CHADWICK FALL RESTORED

Dear All,

As planned we gathered at the Chadwick Fall at 10 am on the 7th April and cleaned the world renowned Chadwick Fall. This 67 m fall Chadwick Fall is renowned world over for its beautiful setting and the sylvan surroundings and rich avi-faunal importance. Thousands of tourists, both Indian and foreign, trek to this place which has been mentioned in all tour guides in glowing terms.

However, the Chadwick Fall had fallen from grace due to increased biotic pressure and neglect. Plastic, rubber slippers and other waste had accumulated around the fall in large quantities. Seeing the plight of the place and its attraction among the visitors, Himachal Birds decided to organise a Kar Sewa to cleanse the place and restore it to its original glory, said Somesh Goyal, Founder President of Himachal Birds.

Help poured from all quarters in this noble endeavour. Local Forest Division readily agreed to join. So did the Himachal Pradesh Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and the faculty and students of HP University. Class 8 students of the local middle school also participated in the half day campaign to rid the Fall of all waste. Among the notable participants were Raj Kumar Raj, Retd DFO Wildlife, Amarjeet Singh Kawatara, Jasjeet Singh, Sanjay Sood, Vikram Kanwar, Dr Suneel Sumbli, Commandant SSB, Dr M L Thakur, Deptt of Bio-Sciences, Dr Sanjay Narang, Asstt Prof, Govt college, Chaura Maidan and Dr Pawan Attri, Senior Research Officer, Institute of Integrated Himalayan Studies. In all 80 persons toiled without any break to clean the water body, remove the debris and plastic and improve the track from the main road to the Fall. The track has virtually vanished at a number of places due to erosion and construction of road above. However, the volunteers largely restored the track so that tourist could have easy approach to the Fall.

The picnic hut near the fall was full of debris which was cleaned and it was discovered that it still had a good floor. However, graffiti on the walls could not be removed for obvious reasons. Himachal Birds requests the Local Forest Division and the Tourism Department to repaint the whole structure immediately as visitors have started arriving at the place.

Volunteers summoned their creative skills to make use of the fallen drift wood to arrange these in the overall landscaping design of the area.

Some volunteers in the campaign expressed concern that sewerage lines of some villages in the catchment area were contaminating the water of the Fall. Himachal Birds makes an earnest appeal to the concerned authorities to pay attention to this immediately because some tourists take a sip of the water thinking it to be potable and from a natural source.

The road leading to the Fall from Summer Hill has not been black topped so far. Its maintenance will definitely improve the tourist flow. Also road signages are in bad shape. Tourism department may consider putting some nice sign-boards for the convenience of the visitors.

Himachal Birds has decided to clean the Fall once every month with the help of students and local communities. We will also put pictures of the birds seen in the area along the track so that tourists get more information on their visit, said Somesh Goyal.