Chandani, Sloth Bear & More Lessons of Tadoba School!

 

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“People need to look at wildlife conservation in its totality. As soon as you lose the apex predator, it has harmful consequences right down the food chain” …. Thomas Kaplan

“When I arrived on the planet, there were only two billion. Wildlife was more abundant; we were less so; now the situation is reversed” …. Sylvia Earle

“Forest is the best school one can get admission in & it's free, the only fee you have to pay is, be more responsible towards every life around” … Me

Well, actually there isn’t any need for the quotes to start as this is supposed to be just later part of earlier sharing (yes Ft, Junabai & …) & trust me this is small read (thankfully) as had I added it in that sharing, it would have been really too much of a read dose even for my die hard readers ( I assume so, there are such), so I typed some part & deleted it (accidently though) thinking will make a new sharing out of it! Ok, I was in UKWS & Tadoba (plz google) for tigress F2 & junabai which are with four cubs at present & I has some tender moments of F@ with her cubs while I missed completely Junabai as she wasn’t in mood to show herself to me (what else) & this sharing is remaining part of what I got to experience when I am not seeing Junabai in Tadoba!

Well, Junabai wasn’t inside tourism zone of Madnapur buffers as she has made a kill of wild boar outside of park (tourism area) & with no other tiger insight we tried to look for the big daddy Xylo, which is like finding a needle in not stack of hay but in meadows, such big is his territory. My friend Tushar was along & he told me that he wishes to see a sloth bear in the wilds as he has never seen one & in entire Tadoba buffers two zones has maximum chances of sloth bear sighting & they are Alizanza & Madnapur, going by the record of sighting. Sloth bear are very tricky (and interesting) characters as they have most illogical behaviour in the forest or say we have yet to understand their behaviour & that’s why there is no fix route or place, though few sloth bears are known to stick to one location or say part of the forest, which is the case with Madnapur! I told to Tushar in any way there is no tiger at present in these parts so we will take a less travelled, longer route to the gate as its evening & chances of slot bear or a leopard on less traffic roads are more, though no guarantee. Both species i.e., leopard & sloth bear, are very shy or cautious animals, as leopard is afraid of tiger & sloth bear isn’t afraid of anything yet it’s just weird wanderer & it needs plots of patience, luck & some logic to see one in the wilds. As we started towards the gate from a road on which ours was only gypsy, suddenly we saw a black mass on the background of green grass & it was a big male sloth bear, I immediately patted the shoulder of our driver signalling him to stop gently & turn off the engine! The sloth bear was equally surprised by our sighting & it also froze where it was T kept looking in our direction. Sloth bears have small eyes in comparison to their body & very weak eyesight, this is one reason that their sense of direction also is poor but its smelling ability is very good. For a few minutes it kept sniffing air & listening to sound & when it thought all was well to move, the sloth bear slowly started moving, yet I asked the driver not to start the engine as I wanted to make the sloth bear comfortable in its own way. And to my delight, the sloth bear in its aimless stroll, came on road in front of our gypsy still trying to guess what we are & again turned back & started walking in the opposite direction on the road, very typical of a sloth bear's behaviour! As we started the gypsy, it again became alert & left the road & entered in the thickset leaving behind its footprints which are very similar like human, a big footed one & happy faces! I was more happy that my logic of sighting a sloth bear worked & more happy for the way we handled the sighting i.e. patiently, not getting excited & ruining the sighting, which   matters more! Tushar’s wish list was ticked & I told him, forests rarely send anybody unhappy, if you have patience & trust in the wildlife’s uniqueness in surprising you!

