ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS
Course coordinators: Dushyant Asher, Dipti Bhaindarkar, Prasad Khanolkar, Rohit Mujumdar
The course was conducted in Divar Island located in Goa. We started by identifying an element on site which can be something physical, sensorial, a particular species which contributes to the formation of the environment. We also interacted with the locals of that place to get more knowledge of what the Khazan lands are and what are the time periods when the economic activities such as fishing and agriculture are done.
Divar island is dis-connected from Old Goa on the south-east side, Ribandar, on the south-west side and Naroa on the north side, all by ferry. The island is accessible through ferry points which becomes the starting point for the three walks - Navelim, Goltim-Malar and Narao. The walks all ended at the Divar center observing different landscapes through different peripheries of the island.
The movement of birds in and around Divar Island has been influenced by the shifting landscapes of the Khazan lands. The changes in the terrain has impacted the agricultural practices of Divar over the years, which affects the patterns of migration and movement. The drawings explore the interdependencies between the behavior of the birds, agrarian practices of the people and the cyclic rhythms of the land.
We studied the stretch of land in three categories namely the settlements, the paddy fields and the water bodies comprising of the mangroves.
Settlement Paddy fields Mangroves
The stretch of land comprising of the settlements has dense vegetation and fruit bearing trees such as papaya, banana and chickoo which invites species such as crows, sparrows etc. At night, bats fly around this area, feeding on fruits like mangoes, bananas, chikoos and papayas and live in shaded areas in buildings and very dense trees. The area also has flowering trees which attracts small insects and butterflies and the crows also feed on these small insects.
The cultivation period of the rice from the paddy field is from the months of June to October and are then left to grow by themselves for about a year. The stretch of land comprising of the paddy field has species such as kingfishers, black necked cranes and herons feed on the aquatic creatures found in the shallow waters. Peacocks and other small birds and insects feed on the grains and the produce from the paddy fields. Eagles are also found to hover around in circular patterns above the paddy fields as warm air currents produced in that land.
The Mandovi river creek consists of aquatic creatures such as fish, crabs and prawns hence most of the hunting birds are found to be near the area comprising of the water bodies and the mangroves. Species such as eagles fly on high altitudes. Bunds are created so as to control water up to a certain level. Species such as crabs are found on these bunds which are eaten up by the eagles. Crows are seen near the areas of the bund walls and they feed on the carcasses of the fishes.
The birds mostly hunt in the daylight hours from around 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. near the sluice gates as the water flows from the khazans back to the river and many aquatic creatures get stuck in the nets fixed in that area which are set up by the local fishermen.
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