the might of forts,its history  can be better enjoyed/understood when climbed all the way rather than zipping up and reaching the top in two minutes…they felt that we are demeaning Shivaji Maharaj, his Mawalas and their herculean effort in making SWARAJYA what it is ….Its a major trade off between popularizing our History, making it accessible to all( including Senior citizens who can’t climb ) and trekking. The popular forts like Raigad, Shivneri,Sinhgad are testimony to this.

























Similar thing is happening at KAAS….the botanists ,biologists, the environmentalists want the number of people visiting the Plateau, to be controlled… They want to get rid of tourists/picnickers who knoingly or unknowingly spoil the nature or at the least to be restricted or fined but its simply unrealistic to expect everyone to have that mindset… even I go there more for photography than studying botany …ideally  we must continue our efforts in educating, sensitizing people visiting the place .My observation is the young Students from nearby schools who visit the plateau as picnic are much much more wel behaved than the Adults...

KAAS Plateau is unique for many reasons and one of the major one is that the life span of the flowers blooming on the plateau is max three weeks. It effectively means three weekends only. With the advent of social media and every  Rahul,Vinod and Raju ( Indian Tom, Dick n Harry) uploading their pics, all newspapers  reporting about it,its but natural that those who can visit will flock to the place to be part of the action.








We in India realize that Infrastructure lags behind Growth big time and KAAS is no exception. What goes against KAAS and somewhat justifies( if I may use the word)Governments relative apathy  apart from lack of sensitivity and negligence ,is a fact that we want Infrastructure to be created and maintained for the whole year  to be effectively utilized for six to ten  days only ….I am in no way suggesting that we should maintain or accept status quo….





It must be noted that the fencing and patrolling happened only after the area was declared protected Biodiversity zone by UNESCO, till then even I have roamed around the Plateau freely… Things will change for better albeit slowly but surely…







Here are few suggestions from my side:


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To solve the transport problem and massive traffic jams ,this can be done easily and immedi---- Few kilometers before KAAS Plateau, there is a similar big plateau where already few stall have come up…Government and Forest Authorities can create a big parking place here easily.. From here onwards there must be Government Shuttle Buses (maybe open Rooftop Double deckers) plying continuously till KAAS, dropping and picking up visitors at regular intervals  free of cost.  


   

 Mobile toilets and washrooms can be placed at these places along with makeshift sitting arrangements, refreshments etc…Strictly no permanent structures as these things are required for three four weeks only.



  Sufficient parking fee, entry fee and camera fee( for mobiles as wel) to be charged here to cover all the operational costs…If the project is self-sufficient then the chances of success are more…

 Sufficient pamphlets ,information centers for all visitors giving enough info about what to see and where to see…( I have seen environmental groups volunteering for this now as wel)

 Sufficient number of guides for those who wish to avail of the services  ( a bit difficult to achieve )



    Encourage Guided Group outings for School kids around the area … same kids when visiting with their family will possibly make the elders aware of environmental needs…





जब बदलेगि सोच तब बदलेगा देश             



 Link to my photos:


https://picasaweb.google.com/109499071087821063906/KompleteKaas




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