If this was story of Junabai’s zone, next day we chose Alizanza thinking lest try our luck with a young mom, Chandani tigress, who is presently ruling that zone though her sightings are not as frequent as she is first timer mom & is cautious with exposing her cubs to tourists or say outer world! Well before we go to Chandani an interesting experience of Madnapur while we were wandering all around for Junabai. This is the season of spiders & lots of them are around i.e. pre winter & if you ask what’s big deal in spiders, then well, forest is full of infinite things, species & their action is ever on. Giant Wood Spider is a big spider & its web runs across the roads in the forest but is smart enough not to build it at low heights as it will get damaged by the gypsies that it knows. Have you ever wondered how a spider must be tying its web from one tree to the tree across the road, well, watch Spiderman movies keenly, it actually floats on air and goes from one tree to other with its web & ties there & then travel back on that web & keeps repeating this action till the web is complete as per what it needs to catch the prey, interesting isn’t it? This is why I love forest, as in so many ways it teaches you about the ways you can deal with your life’s adversities & if you are determined enough & know what are your strengths & believe them, then nothing can stop you, the wood spider is a classic example of this philosophy! One more thing about wood spider, the bigger ones which we see & get amazed (read as horrified, especially women) are not the males, they are females as in most spider females are way bigger than the males & you often can see the male spider hiding in some corner of web as if the female gets too much hungry doesn’t mind to eat the male also, wow, sure the women readers will love this aspect of spiders!

Coming back to Aliznza, a zone which once was rocking in entire tadoba because of The CM (Chota mataka named tiger) & his three queens, but just the way human’s history is full of wars & dynasties’ & kingdoms’ tumbling & the regions getting in turmoil, off late post CMs’ captivity because of injury in territory fight, Alizanza also went quite but not forever, as nature always restores itself, if we give it freehand & space. New queens & kings are always ready to replace the old ones & take the life ahead along, that is happening in Alizanaza too. Chandani, heir to the legacy of CM, is with the first litter & though she isn’t yet bold as her father was, yet we decided to take a chance. Earlier in the evening she had been seen near a water body with her cubs, so we went straight there in the early morning. The forest was quiet with mist hung on the floor of the forest & no signs of any tiger was there. We waited  for half an hour & decided to check other areas & we must have gone hardly hundred meters or so, our guide said there is one more water hole across the road where we have been waiting, the tigress might have gone there also & we should check that, so we reversed & as we reversed, there she was, sitting on the road, like some  ghost has appeared from nowhere & intently looking towards the water body, where here cubs she has kept! I can’t put the scene in words as one minute before the road was empty & next minute a beautiful young tigress is sitting on it with mist surrounding her, well one has to witness it to understand or imagine it, that’s forest! Chandni kept sitting like that for a few more minutes & then went to her cubs & didn’t come out of the bushes for long. We went to explore the forest & on the way back again she was there waiting in bushes this time to cross the road with cubs. Tigress often takes her cubs to walk as that’s a training part of making them know the forest’s terrain & marking territory & it's fun to observe how they do it! Once again, we waited patiently, gave her room & comfort & she came out of the bushes slowly, every step calculated, cautious yet confident & the cubs followed in a dash once she crossed the road, tagging with their mom & the show was over for the day! We have witnessed once again beautiful moments of the forest & many life’s lessons too, along!

We distributed recycled clothes & shoes to the villagers & guides at Alizanaza with the help of Mr. Dube, ACF Tadoba, & Guides, Arwind, Giridhar & Ramesh, a sharing event which has become now ritual with our forest trips & thanks to all who contributes for the cause as its direct support to the Chandani & moms like her in the forest! I have come in search of Junabai & I went back with a lot more if not Junabai, same is applicable to our life also, if one window is closed then many others are open, lets enjoy the view from them, adios with this lesson!

You can watch more moments at flickr link along...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72177720336603916/

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

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F2, Junabai, Jogamoga & Wild Dogs!

 

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“When one predator leaves, another inevitably will take its place. A void never remains a void for long.” ― A.T. Baron

“My mom is cool and she taught me to always be on the right track.” ― Sam Hyde

“Observing a tigress with her cubs in the wild is like sitting in the class of the best B”-School with the finest teacher in the world” … Me.

