Alarmed at large-scale threat to the pristine ecology of Western Ghats, an activists' group today launched 'Save Our Sahyadri' (SOS) campaign which aims to create public awareness and bring like-minded bodies together.
Mumbai University has pledged support to the initiative.
The first phase of the campaign will kick off with a 1,200-km cycle ride by 50 people across north-south Sahyadri range in Maharashtra, from Navapur to Sawantwadi, its chief Bibhas Amonkar told reporters here.
The campaign is based largely on the lines of the Save the Western Ghats March (SWGM) of 1987, which is acknowledged by many for flagging ecological concerns years before this range was declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012.
University of Mumbai has pledged its support as 'knowledge partner' of the campaign, which also includes an international seminar on biodiversity on World Environment Day in June 2017, vice chancellor of the varsity Sanjay Deshmukh said here.
B S Bidve, convener of the National Service Scheme (NSS), said many affiliated colleges are located along the rally's route, and student volunteers will be cycling and also presenting specially created street plays at 101 places.
Amonkar said the rally involves two groups of 25 cyclists each starting from Navapur and Sawantvadi, respectively, on December 1, and converging at the tourist hill-town of Mahabaleshwar on December 9.
It will go through deepest pockets of the range, in the foothills and the Deccan Plateau, and the cyclists will also collect data on biodiversity along the route, he said, stressing that 12 of the cyclists are women.
Stating that the campaign also aims to create "eco- warriors" at the local level, Amonkar said 36 villages and towns have been selected for exhibitions and screening of a specially created audio visual film.
"There is a need not just for everybody who cares about
the environment to come together, but also for a platform for them. This can lead to formation of an organised force. Thirty years ago, the Save Western Ghats Movement sought to do the same," senior environmentalist Ulhas Rane said.
Ecology of Sahyadris is under threat from development projects and 'artificial' hill stations, environmentalists say. The Sahyadris alone are home to over 3,500 plant species, 125 types of animals and 550 bird varieties.
Stating that it is a "moral duty" to help a movement like this, Vice Chancellor Deshmukh said the University's participation would be a part of its 160th anniversary celebrations.
