Timbaktu pics

We swam in a natural pool. It was great fun.



This time when I visited Timbaktu I was shocked to see a bloody great canal passing just outside the Timbaktu land. It seems the government is executing a lift irrigation scheme from somewhere to somewhere. It was pretty shocking to see this, because it is so in contrast to Timbaktu. These people have been labouring patiently for ages to regenerate the land do ecologically sustainable improvements, conserve soil and water etc. And suddenly big engineering lands up outside your doorstep. The water is the canal is not flowing water (the project has a long way to go), but water that has percolated into the canal from Timbaktu land. Add injury to insult!
The speed of the development was astonishing -- I did not see any hint of this when I was last there (a month or 2 months back). They also quickly put put a couple of buildings for their offices/workers, which I didn't capture in photos. I didn't get a chance to talk to Timbaktu people about this, but I don't think they were even aware that this was going to happen at that time (actually slightly wrong see below). It comes home very clearly to you how government can bulldoze its way through. How would you like this kind of thing to happen to you out of the blue ?

A small ironical sidenote: actually this project has been in the works for ages it seems. How long ? Well, Kalyani at Timbaktu tells me that when she graduated with a diploma in civil engineering and was looking for a job 10 years ago, she heard that the govt. for recruiting for this project and was advised to apply for it. So the project languished for 10 years and then got off to a rousing start in 2 months. Excellent.






Some of the natural regeneration work at Timbaktu. These are common lands that are protected and afforested. The density of trees is due to planting and protecting efforts and dissuading unrestrained grazing.


More Timbaktu pics:

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