Well, its about forest & it’s about tadoba also & UKWS (Umred Karhndala Wildlife Sanctuary) but more it was about my chase to have a look at two of my most favourite tigress moms (super moms actually), i.e. Junabai at Tadoba & F2 at UKWS. Though I have written about them in the past also, yet this time I specifically visited these places to have a look at them as F2 is having her second litter & Junabai her fourth but the common factor is both are having 4 cubs respectively! And Junabai has experience of raising 4 cubs as she started with that number then F2 has raised 5 cubs which were her first litter. And both have many common things between them such as both single handedly helps surviving their respective forest literally! Means, UKWS tourism depends on F2, especially Gothangaon gate, an area or zone which is F2’s  territory. Junabai rules Madanapur buffer of tadoba which has become a hotspot for wildlife lovers because of her. Both are used to living around humans & the neighbouring villagers treat them like residents of their village such is the bonding between these two tigresses’ & the locals & that’s not an easy thing to achieve for a tiger with humans. It’s very easy to say Save tigers when they are thousands of kilometers away from you but when you & a tiger share the same road, & same land, well I wonder how many can still stick to the slogan Save Tiger! Yet, these two tigresses are doing it for years & in doing so they have followed certain rules, such as keeping distance from the humans or their belongings (read as cattle) by hunting deer or wild boar & it is very difficult than hunting cattle which are available in plenty around. Training the cubs also to follow these rules. And agreed, wildlife is not about only tigers but it has tigers in it & this wonderful animal is saviour of not just forest but humans also which in turn becomes saviour for the wildlife as whole, this is beautiful dynamics of wildlife conservation which I wanted to share & which I am learning more with my every encounter with tigresses like F2 & Junabai.

First, about F2 & I won’t waste much time (words) to explain her home i.e.  Gothangaon at UKWS & she is a tigress which represents lineage as legendary as Fairy as her mom & carrying the legend ahead. I have seen her as a cub, as a teen ager, as a subadult, I have seen her journey from princess to a queen, making her territory, I have seen her as a young mother who took on challenge of raising five tigers in first go with nobody to guide & today, I saw her as a matured Mother Queen of four cubs, her second litter, she is F2, u disputed Super Mom of UKWS! She single handedly runs Gothangaon gate of Park, supporting hundreds of human families along with raising her cubs! Best part is, she rarely enters into conflict with humans, not killing cattle unless extreme times, which are very few. It’s never an easy thing to raise 5 or 4 tigers at a time, as they grow their food demands increases & hunting cattle in compare to hunting deer or wild boar in wilds is like clearing a galli level quiz in compare to cracking JEE for IIT & yet F2 is wise not to go for easy ways as in the long term it will be harmful for her in keeping peace with humans which surrounds her queendom. As if she starts killing cattle i.e. domestic animals means her cubs will also learn that only means conflict with humans as often it’s for protecting cattle humans come in between tiger & its prey & outcome is death or injuries to the tiger or the humans & it means enmity with humans which ends in only one result, death or capturing of the tiger which F2 knows instinctively & that’s what makes her very unique! This time I went on quest to have a look of matured mom, and she didn’t disappoint me, though trouble (read as your trouble, not F2s’) with zones like Gothangaon where there is only one ruling tigress is, if she has moved out of tourism area or on hunting mode then the entire safari goes without tiger sighting. Agreed, I love to click butterflies also which are abundant at this time of year yet when (if) you are visiting specifically for one tiger family then be ready to get disappointed also & that’s beauty of wildlife, it doesn’t run on your wish or liking! 

Though when the cubs of tigress are as small as F2s’ are presently, just three to four months old then the tigress can’t take them to the kill but she has to drag the kill to the cubs or she has to hunt nearby around the cubs, making chances of her sightings more. But there is another problem, as cubs are so small then if the kill is in grass, then you can see the cubs & mom but can’t click shots you want (photographer’s cribbing) which is what happened in our trip. We saw F2 & cubs & enjoyed their family time which itself is a memorable sight & with some luck from whatever window I could get from the grass & bushes, I got some adorable moments of mom & cubs. The real beauty was, when she suddenly came out of the grass & crossed the road ahead of us with the little ones following her step to step or say paw to paw! As it happens in UKWS, those who are regulars, the roads are narrow & only two vehicles can get clear sight of a tiger on road, that too in opposite direction, i.e. gipsies on front, from both directions & the ear ones (like mine) can do is try to bend, stretch as much we can in our respective gipsies & get shots best possible, which I did! Four tiny tigers which soon (in a span of eighteen months) will be grown up & start searching for their own territory, & F2 will have to protect her territory from them only, yet today she is doing her best to make these small ones survive & giving her all energy & efforts for the cause & in doing so she is helping so many faces happy & live on it too, that’s true Super Mom! Every time when I say bye to such sights my heart gets filled with happiness, peace & frankly beat of fear too, that how much more time tigresses like F2 can roam freely in the wilds as from all sides their already small home is shrinking & that too because of me & my fellow humans! With a promise to myself that I will do my best to make F2 at peace, I left UKWS in hope of seeing another Super Mom i.e. Junabai of tadoba buffers!

