Mother Nature had always been in my system ever since I started working towards a career in Information Technology, a passion that grew stronger and intensified over the 35 years that I was with The State Department – US Govt. and once retirement came I took to saving India’s Tigers and her biodiversity as if with sheer vengeance. The life of my dreams had at last commenced and there would be no looking back. I took to professional wildlife photography with immense enthusiasm and soon I was shooting for Icon Films (contracted by National Geographic) on India’s big felines, Tigers and Leopards. Several of my photographs won prizes and by 2017 an Australian Winery was carrying my Tiger pictures and stories on every bottle of their world famous Pinot Noir. They do it to this very day.
Wildlife Conservation & Need for Water
Tiger-Water-Life (TWL) is a group of individuals, mostly Columbans of the batch of 66 from all over the world with a mission to install solar powered pump sets in the dry forests of Central India because after considerable brain storming the group came to the conclusion that water is the most essential element of the conservation process and that should be the focus. The objective remained the tiger, because it is the apex predator that sits on top of the food chain and when the apex predator is healthy, the eco system of the whole forest is healthy. During the dry season water holes dry up, the prey base of the tiger migrates and the tiger, being a territorial animal, is left to survive where both water and prey are scarce. Very often this situation leads to man-animal conflict, because the tiger then tends to gravitate to human settlements and prey on livestock and, unfortunately, on humans too.
Track Record
TWL set forth, with the limited financial resources of a few individuals, to address this problem by extracting water from underground aquifers using solar water pumps.
Pawan has spear headed over 60 solar pumps in the tiger reserves of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh at Nagzira, Tipeshwar, Tadoba, Bramapuri; in the two adivasi villages of Topi Tola and Nachantola in the buffer zone of Kanha National Park; and in the Sahri zone in the core area of Kanha). The installations at Topi Tola and Nachantola have, besides benefitting the tigers in the region, also brought water to the villagers there.
Social Work
- A forest regeneration programme was started by planting trees downstream of the water holes that are being filled up by the solar pumps.
- The first computer system set up in the school at Ekara in Brahmapuri, Maharashtra.
- Education sponsorships provided to adivasi children.
- Financial support provided to “Tiger Widows”; sari distribution.
- Shoe distribution to Forest Labor to protect them from venomous snakes and scorpions during the monsoons.
- Medical kits to Rangers.
These activities are carried out every year.
The Future
For the last 7 years or so, TWL has succeeded in spreading the word to like-minded individuals and their contributions have been significant from 2019 onwards. TWL now has about 40 Columbans with varying financial capacities. TWL is not an NGO or a formal society. It is just a group of individuals, however, there is a finite limit to how much such contributions can achieve for TWL to carry on this work and therefore corporate CSR assistance becomes important for this mission to succeed at a reasonable scale and on a continuous basis. The objectives of TWL totally conform to the Sustainable Developments Goals laid down by the United Nations.
Save the endangered Tiger by saving India’s Forests and India’s fragile eco system.
About Pawan C Jaidka
Retired from US Govt Service after 35 years of service as an IT Specialist for Near East Asia / South Asia Region.
Was conferred upon the prestigious Career Lifetime Achievement Award by Dr. Hillary Rodham Clinton for my immense contribution to the US Government. Resides in New Delhi and pursues his passion for photography and Mother Nature.
