Each weekend, the Kharmale household ascends the sun-baked hills of Junnar, Pune, armed with spades, shovels, and an unshakable mission. Ramesh Kharmale, a 49-year-old ex-serviceman turned forest guard, digs contour trenches to lure rainwater, whereas his spouse, Swati, clears invasive weeds from historical Shivaji-era stepwells. Their kids, Mayuresh and Vaishnavi, scatter seeds into freshly dug pits—tiny acts of defiance towards a warming planet.
“Conservation is my ardour, but it surely’s additionally my responsibility,” says Kharmale, whose 17-year Military stint cast his self-discipline, now redirected towards therapeutic the land. After transient careers in banking and training, he discovered his true calling in 2021: a solo campaign to fight water shortage atop the Khandoba Temple in Dhamankhel. Timing the undertaking to his birthday, he spent 300 gruelling hours over two months carving 70 trenches into the mountainside. “Each morning, I’d spend 4 hours on the mountaintop digging the water-absorbing ditches after which report for work,” he remembers.
These serpentine trenches, totalling 412 meters, can retailer roughly 8 lakh litres of rainwater per season, considerably boosting groundwater ranges. “With satisfactory rainfall, the system may recharge as much as 16 million litres of water yearly,” Kharmale notes.
However his imaginative and prescient extends past water. The household has planted over 450 timber, with 500 extra deliberate for the trench-lined slopes. Every summer time, they haul water up the hills to protect saplings from vanva (forest fires). Since 2013, come June, earlier than the onset of the monsoon, the household treks to the Sahyadri vary to disperse seedballs. “Our mission to make Junnar’s vacationer spots fully plastic-free is a steady journey, and we’ve been lucky to obtain enthusiastic assist from devoted volunteers alongside the way in which,” shares Kharmale.
Oxygen Park
Whereas the trenches fight water safety, the household’s ambitions lengthen to creating inexperienced oases. Just like the upcoming “Oxygen Park” in a one-and-a-half-acre plot in Vadaj village, 3km from Dhamankhel, the place they reside. “We started planting wild varieties like Peepal, Cluster Fig, Mahogany, Neem and Bamboo—all aged between two years and extra — final July and have thus far planted 175 of them and added one other 50. We now have constructed 4 ponds too. To discourage cattle from getting into the Park, we now have dug up lengthy trenches. As soon as, with none vegetation, it now attracts a whole lot of birds,” says Swati. “This mannequin, we plan to duplicate in different neighbouring villages within the coming years.”
As soon as spring units in, Kharmale scours the forest accumulating seeds and is happy with his enormous assortment: 15 types of forest-dwelling timber, which he shares freely with tree lovers and nurseries. Says he, “I often obtain requests on my social media accounts for native seeds.”
Writes Laxman Kolte in Lokmat, a number one Marathi each day: “Kharmale has concerned native youth and villagers in his initiatives, organising consciousness campaigns and coaching periods on environmental safety. He has additionally used social media to unfold consciousness and encourage extra folks to affix his mission. His work has develop into a mannequin for environmental conservation within the area.”
Taking conservation to the youth
Educating about Kharmale actively entails his household, native residents, and schoolchildren in his tasks, fostering a tradition of environmental accountability. He has thus far visited some 400-plus faculties in Thane, Kolhapur, Baramati, Solapur, Nashik, Karad, Pune and Sangli at his expense to provide talks on sustainable forest development, ecosystem restoration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity safety, and neighborhood participation to foster a resilient and sustainable atmosphere.
“I’ve misplaced depend of the variety of talks I could have given, however I can say with conviction that our schoolchildren are very communicative on the problems affecting the environment,” he says.
His YouTube channel, with 2.8 lakh followers, demystifies trench-digging and seed conservation. Recognition has adopted: state awards, a Forest Division commendation, and even a documentary, Couple for the Surroundings, by the Savitribai Phule Pune College’s Instructional Multimedia Analysis Heart (EMMRC), and has obtained the most effective academic program award within the authorities establishments class on the Nationwide Instructional Analysis and Coaching Council (NCRT) occasion held in Shillong (Meghalaya).
His public outreach, participation in rescue operations, and social work have earned him a number of honours, together with the ‘Shivneri Bhushan award’ from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“Kharmale is a conservationist to the core, whether or not on or off-duty,” says Junnar Forest Ranger Nitin Vidhete. “He has actively contributed to forest hearth prevention by reducing the dry grasses as winter months set in, establishing waterholes for wildlife, dispersing seed balls in a number of areas, aiding the Forest Division in coaching authorities guides for environmental conservation and even serving to establish households who minimize timber to make use of them as gasoline wooden. These households are actually beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), which gives deposit-free LPG (cooking fuel).”
Makes Junnar Proud
Santosh Jadhav, sarpanch of Dhamankhel village, calls Kharmale “a proud son of Junnar taluka” for bringing recognition to the area by way of his images and advocacy for tourism.”
In 2018, the Maharashtra authorities declared Junnar a “vacationer vacation spot,” recognising many attributes of Kharmale’s relentless advocacy.
Anchored by the historic Shivneri Fort—the birthplace of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj — Junnar is wealthy in historical past, tradition, and pure magnificence. The world boasts historical forts, cave complexes, temples, and Islamic heritage websites, making it a complete vacationer vacation spot.
By way of his social media platforms, together with the favored “Nisargaramya Junnar Taluka” Fb web page and Instagram accounts, Kharmale has highlighted 12 historic underground routes in Junnar, and showcased 16 historical stone sculptures of Gajalakshmi and historical stone carvings situated in varied villages and most significantly, rediscovered seven forgotten rock-cut sculptures in Junnar.
Though his social media presence is rooted in Marathi, Ramesh Kharamale has now transcended linguistic boundaries: He authored a devoted chapter on Junnar’s heritage that has discovered a spot in Yuvak Bharti, a Telugu textbook for Eleventh-standard college students. By way of this, his ardour for Junnar’s legacy now reaches a brand new, wider viewers past Maharashtra, bridging cultures and languages.
Edited by Leila Badyari