UKWS to Kolara side of Tadoba, is mere forty minutes’ drive via Chimur & practically is a corridor for many tigers with no human settlements in between except patches of forests & cotton fields through which tigers easily navigate their path! Junabai is a veteran Super Mom with her fourth litter (if I am right) & just the way F2 is single handedly ruling UKWS Gothangaon zone, Junabai is solo queen of Kolara madnapur buffers for decades now. She too is known to have three to four cubs at a time & has been mom for many legendary tigers of Tadoba. She at present having four cubs which are nearly seven -eight months old & though just two months back I had been here but that was very brief trip & practically washed away with heavy rains, so I decided to give (read as take) one more chance with Junabai but as I mentioned above, wildlife runs on its own script. Just when we reached the gate of Madnapur, we came to know that Junabai had killed a wild boar near the main road outside of forest (means protected forest) & dragged it inside the field. Now, unlike F2, Junabai’s cubs are big enough to walk & it was sure that the cubs would have also joined mom for the feast & if she has killed wild boar in morning means for next thirty-six hours in which our three safaris have been aligned there won’t be no Junabai or cubs in this part of forest, that’s wildlife!

We accepted our fate & started looking for other tigers which is now a common scene across Tadoba as so many sub adults getting added every year & they all need space (read as food) & till they f make their own territory these sub adult tigers keep wandering, especially empty patches of forests such as this one because of temporary absence of Junabai! And to our delight we came to know a male tiger named Jogamoga has been sighted by a gypsy & is on move, Now, this was something as this whole area is being ruled by biggest tiger of Tadoba i.e. Xylo & I have never seen Jogamoga, who is hardly three or four years old but must be trying to settle in some forest. If he is here then even the guides said he won’t remain in this part for long because of Xylo, yet we decided to take a chance (what else we could do) & started roaming around the area where JM (Jogamoga) had last sighted. And to our surprise at one water hole, here he was, a handsome young male sniffing for the scent of another tiger & moving around marking his arrival, on the trees. He was young yet with large head & stout body & distinguishably green eyes reminding me of CM (plz google) as he also comes from the forest which was ruled for many years by CM & the name jogamoga is also from a chowki in Alizanza forest!

While the tiger is moving around it's very important not just for photographers but even for normal tourists also to align our gypsy in the best possible way, without disturbing the tiger as well other tourists’ sight & this is where experience of observing a tiger comes handy as well skill of the driver & the guide too! There were few other vehicles around & excitedly they all aligned the gypsy in the direction from where tiger is arriving, we went a further down the trail & waited, as agreed we couldn’t saw him approaching but once JM male is in the dried water body, ours was the only vehicle having him in full view! This, I shared not how great a tracker I (read as we) am but a little bit of patience & study does help a lot making your sighting more exciting & then there is a joy of little achievement that your judgement was right in the wilds, thing!  As well the JM male gave us a typical tiger pose with tongue hanging out & actually you feel that the tiger is laughing or tongue teasing you, which is not the case, tigers do it for a purpose, which I will take more information about & share in coming writeups for sure!

And yes there were butterflies, lots of them with every possible color, danching around the wild flowers! This is something you must do when you are waiting for tiger, look around & see what other things lives in the forest making it beautiful & butterflies are on the top list, more about these other things later! Last but least, in UKWS we came across a pair of wild dogs, who gave us good show of their relationship on road & the guide said, sir last year this was sixteen dogs pack now only two are remaining, most died by some rabies type decease or nobody know, but this pair survived. This is the problem, with all good efforts from forest dept & people, yet our forests are under great threat of encroachment, not only from the humans but along with human settlements comes its side effects, such as stray dogs & so comes their problems along & though the wildlife is capable of dealing with any nature generated challenge but it’s not ready for the human created challenges, this is the hardest & ongoing war where we must support to the nature in every possible way! With this promise to myself, I left for our concrete jungle from UKWS, yet those four pairs of eyes of wild dogs’ I can still feel on me, what have you done to us, they are asking to me, that’s my curse & that’s my responsibility too, adios with this note!

