YANA CAVES: Last year, Yana Caves registered a footfall of 80,000. A number to cheer. But another fact is a cause for concern: tourists leave their plastic footprint. About 5kg of plastic waste is strewn about per day. And the number goes up to 10kg per day during weekends. While you don’t give a thought to the waste you leave behind — from bottles to straws to cups to bags — two women employees of the forest department quietly pick up the trash.
The pristine caves, which have two massive rocks composed of solid black limestone, in Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada distirct, have enchanting rock formations, unpolluted by man, but the surroundings outside present a dirty picture: Plastic waste left behind by tourists. This, despite Honnavar forest division declaring Yana a plastic-free zone. A number of signboards are displayed asking tourists to deposit plastic waste only in dustbins and not to throw it around, polluting the forest area. But who cares?
You can’t miss these two women in khaki — Shaila Seetaram Patagar and Vinoda Era Marathi — picking up waste in all seasons and handing it over to the forest department.
They were appointed by the Village Forest Committee of Yana village to collect waste in a stretch of 2.5 km near Yana Caves. They get a monthly honorarium of Rs 7,500 for their swachh task: collecting waste from the trekking stretch of 1.5 km from lower parking place to the cave temples and from temple to upper parking place which is 750 metres.According to the Katagal RFO H Harish, every day, both women collect two bags full of waste and hand it over to forest staff who store it in a room. Twice a year, the department hands over the plastic waste to Kumta Town Municipal Council for processing.
Says Shaila Patagar, “ I have been working since January last year along with another woman employee. Apart from waste collection, we create awareness on the negative impact of plastic on environment. Yet, many tourists pollute these pristine forest areas.”
She says that tourists throw plastic waste on the ground despite there being bins on the walking stretch. “We both collect all kinds of waste. After segregation, we hand over the plastic to the forest staff.”Vinoda says, “Sometimes, drunken tourists create problems as they don’t listen to us. In such instances, we inform the nearby shopkeepers and the forest staff who will then deal with them.” She says this job helps her financially and she is able to send her daughters to school. Her husband works on their 10 guntas of arecanut farm.
Both women are from Yana village, which is located about 8km from Yana Caves.They walk about 1.5 km from their house to Yana village main road, from there they pedal for 5 km on their bicycles to reach the lower parking place. Every day they walk nearly 13 km in the forest areas.
MESMERISING ROCKS
The two unique rock outcrops —390-foot tall Bhairaveshwara Shikhara and the 300-foot tall Mohini Shikhara — are the main attractions. The huge rocks are composed of solid black, crystalline karst limestone. There is a cave temple under Bhairaveshwara Shikhara.
WARM WINTER
Yana Caves are located in the thick forest of Western Ghats which is a heavy rainfall area. Therefore, the number of tourists is less from June to September. During the winter season, hundreds of tourists visit here and the number doubles during weekends and holidays. According to the forest department, last year they had registered a footfall of about 80,000
RUBBISH DATA
During weekdays, about 3-5 kg plastic is collected. During weekends and holidays, the number goes up to 10 kg plastic per day.
After collecting plastic from the trekking stretch, the women deposit the waste on forest department premises. After a huge quantity of plastic is accumulated, the forest department gives it to Kumta Town Municipal Council for processing. The department gives Rs 3,500 per tractor load of plastic to Kumta TMC to transport it.
arunkumar.h@newindianexpress.com