Skip to content Skip to navigation

Street plays for Conservation of Greater Adjutants

Street plays for Conservation of Greater Adjutants

Two nature conservation NGOs of Assam, Aaranyak and Green Guard Nature Organization (IBCN partners) collaborated to organize 'street plays' at several places in the towns of Morigaon and Nagaon to promote conservation awareness of the Globally Threatened Greater Adjutant Stork (GAS) on 26th of May. Locally known as Hargila, the world's most threatened stork with an estimated global population of less than 1000 birds has major breeding colonies in these two towns in central Assam. The two NGOs had earlier collaborated on a very successful project for the rescue, rearing and rehabilitation of injured, sick & fallen Greater Adjutant nestlings at Nagaon from 2001-2004, under financial support of the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

The play 'Adhikar', scripted by Purnima Devi Barman of Aaranyak and directed by Pabitra Kalita of Green Guard, was staged at Natun Bazar, Morigaon Syndicate, Lakhinagar Chariali and Senchowa in Nagaon and at Chariali and Rajagaon (2 places) in Morigaon. At two places, once each near a Greater Adjutant nesting colony of Nagaon and Morigaon, villagers, including elders, women and children were offering traditional afternoon prayers (Naam) at the Naamghar (prayer hall) and promised to ensure conservation of the bird by all means. At another location, it was the turn of teams and officials involved in a cricket match to be inspired during the innings break. The success of the initiative can be measured by the number of people who not only witnessed the street plays in blistering heat, but also lined up to sign the banner in support of Greater Adjutant conservation.

The play dwelt on the role of Greater Adjutants in keeping the environment clean and free from pollution. It starts off with an angry man trying to cut down a nesting tree with two frightened nestlings and a helpless mother perched on a nest at the top, alleging the birds dirtied his neighborhood. He is restrained by his wife who points out the presence of chicks but the man is determined to take the tree down, and along with it, the Greater Adjutant family. The situation is saved by the arrival of some enlightened persons who give the man a lesson about the ecological importance and global status of the Greater Adjutant and tells him to feel proud for hosting the birds on his tree. The offender is remorseful and the play ends with an appeal by all the characters to help conserve the Greater Adjutant Stork.

Dr. Rathin Barman of Wildlife Trust of India & Director of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Kaziranga, Purnima Devi Barman, Ajoy Kr. Das and Madhumita Borthakur of Aaranyak and Hemanta Sharma, Ranjan Barthakur, Bhagwati Prasad Jhawar, Dulu Bora, Debajit Kalita, Rana Paul, Sosida Nanda Bordoloi, Rosee Devi Phukan and Raj Phukan of Green Guard Nature Organization were among those who attended and organized the event.

Author info

Rituraj Phukan's picture

Rituraj Phukan is the Chief Operating Officer, Walk For Water; District Manager, Assam, Nagaland & Manipur, The Climate Reality Project India and Secretary General of Green Guard Nature Organization.

Comments

goutam jyoti pathak's picture

Dear sir we work on children and youth Theatre and awareness cultural program like street plays,stage plays,children workshop etc in Tezpur,Assam as a amateur group. and we participate in national/international  theatre festivals and have a exchange in cultural issues. Now we are looking for a awareness program. .                                                                      With Best Regards,                                                                              Goutam PathakAddress: Folk & Cultural research Organization Of Assam (IFCRO)Head Office: Ratnapur, MazgaonRegd No: SPR/242/E45/2012-13P.O: Tezpur, Dist:Sonitpur,AssamPin:784001                                                                     5 AttachmentsPreview attachment Photo4258.jpgPreview attachment akmb9.jpgPreview attachment 20150307_094227.jpgPreview attachment 20150307_100129.jpgPreview attachment 20140707_084045.jpg

Pages

Add new comment

Random Stories

Bomb exploded in Dibrugarh-Delhi Rajdhani Express, 5 dead, many injured

13 Dec 2007 - 2:52am | editor
A Powerful Bomb has been exploded in Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in early morning at 1 AM. 5 person have been killed and many people injured. The explosion took place between Naojan and Sungajan...

Exempting ILP-States from the CAB

1 Nov 2019 - 4:29pm | AT News
The Government of India is expected to place revised Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the winter session of the parliament beginning on 18 November 2019 to address the crisis arising out of the...

Rape and murder attempt rocks Doboka

4 Apr 2018 - 11:33am | Nikhil Mundra
HOJAI: The Doboka police in Hojai is looking for Jotan Debnath a day after he tried to kill his niece for failing to sexually exploit her. The incident took place on Tuesday at a tiny hamlet in...

BJP condoles activists’ death

11 Feb 2014 - 6:57pm | AT News
The body of Gopi Gogoi was identified a day after it was found floating on the Brahmapputra river in Guwahati on Monday.His family member identified it on Tuesday after the post mortem at GMCH three...

