APD

happy go lucky...gamer by heart...sometimes loner...

[sushma date @sushmadate]

This is a call to everyone who cares about #Pune's environment. Our beloved city is becoming unlivable thanks to the massive tree felling going on for projects that are unlikely to solve the city's many problems.

To understand this ecological crisis and discuss the way forward, please attend this meeting planned by an apolitical umbrella coalition of concerned citizens.

Date: Saturday 30th May at 10 am
Venue: UWA Hall, opp Vikhe Patil School, Gokhalenagar, Pune

🌳Your Voice 🌱Your City 🌿Your Future

[Ranjeet Rane @OldWonk]

On the occasion of #WorldBiodiversityDay sharing an ode to the amazing bio diversity of #Pune open spaces featuring Vetal Tekdi, Ram-Mula Confluence, Ganeshkhind BHS, Sinhagad valley, Tamhini forests and many more..💚

@VTBKS_Pune @PuneRivers @ChaloPmc @parisarpune @sushmadate

[Sumita Kale @sumitakale]

#Pune Drive slow!!! Roads are for Shopping!!
FC Road today at 630pm
The lane between Westside and Aryabhushan Press…
The one thats filthy every morning…

[sushma date @sushmadate]

The MH state govt wants to plan 300cr trees by 2047 but there is no space to plan in urban areas, because they're all being 'developed'

So the Forest Dept has been directed to remove large sections of Glyricidia in urban Reserved Forests and replace them with a Miyawaki plantation of native species trees. The plan is to plant a mind boggling number of 35,000 saplings per hectare of land!!!

Since Glyricidia is an exotic, invasive species, its removal and replacement by a native plantation shouldn't be a problem, right?

Well - here's the thing.
1. The objection isn't to Glyricidia removal but to the desperate haste with which forests on Vetal and other tekdis are being cleared w/o a proper DPR or public consultation.
2. Ideally Glyricidia should be removed in a step by step process, in small sections. Any native species present on the selected site should be marked, and around left intact along with around 2 m of growth around it
3. Miyawaki is NOT suitable for plantations on tekdis for many reasons, mainly because the tekdi ecosystem is grassland + dry deciduous scrub. By replacing it with a dense forest, the entire ecosystem will change and original biodiversity lost.
4. Miyawaki is costly, water intensive and needs immense soil preparation. Can Forest Dept guarantee funding for this over the next 5 to 7 years till the plantation is established? The department does not even have funds to fill up the waterholes for animals and birds in the state forests this year.
5. Proper species selection (trees, shrubs, creepers) is a MUST.

Now that large sections of @VetalTekdi and other tekdis have already been cleared, we hope Forest Dept Pune will work with ecologists to come up with a restoration plan for these sites. Such projects should not be about just numbers but about creating a native, dry deciduous/ scrub forest ecosystem on the tekdi in a scientific manner.

[sushma date @sushmadate]

A poem in honour of David Attenborough's 100th birthday - by Brian Bilston

Life of a Naturalist
it’s his birthday
and the sloths are up early for once
the flamingos line up in pink, long-legged salute
the birds of paradise parade in their finest
the elephants blow their trumpets
the blue whales gush with joy
the gorillas act out stories of his visits
the lions lay off the wildebeest for one day
and stand together on the Serengeti plain
the lyre birds sing his voice in tribute
the seals cannot stop clapping
and the ostriches urge us
to listen to him
and not bury our heads in the sand

[APD @andslive]

https://t.co/LX0vVzlvVu

[sushma date @sushmadate]

With all respect to the hon'ble court, this is really short sighted thinking.

The current perspective of 'development' is still mired in the1980s, where more roads, elevated road, wider roads are thought to be solutions to urban traffic problems. It is 2026 now, and developed cities have long since shifted to building robust, affordable (sometime free) public transport systems beginning with the humble bus system.

When this 1980s notion of development comes at the cost of the few remaining green spaces, hills and rivers in the city, the city is doomed to a hotter, drier and parched future. Pune is being developed along the Bengaluru model, the city which has experienced some of the worst flooding as well as the most depleted groundwater table in recent years. Unless your children plan to live abroad, they're facing a tough future.

