The Utterances of a Peculiar Mindset

Trekking, forts, rock patches.... these are the words by which we enthusiast trekkers live and swear. However its now time for us to give something back. Leading the way is the trekking group Trek'di. The group while organizing and leading treks also organizes cleanliness drives on the forts.
This group recently undertook a clean-up drive at Harishchandragad, the Mecca of Trekkers. I was one of the team members of this drive. Here is a brief description of what we did.

Aim:- 1) To cleanup the way to fort, the fort surrounding.
2)To remove graphiti from walls of temple and caves
3) To remove names written in paint on the walls
4) Educate local people about the issue

What we did:
* We collected garbage on the way to fort and on the fort. Totally 7 big bags of garbage was collected. The most pathetic thing was we got more than 3000 wrappers of Goa Gutkha as if the company has sponsered the visits to the fort. We were thinking to change the name of fort from Harishchandragad to Goagad :)
* Some part of graphiti was removed from the temple walls.
* The names written by oil paint was not removed as it might harm to the heritage walls of fort (due to acid or turpentine oil) . We left it for Archeological Survey of India.
* We talked to local people on the fort about the issue and got a really good response from them.
* Also we talked with fellow trekkers and some of them really helped us with the work but most of them gave us a WTF look.

Future plans:
The NGO is planning to clean all forts in Sahyadri in a duration of a year. Along with garbage collection and removal of graphiti and painted things, they are also undertaking the work to clean up the ponds on these great heritage of history.

What we expect from you:
We expect some basic things from all fellow trekkers.
1)Don't throw your garbage on any fort. Carry it with you and throw in some dustbin.
2)Carry other garbage also which you find on the fort or the way.
3)Don't disturb beauty of the great heritage by writing anything on the walls of forts or on rocks.
4)Always try to keep the water in the ponds clean and potable.
5)No gutkha, smoking or drinking on the fort. The beauty of nature is itself a great “Nasha” and you don't need anything else with it.
6)Pass along this message to all the fellow trekkers you come across.

Remember only we can preserve the real beauty of Sahyadri. Come and help us with our project. Without your help, we can't do it.

Team for the drive:
1)Ashwin Date
2)Saili Palande
3)Paresh Walhe
4)Somesh Gite
5)Rohn Karande
6)Dinesh Soni
7)Pradeep Thapa
8)Shashank

Those who can help or guide us, please contact Dinesh 9823296825.