Other Contents by Author

World Elephant Day was observed today by Green Guard Nature Organization with students and villagers of elephant depredation affected areas along the Nagaon- Karbi Anglong border. Green Guard Executive Member Dulu Bora, who is also a Consultant with the London-based Elephant Family, interacted with students of Samgaon No. 2 Buniyadi Bidyalaya and Samgaon Madhya Engrazi Bidyalaya, close to the Karbi foothills elephant habitat. Later, he addressed farmers of Loonsoong village on the best practices of human-elephant conflict management from his experiences as Field Officer for the grassroots initiatives of Green Guard Nature Organization since 2004. Dulu also thanked the community for the...
Four years back, on 9th March, I watched in awe at the remnants of the Larsen B ice shelf, massive tabular icebergs that we passed at the Antarctic Sound. A small group had braved the numbing cold to gather on the top deck of the Sea Spirit at 7 AM for the Iceberg Ceremony. Legendary explorer Robert Swan, the first man to walk to both the poles was the leader of the International Antarctic Expedition 2013. He voice was barely audible in the howling wind, “Back in 2002, most people did not believe in climate change. When it started to collapse, scientists said it will take a long time, but after the cracks were first noticed, it went very fast and collapsed in less than 4 weeks. Throughout...
A King Cobra was rescued from the premises of the Jiajuri Tea Factory near Nagaon today by Green Guard Nature Organization rescue specialist Dulu Bora. The very aggressive snake had reportedly charged at a group of female leaf pickers, following which some men had been summoned to kill it. The arrival of Dulu saved the King from being bludgeoned to death, and perhaps being eaten, as there are people in that area who are not adverse to eating even venomous reptiles! Later, forest personnel including the Chapanala Beat Officer accompanied Dulu to release the King at an uninhabited wilderness about 5 kms from the place of rescue. Dulu mentioned before the media contingent that this specimen of...
Global Wind Day is observed on 15th June to raise awareness of the potential of wind power for future energy systems and the opportunities for growth and employment.Wind Day, as it was known until 2009, was first organised by the European Wind Energy Association in 2007 and is currently coordinated by WindEurope and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and various national associations.  Wind energy is important for decarbonization of economies as unlike fossil fuels, itis clean, produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses little land. Wind power is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed and has the potential to exceed current global energy...
Green Guard Nature Organization organized multiple events centered around the theme of 'Connecting People with Nature' at various locations to celebrate World Environment Day 2017. At Loongsoong, Nagaon, a 'March For Nature' was organized under the stewardship of Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award winner Dulu Bora. Students and teachers of Loongsoong Shamgaon ME School, Shamgaon LP School and the Bridge of Hope School marched through the streets to demand an end to illegal poaching and logging activities in the area, which is close to the Swang R.F. and the Kaziranga- Karbi Anglong Elephant Reserve. A Tezpur, Green Guard Nature Organization collaborated with Tezpur Bikers and Tezpur...
The widely anticipated US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was announced by President Donald Trump as promised during his election campaign and seeks to undermine the gains of the climate change agreement. Although expected, environmentalists and world leaders were harboring a faint hope that the US would not shirk from its responsibilities and accountability of being the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in history.  With this announcement, President Trump has surrendered leadership of the environmental movement, with the US now joining Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries outside of the global agreement. This is not the first time that the US has tried to disrupt global...
The International Day of Biological Diversity was observed by Green Guard Nature Organization at the Chapanala Higher Secondary School, Nagaon on Monday. The interactive awareness programme was addressed by   Subhasish Das, DFO, Nagaon,   Khagen Bhuyan, Range Officer Salonah,   Parul Gayan, Principal of the host school,  Jahira Begum, teacher and multiple award winning rescue specialist Dulu Bora, who provided a riveting account of his experiences with wildlife in the vicinity of the Karbi foothills. An audio-visual presentation by Green Guard Secretary General focused on emerging conservation challenges and man-animal conflict management. A photo exhibition was also...
The 2017 Whitley Awards Ceremony was held on 18th May at The Royal Geographical Society in London. The Ceremony was hosted by celebrity BBC presenter Thomas “Tom" Heap with the Whitley Awards presented to the winners by the Whitley Fund for Nature Patron, HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne. The annual Whitley Awards are a celebration of successful conservation leadership from across the globe and each of the winners receive £35,000 in project funding to help scale up their work. The prestigious ‘Green Oscars’ recognize effective local conservationists from bio-diversity rich, resource-poor countries spearheading innovative work to save endangered wildlife and benefit local communities....
Prafulla Samantara, who led a historic 12-year legal battle that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondh's land rights and protected the Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminium ore mine, won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for 2017. The 65 year old activist from Odisha was one of the 4 anti-mining activists among the winners of the ‘Green Nobel’ awarded annually to people from six global regions for outstanding grassroots conservation.  The Goldman Environmental Prize was established in 1989 by American philanthropists Richard and Rhoda Goldman to recognise individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment. The past...
The Namami Brahmaputra festival could not have happened at a better time, with rivers around the world in focus, albeit due to varied reasons. The mighty red river of India carries the hopes and aspirations of millions and at the same time, elicits fear and reverence, yet increasing pollution, the will of development planners and the consequences of global warming could transform the Brahmaputra basin. The ‘Son of Brahma’ weaves an increasingly tempestuous course as ‘He’ meanders down the valley, and further intensification of the hydrological cycle due to climate change and planned human interventions could exacerbate the riparian impacts.Late last year, the United Nations issued a warning...