Bhubaneswar: In a community-led effort to protect forests and wildlife during summer months, a group of youths from Mahuli village under Kamakhyanagar block in Dhenkanal district are creating fire lines to prevent spread of wildfires, placing water pots on trees for birds and small animals as natural water sources dry up and keeping vigil to stop tree felling and poaching.A group of youths interested in social work, cleanliness drives and environment protection formed Maa Mahabira Yuvak Sangh in 2025 to start the good work. Now, the sangh has 122 youths from the village with many working in different govt and private institutions. In needy times, these members collect funds and carry out their social work.“We know forests are as important as our agricultural fields. Their destruction will disrupt our ecosystem. Forest fires in summer severely damage forests. To tackle this, we create fire lines by clearing litter/shrubs in the forest to help stop or slow down spread of flames,” said sangh president Sarat Chandra Pradhan.He said villagers depend on forests for different produce and hence, they guard forests on a rotational basis. “Every day, two persons keep an eye on poachers and tree-felling. Now, we assist the villagers,” he added.Satya Ranjan Sahu, a member of the sangh, said they hang earthen pots or plastic pots from tree branches and fill them with water for birds and squirrels. “During summer, many water bodies dry up, inconveniencing animals and birds. Our members fill up these pots every day,” he added.“We also help elderly reach the panchayat office to draw their monthly pension and arrange blood for needy patients. We help villagers in need. Because of the group, we find it easy to arrange funds to do the social work,” he added.Sangh secretary Subhrajit Sahu said they love doing this work. Their initiative is being supported by the village committee, which is helping sustain the effort. “Other villages should do this for the benefit of environment and wildlife,” he added.
