Miditha Foundation: Hearts that beat for animals, birds

Bengaluru: A casual trip to the Bannerghatta National Park turned Parisara Manju into a crusader for environment. “I went to the Park years ago when I was an MSW student to take photos and admire nature, but I felt moved when I heard that birds and animals were dying at the nature park," says 30-year-old Manju, who along with his PUC friends founded the NGO, Miditha Foundation, five years ago to fight for the cause that is close to their heart.

That trip made him speak to numerous environmentalists and activists. It also made him realise that Bengalureans had to be made more aware of their environment. “The city lacks empathy for environment. Only if they are made aware of sensitive issues, they would start thinking of helping the environment,” said the founder president of Miditha.

He and his team of nature lovers are constantly on the move to help trees and animals. This March, he went to the Bannerghatta National Park with 100 kg of sugarcane for the elephants and 100 water bowls for the birds.

On Monday, the foundation is celebrating the birth anniversary of late Dr Rajkumar, the iconic actor of the Kannada film industry, by distributing 1,000 saplings around K.R. Puram. “We will plant some 500 saplings around government school and colleges in K.R. Puram and distribute 500 plants to people and students who will be there to celebrate the birth anniversary,” he said.

Last year, Manju won the Saalumarada Thimmakka National Bravery Award for his conservation efforts.

On the NGO, Manju said, “Miditha means heartbeat. Our heart does beat for animals and plants and trees. Just the thought was the motivating factor for us to do something for the environment."

Last month, his team rescued a monkey that was injured after coming in contact with a live wire. “The monkey had sustained severe burns. We took it to a rehabilitation centre, treated it and released it later at the same spot where it was rescued from. We keep getting calls to rescue stray dogs that are either hurt or dying. We reach the spot and give the dead animals a proper burial. We also plant a sapling at the burial spots, as a mark of respect for these strays,” he said.

The Foundation runs camps and campaigns in government schools and colleges to make youngsters aware of their environment. “We recently had an awareness camp on snakes, where we taught them about different poisonous and non-poisonous ones," he said.

His team now has nine key members and nearly 2,000 volunteers who participate in all the camps and awareness drives run by the foundation.

“We try and conserve trees too by removing advertisement boards and nails from them. Some boards have contact numbers and we call them and tell them not to nail the trees. We have already conserved some 3,000 trees on main roads in the city," he said. The team runs awareness camps and holds street plays on conversation, plants, animals, snakes and forest fires. “Our plays are well received,” he said.

The foundation currently runs on funds donated by the team members and is supported by 10 NGOs. On its future, he said, “We are planning to open a veterinary hospital which will be run free of cost and will also have ambulance and a call centre for the rescue and welfare of stray dogs. We are thinking of opening a shelter for stray cows too." His team is in talks with NGOs, activists and politicians for help.