If city planning was done by urban planners with expertise in sustainable planning, and not by the builder lobby and their political backers, if our esteemed judges actually read the Environment Impact studies for projects, citizens would not be forced to become 'activists' 😔

[Ranjeet Rane @OldWonk]

Woohoo!!

@sumitakale doing the one talk that matters!! #BBPPRoad #HCMTR #VetalTekdi

[sushma date @sushmadate]

We already have a beautiful one in Pune - hundreds of hectares of lush green forest, the #VetalTekdi
But PMC and our elected leaders are hell bent on destroying it - by building a 30m wide road, an elevated highway and two tunnels on it, all of which will lead to cutting of thousands of trees.

[APD @andslive]

I just saw @AndyManganell.
@MKBHDfanclub @MKBHDEasterEggs @MKBHD

[Formula 1 @F1]

Congratulating Seb on completing the London Marathon on Sunday, with a sub-3-hour time of 2:59:08 👏

#F1

[sushma date @sushmadate]

Cut more trees, pour concrete on hills and riverbeds, give up every inch of open green space for real estate, and 'develop' the hell out of the country - literally!

@mohol_murlidhar @Dev_Fadnavis @SidShirole @SunetraA_Pawar @Medha_kulkarni
#ScrapBBRoad #ScrapRFDPune

[APD @andslive]

@Jennnyyyyyy 18kg

[APD @andslive]

Stop Google from limiting APK file usage - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/nbZCRJwfex via @ChangeOrg_India

[APD @andslive]

Hey @Casemiro please just 1 more year.
@ManUtd

[Ranjeet Rane @OldWonk]

#VetalTekdiTrails 🤝 @WWFINDIA

We had just wrapped up our #Season3 in March but the opportunity to introduce the #WWF team to the avian biodiversity of #VetalTekdi doesn't come along everyday. So we picked up our gear, stocked up on hydration and the #Tekdi did the rest 💛

[APD @andslive]

Hey @SonySportsNetwk @SonyLIV correct your graphic.

[sushma date @sushmadate]

The first economic valuation of Vetal Tekdi - by @priti_mastakar of Gokhale Institute

Quarry wetland - ₹ 98.28 cr
Carbon sequestration - ₹16 L
Oxygen production - ₹ 6.69 cr
Biodiversity - ₹1.54 cr
Aquifers - ₹ 14,62,000 cr (!!)
Heritage- ₹ 7.44 cr

Valuation for mental health and psychological well being- priceless! 💚

THERE ARE SOME THINGS MONEY JUST CAN'T BUY.

#SaveVetalTekdi
#ScrapBBRoad

[Ranjeet Rane @OldWonk]

And its a wrap!

#VetalTekdiTrails #S3 has been one for the record books. 20 trails. 400+ participants. Amazing sightings and so much more.

Dedicating this to our team of volunteers who showed up and how! Love you folks. You have made this one special♥️

We'll be back soon🫡

[sushma date @sushmadate]

A big thanks to DCF Mohite and Pune Forest Dept for heeding the concerns of @VTBKS_Pune and putting a halt to the construction of a cement wall on #VetalTekdi being built to demarcate the boundary between Reserved Forest and ILS land. The earth mover caused quite a bit of damage in 8 hours before the work was stopped.

Cement walls restrict movement of insects and small forest dependent fauna like hares, civets and mongoose and can disrupt their daily food routes and breeding habits. Walls will change rainwater flows and natural drainage on the slopes creating new pathways which can impact soil percolation and groundwater recharge. When walls come up, new pathways are created by tekdi walkers which leads to new trampling - nothing will grow here. Digging trenches cuts roots, disrupts the rhizosphere and forces sub flows to change

Live fencing is a better option - planting sagargota, nirgudi or dhaaypath along the boundaries will cause far less damage.

Administrative boundaries and ownership demarcations in ecologically sensitive areas can exist on paper - there is no need for physical walls.

[Ranjeet Rane @OldWonk]

Almost five years since I started documenting, passed the 500 species count for India during a recent trip to the birding hallows of #Bharatpur and #Chambal

#Birding is well and truly a gift that keeps giving — from a sense of purpose to peace of mind, need only seek.

#IndiAves