Kankeshwar- the sacred nature trail

Date: 27/12/2008

Kankeshwar, Alibaug.

The Nature club of R. D. National College had organized a trek to kankeshwar on the 27^th of December, 2008. The team reached the first checkpoint i.e. the Gateway of India from where we purchased tickets to mandwa beach costing Rs. 65 per head. Our journey commenced at 15:00 hrs. It was an eventful journey and we spotted quite a few birds which included different varieties of gulls and terns.

We reached our second checkpoint at 16:10 hrs. i.e. Mandwa beach. From there a bus took us to ‘Chondi phata’ from where we hired a rickshaw to Mapgaon, the base village.

Kankeshwar is a temple of lord Shiva. People from far and wide come to visit this temple. Hence, the path from Mapgaon to kankeshwar is paved out in the form of steps. The entire path is surrounded by Teak wood trees. Teak wood is of great economic value as it is of great economic value as it is used for making furniture. Next, we saw Karanj, the Elephanta Island was earlier known as karanj due to the abundance of these trees. Karanj is useful in making sunscreen lotion and in treatment of leukoderma. The major constituent of its oil is palamol. Next was the Lantana which has an American origin. It’s eaten by many birds e.g. Bulbul. We also spotted Picus microcarpac which is used for toothache. We also saw Ixora which is a plant with a strong fragrance. Anantmal which is the ingredient of Safi, a blood purifier was also observed.

We reached the Kankeshwar Ashram by 8 pm, where we had dinner and the day ended. The next morning started with a high tea followed by a nature trail. Many birds were spotted e.g. green bee eater, bulbul etc. Tunnel spiders are found in abundance. Then after a shot break we started our climb to vajreshwar temple which is again higher than Kankeshwar. Lots of plants and some insects of ecological and economical importance were observed. At the peak of the hill there is vajreshwar temple and a railway communication centre.

The trail ended with lunch and then we started to climb down the mountain.

Nilje – A paradise for Bird lovers

Dombivli is one of the suburbs belonging to Kalyan – Dombivli Mahanagar Palika situated in Thane district. It has got a number of water bodies and one such is in Nilje (around 10 km away from Dombivli (E) on the way to Panvel). This particular water body is special, as a number of migratory birds visit this pond during winter season.

Some of the noteworthy plants and animal species seen here:
26 species of birds - Some of the species of birds worth mentioning are Purple moorhen, Spot billed duck, Little egret, Pied Kingfisher, Black Drongo, Racket Tailed Drongo, Green Bee Eater, Scaly Breasted Munia, Asian Koel, Water Cock, Common Coote, Indian Roller, Indian Robbin, Flower Pecker, Bronze winged Jacana, etc.
2 species of spiders,
5-6 species of butterflies in and around the pond and
More than 15 species of aquatic plants in the pond. A few important plant species observed were: Hygrorhiza ariatata, Azolla pinnata, Nymphoides alba, besides Eichornia crassipes, members of cyperaceae, cruciferae, etc.
The Problem:
This water body is facing a threat as a number of developmental activities are ongoing around this area and to name one such is the township by Lodha group. Brick making activity, washing clothes in and around this water body which is causing siltation in this pond.
This place is one of the favorite bird watching locations for many of us. There is an urgent need to protect this water body thereby protecting the life depending on this water body.
Result: - Due to the siltation in this pond, we have already lost some of the interesting plant species like Utriculatia – One of the insectivorous plants. If some conservation practice is not implemented, one day we may loose many species.

Solution: - Protect this wetland with the help of Govt. & non Govt. organization with active participation of local villagers


OBSERVE WORLD WETLANDS DAY-2ND FEBRUARY.