 Watch more moments at Flickr link along…

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72177720336603916

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Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

Ye Diwali, Sharingwali!

 

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Sharingwali Diwali !

“You cannot celebrate the festival of light before combating the darkness within” ― Kapil Raj

“I am an Indian and we celebrate all festivals in every region of every religion. That is why it is called Incredible India!” ― Vinayak Muralitharan

“Sharing is wonderful thing; if you share your sorrow, it reduces but if you share your happiness, it increases”- Me

Festivals, some words are magical just the way Disney is, and Tadoba is for me, lol; sorry, don’t worry, the sharing isn’t about Tdaoba or forests but about festivals & with 150 plus crore people & 33 crore gods (no offense), with 10 plus religions, 40 plus major languages & 36 States plus Union Territories, (Castes, I don’t dare to count neither I believe in it), no wonder every day there is some festival being celebrated in some place of our dear country! And more than that, there are seasonal festivals also as for ages this country has had most of its population living in villages & farming was & is source of live, so, no wonder many festivals are celebrated as per seasons here! And then it’s the festivals when people of all segments of society come together, spend time together, share whatever they have with friends & family, that’s the real spirit or the cause of festivals. Rather its traditions like festivals which separates humans from all other species as other than us no other species celebrates any particular occasion as a festival, rather for all other species every new day is festival, but that’s another aspect of sharing, lol! And then in the world where on one side physical boundaries are reducing (read ass collapsing) because of the Internet, Broadband, 5G, Satellite service & yes AI, then on other side physical distance between people is increasing rapidly. Today, people are busy in chatting/ speaking with somebody who is miles away but forget to wish somebody who is right in the home on his or her birthday! Every-day, we send messages of good morning to the entire world via broadcast list but don’t even greet or smile at the person living across our door! In such a situation, festivals are the only hope for maintaining togetherness with human touch to relations, in reality, not virtual!

And Diwali is our biggest festival which is celebrated in the entire country across all segments of the society, making it a very unique festival on the background of, “Their festival & Our festival” culture of today’s society, as this is truly everybody’s festival! On Diwali, we shop & give gifts (receive also), light-up our homes & eat lots of sweets & that’s normal for many of us but have you thought about millions who are not as fortunate as us, as for them to leave apart shopping or sweets, every day is a survival battle! These are the times when most of the world has been pulled into a war because of a few people’s ego & greed, causing millions to suffer. And if that’s not enough, there is drought looming on our region, pushing thousands of families worried for day-to-day survival ahead. On all such backgrounds Diwali time is the bright spot of home, only if people like us who are fortunate than many people share a little bit of our fortune with all such unfortunate ones! And you can do it in many ways, by donating your good stuff while you buy new one, by buying from hand-made or local things from rural parts & even by distributing gifts to unknown faces through any NGO also, as after all sharing doesn’t need to have any boundaries such as caste, religion or State, right? So, go ahead & brighten as many faces & homes as you can, by simple act of sharing & make this Diwali, Sharingwali!

We at team Sanjeevani along with Jungle Belles run an all year long campaign of collecting used clothes, shoes, comforters in good usable condition & arrange to send them to needy people who live in remote parts of the country, especially around forests. This is just one of the activities, we will be happy to assist you, for any such willingness to share with the less fortunate’ in the society. Please write/ Dm/ call us on any of the contact details. Wish you a very Happy Sharingwali Diwali!

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Below is something I wrote to my team, you can also go through as, right & wrong is not for some group, but for everybody & share if you find worth…

 दिवाळी, बोनस आणि जबाबदारी!!

 

डिअर टीम संजीवनी,

 

सर्वप्रथम दिवाळीच्या शुभेच्छा  आणि माझं हे पत्र तुमच्या साठी आहे,  दुसरं पत्र पण तुमच्या साठीच आहे पण ते तुम्ही फॅमिली आणि मित्रांसोबत जरूर शेअर करा,  म्हणजे त्यांना पण तुमची कंपनी काय फिलॉसॉफीने काम करते ते कळेल!!

