Sahyadri Devrai Shirur, Pune
Where the Bhima Plains Begin to Breathe Again
On the dry, sun-bleached plains of Shirur, where the Bhima river once nurtured forests now long forgotten, Sahyadri Devrai is planting a new chapter. Indigenous saplings — chosen for this exact soil, this exact sky — are taking root across once-barren hectares. Slowly, season by season, a sacred grove is rising where only thorns used to grow.
The Land and Its Story
Shirur sits on the rain-shadow edge of the Western Ghats, where the soil is rich but rainfall is unforgiving. For decades, the land here has carried the weight of agriculture, drought, and shrinking green cover.
Native species — the banyan, the neem, the karanj, the audumbar — have all but disappeared from the open fields. Sahyadri Devrai chose Shirur precisely because of this absence. Restoring a Devrai here is not just planting trees; it is returning something this land has been quietly missing for generations. Every sapling is a small act of remembrance.
- Rain-shadow region
- Drought-prone soil
- Lost native species
- Reviving ecological memory
Before & After
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