तर थोडं आपल्या बाबत,  बोनस ही ट्रिकी गोष्ट आहे,  किती रक्कम किंवा कोणती वस्तु आपल्याला हॅप्पी करू शकते,  तर ते पूर्णपणे आपल्या परिस्थिती वर अवलंबुन आहे! जसे की एखाद्या दुष्काळग्रस्त शेतकर्‍याला चाऱ्याची गोणी किंवा 100 रुपये खुश करु शकतात आणि एखाद्या श्रीमंताला काही लाख रुपये किंवा मारुतीची कार पण आनंदी करु शकत नाही कारण ते त्याच्याकडे ऑलरेडी आहे!

मी फिलॉसॉफी झाडत  नाहिये किंवा दिलेल्या बोनसच समर्थन करत नाहिये,  फक्त  हे सांगतोय की कोणतीही गोष्ट आयुष्यात फ्री येत किंवा मिळत नाही,  त्याची एक योग्य किम्मत असते आणि ती चुकवली  तरच त्या गोष्टीचा खरा आनंद मिळतो आणि ती गोष्ट आपल्यापाशी  टिकते,  हा माझा अनुभव आहे आणि हे पैश्याच्या  बाबतीतही लागु आहे! आणि बरेचदा ही किम्मत दिसणारा प्राईस टॅग किंवा क्युआर कोड लावुन येत नाही तर समजावून घ्यावी लागते, ज्याला जबाबदारी म्हणतात! तुम्हाला कल्पना आहे का,  गेल्या वर्षात आपण किती फ्लॅट विकले,  आपली रिकव्हरी किती आहे, आणि किती फ्लॅट्स बाकी  आहेत, कल्पना नसल्यास अकौंटसच्या टीम सोबत बसा आणि जाणुन घ्या! दिवस कठीण आहेत आणि होत जाणार आहेत, आपला  पेशन्स आणि स्वतःवरचा विश्वास ही आपली खरी ताकद आह़े! तरीही मी कधीच फ्लॅट विक्री सोबत टीमचा बोनस किंवा पगार टॅग करत नाही पण याचा अर्थ आपली काहीच जबाबदारी नाही असही नक्कीच नाही! आपण सगळे आपआपले काम किती  जबाबदारीने (इमानदारीने म्हणत नाही, कारण तुमच्यावर माझा पूर्ण विश्वास आहे) करतो, ते सगळ्यात महत्वाचं आहे कारण त्या नंतर विक्री हा नशीबाचा सुध्धा पार्ट आहे पण त्याआधी आपला जबाबदारीवाला पार्ट परफेक्ट करतोय का हे आपण कधी बघतो का, एवढंच मला सांगायचे आहे! या दिवाळी निमित्ताने मजा करा,  सुट्टी घ्या पण एक जबाबदार टीम मेंबर म्हणुन मी स्वतःमध्ये काय बदल घडवून आणू शकतो यावर पण विचार करा,  आणि अंमलात आणा; वाचा, छंद  जोपासा, फिटनेस रुटीन सुरु करा, काहीही करा पण स्वतःसाठी  करा, कारण ती तुम्ही स्वतःला दिलेली अशी दिवाळी गिफ्ट असेल जी कोणीच दुसरा तुम्हाला गिफ्ट किंवा बोनस म्हणुन देऊ शकणार नाही आणि ती जन्मभर टिकणारी गिफ्ट असेल!! परत एकदा दिवाळीच्या शुभेच्छा!!

.. संजय देशपांडे

--

Sanjay Deshpande with team Sanjeevani & Jungle Belles

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked..

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/

Recycled Water, Whose Baby is it!!

 

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“Very soon nations will understand that in reality Water is the most expensive natural resource for their survival. Not Middle East oil nor African gold.” ― M.F. Moonzajer

“Call me crazy, but there is something terribly wrong with this society, especially on the front of, use of water.” ― Nathan Reese Maher

“If you want to use water in the right way then first, you will have to learn to respect the water in the right way”... Me

In the span of one week, I am writing again about this subject which the readers must have guessed is water! Only difference is, the first one was about wrong policies from the govt especially about real estate & the way we must together fight with drought then the later one i.e. this one is about govt’s right efforts (intent as their invite says) about water at large! Ok, we all know by now about the scarcity of water at present in the State & if any of you (read as we) don’t know about it then we are fool & unlucky too as that shows how ignorant we are about our responsibilities! Well, I got an invite from CSE India, a research institute from Delhi which is working on water, especially recycled water, for an invite onlyround table conference about recycled water & its use. In exact words, “Decentralised Treatment of Wastewater and its Bulk Reuse” & it’s a big honour for me, well considering the fraternity I come from i.e. real estate (a builder)! Though I am a civil engg too with little bit of environmental background (this I shared just to make readers know about my ability to write on the subject, no offense), yet mostly even today the builders are looked with suspicious eyes especially when there is anything related to environment as are they not the one who damages it most? Right, yet for whom the builders build these homes along with making money & who buys these homes & live in them is something I always want to ask those suspicious eye holders but about that sometimes later! Coming back to this round table thingy, I am unable to attend it as its right before Diwali & I have to take care of my own work front here, so I said the organizers I will attend it online about which they said not possible (sorry, but weird) so I said I will write my views & here we are!

First of all, water is mythical but not all about water is rocket science of hardcore technical or scientific as our forefathers’ (ancestors) knew a lot more about water & respected it far more than we do & that’s why what they did with water we have to research! Of course, today’s technology can open many more doors for the problems related to water (which we only have created, lol, sarcasm) & that’s why institutes like CSE are important. Incidentally there has been an initial such meeting here in Pune three months back in June 26, which also, I attended in person & has shared few of my views across. For those who don't know the background, the subject may look a bit technical which is the core of the subject, involving each of us i.e. water. We get water mainly from one single source i.e. rains, which later gets collected in dams via rivers & then from dams it comes to our home via water lines & there is a filtration plant in between dams to our home, that’s it! Apart from this where there is no dam or river there are bore wells, dug wells, man made lakes, canals etc by which respective localities get water & for thousands of years this was ok. Interesting part is that barring a few years most of the time the average rainfall means the principal source of supply is the same if we check the data but on the other side human population is increasing in multiples while all other animals’ population is decreasing, courtesy humas only! Needless to say, the sources of water have started reducing slowly & as we indeed are fools, we neglected this slow reduction like a slow poison & today, we call it as a draught when we don’t get water stored in our dams or even slightest of reduction rainfall, which is the main reason of the importance of the round table!

Coming back to the concept of round table, interestingly the invite says Right Intent of policies by the govt (or something on those lines) about which I have to say; its never about the Intent, the problem is always about the Implementation of the policies when its govt & when subject is as vital as water! Govt wants to make every segment of society (read as voters) happy & when it fails to do so it expects some other segment (usually the private sector or industries which in this case is builders) to do govt’s job! Same thing is happening with water reuse also & I am not saying this as anti- anti-establishment attitude or it’s easy to shrug the responsibility (I am not govt) but look at the way implementation differs from the goal of the Intentions & then we can find the right way! First, in a city like Pune which is blessed with water supply on the source front, there is no metered water supply which means there is no control on use, nor do we have the right data with us for consumption! Second, there is no provision of potable water supply to the construction sites, which means you can’t blame them for misuse of water, yet the propaganda is made so! Third, there is no control on ground water use, anybody can dig an open well or a bore well as govt (read as PMC/PCMC etc) has no data of ground water use in the city. This means if we want to increase use of recycled water then first, we must know what is the contribution of other sources of water by the citizens as then only we can make policies, because if all are happy with other sources of water then who will take efforts for recycled water & its use, right? So, let's first make sure about creating exact data regarding the need & consumption of every single drop in the city & its present sources!

Now, coming to the recycled water aspect which is a niche in itself, as three entities are involved in generation of the recycled water, means we will have to define the responsibilities accordingly while making policies about the same, right? First is local planning body which is Pune, & there the problem starts as the UDCPR (building control rules) says even over 100 units we will have to provide ETP / STP (drainage water treatment plant) which is itself a joke (sorry guys) as with 4 times fsi in some parts of city, even a 20,000 sft plot will have over 100 units on it where to fix a STP is very difficult job & to maintain it is more difficult. Means, first the builder will try to avoid or manage the STP thing to a minimum & later, the society won’t run it because operating costs are too high for such a small society, so they will try to shut it, which means the problem starts at generation level itself, for recycled water! And on top of it, even where the drainage line net-work of the local body is existing & which is connected to the central STP, there also smaller STPs’ are made mandatory if the development is above 100 units, why? Rather try to make bigger & larger STPs’ which will be easier for utilization of its water as smaller & decentralized STP’s are ok only when there is no drainage line itself because collection recycled water from numbers of destinations & smaller quantities, is the main problem in reuse of drainage water! At the same time there is no system which will ensure that these all STP’s are running at the treated water is collected at some source, again no data available is the problem as if you don’t know exactly how much treated / recycled water you have got & at which place, how are you going to distribute it or use it in proper way, is my question & who is going to take responsibility of this aspect of recycled water, is my second question!

Now let’s have a look at last & most critical aspect in the use of recycle water, that too specifically in real estate, as whenever there is reduction in rains or water supply the builders starts getting notices of water cuts & media hails construction sites using water (read as wasting water) & suddenly local bodies publish circulars about making builders use recycled water! Here again data is the problem as any source becomes reliable only when it is consistent & for that you need to have how much & how, these two figures in place. We already saw how, is missing as we don’t have data about generation of recycled water & we don’t have data of how much water we need for construction & where. Though approximately for 1 lakh sq ft of built-up area, by thumb rule you need approx. 10 lakh litters (again its thumb rule & this depends on technology you are using, type of building & workmanship & can vary as per these aspects) of water from start to finish. Here again, there are two or say three types of need for water, one is in the construction activities such as concreting, plaster where water will be part of construction. On this front the requirement is fluctuating as per the work stage & this water needs to be chemically perfect as its being used in chemical reaction of cement setting process which is directly related to the strength of concrete or mortar of base of flooring; so, who is going to ensure quality of the water, is the question (read as problem)!  At the same time curing & compaction of earthworks, are other two processes where chemical quality of water isn’t much of a problem but availability on time & storage of this water are the issue. As well to store this recycled water & keep it away from human domestic use is another challenge at site which we need to take into consideration. And on the use front also on rainy days, even curing isn’t necessary for slabs & plaster, so in monsoons what we will be doing with excess recycled water is one more aspect we must take into account!

Let’s understand, whatever storage, pumping, transportation, we will be using for recycled water, it can’t be used for other purposes keeping in mind the health hazard aspect, means this all system must be constantly engaged & that much supply of recycled water we must assure if we want it sustainable. And if govt expects people (read as builders) to sacrifice themselves & use recycled water even if it's unsustainable, then it's not going to work, is a bitter fact! And for that the only solution (short term) is, PMC or the local body, first, must form a separate cell to take responsibility for recycled water as a whole. This cell will keep data, monitor it & handle the logistics of it along with quality assurance! At the same time, this cell will need funding as right from recycled water carrying tankers to drivers everything will have to be made available to this cell & then you can ask the developers to use the recycled water as unless we have a proper system of supply in place no developer go for it at the expense of his time lines & costing! And the long-term solution is, collect all the recycled water at a central place, treat it, store it & then distribute it as per demand from this central reservoir, which can be a manmade open lake also!  To my knowledge Dubai & middle east countries where water is costlier than oil, they have separate collecting recycled water line net work just the way we have drainage lines & they refine it at central plant & again from separate water lines its supplied to the end users as per demand, this also can be a long-term solution but effective one & will need determination for implementation!

To conclude, all I will say, use of recycled water is not some rocket science; it needs 20% technology, 30% common sense & 50% a sincere will to use this water & I think we will have to work on later two aspects only, as there only lies the fate of the intent, adios with this note, & yes thanks a lot for the honour for giving me opportunity to be part of this noble cause!

-

Sanjay Deshpande 

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...

 

https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2025/12/pune-real-estate-in-2026.html

https://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2024/12/2025.html

https://jeevnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2026/08/
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com / https://junglebelles.in/