Nowadays, the importance of ecovillages is increasing. Ecovillage refers to small, stable communities that live in their natural surroundings. Around the whole world, 10,000 ecovillages are located. These villages are mainly built based on self-sufficiency, renewable energies, and, most importantly, ecological materials.
India has so many villages where a massive fragment of the population still lives. On previous days, towns were small here. These villages are also very dusty and backward. But nowadays, many of these villages have risen as ecovillage destinations for several tourists. These ecovillages are clean and sustainable.
The Indian government makes effective policies and regularly practices them to get a pollution-free environment. As a result, several villages in India became ecovillages. These villages proved that leading a sustainable life is easy if the steps are taken correctly. Villages practice various self-sustainable activities such as –
- Making plastic-free zones
- Use of renewable energy (etc.)
Nowadays, rural India has become the hub for several sustainable development projects. As we know, tourists seek creativity, which is why these villages have become their main attractions. To explore the wonders of sustainable living close to nature, you need to travel to these eco-friendly villages.
Explore India’s Renowned Eco Villages for a Sustainable Travel Experience:
1. Baghuwar Village
Baghuwar Village is located in Narsinghpur district in the Madhya Pradesh state. In 2007, this place became an Open Defecation-Free (ODF) village. The most exciting factor is that it achieved total sanitation seven years before India launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan policy. This beautiful village contains an underground sewage system. It also has 55 biogas plants. These plants generate fuel for cooking and brightening surrounding houses.
For biogas generation, mainly cow dung is used, which is collected from 25 pits across the village. To sell this entire cow dung, an annual auction is organized. The income from the auction is used to uplift the village. Rather than biogas generation, another significant achievement of Baghuwar Village is its 100 percent literacy rate. Every person in this village can read and write.
2. Auroville Village
Auroville village is situated in Tamil Nadu State. As per the information, this village has a utopian spiritual community. This beautiful village comes under one of India’s best-known ecovillages. Nowadays, it is home to nearly 2,500 residents around the whole world. Thousands of visitors come to this village every year. The main aim of Auroville Village is to boost human unity.
Being a spiritual village, Auroville also serves as a laboratory for sustainable living. Here people would find delicious as well as farm-fresh foods. When you enter Auroville village, you will be lost in a lush green oasis with a rich culture. This place is an experimental test field for new ecological technologies. This village is internationally recognized for its environmental work, which makes itself more unique.
3. Khonoma Village
Khonoma village is in Nagaland. More specifically, it is located on the border of India and Myanmar. It is also famous for being the first-ever green/ecovillage in India. In earlier days, it was popularly known as the ‘village of hunters’. Villagers are dedicated to conserving biodiversity. Moreover, ecological development helped them to resolve their conflicts.
This amazing ecovillage has become an attraction for observing numerous birds. Here you will find organic farming for all crops. This place is rich in culture. Everyone in the village enjoys Zutho (a kind of beer made from rice). This village has been blessed with greenery.
Khonoma village is not just known for its wildlife conservation but also for its warriors, who played an essential role in the British colonial period. It is one of the most visited places in Nagaland. Every year several bird lovers come to Khonoma village worldwide to listen to bird whistles and to watch them.
4. Piplantri Village
This beautiful village is located in Rajasthan state. Piplantri Village adopted a unique movement of planting trees when a girl child was born in their town. For the birth of every girl child in this village, nearly 111 trees are planted. This stunning strategy eliminates female infanticide and grows the state’s green canopy. This supreme gesture helps to maintain gender-based discrimination. For the last few years, it’s been improving its green cover besides saving girl children.
As per the information, the villagers have planted almost a million trees in the last 14 years. Their common grazing lands are filled with several trees. Among these trees, they have planted 2.5 million aloe vera plants. This activity also helps to boost the livelihood of the village residents. Nowadays, these small villages have become an ideal model for environmentalism. This green village covers almost 1,000 hectares. As per current reports, villagers of Piplantri have planted more than 350,000 trees.
5. Govardhan Eco Village
Govardhan Eco Village is in Maharashtra state. This village is focused on environmental activities. People can bring peace to their life by visiting this village at once. As per information, their entire town is based on Vedic traditions. Here, individuals can learn a lot about yoga. Moreover, meditation teaching at this place can also help people to transform themselves.
This village comes under one of India’s best ecovillages, run by the ISKCON trust. Devotees of this organization educate local people with several eco-friendly practices. This village has access to free-flowing water as it is located near the Western Ghats. It is also blessed with natural resources which boost its green techniques.
6. Siddharth Village
Siddharth Village is located in Orissa state. As per current reports, this village works with 200,000 tribal peoples. Which means it is part of a social enterprise. With the help of the ecovillages network, their activities spread throughout the eastern part of this state. This village promotes several eco-friendly practices such as –
- Organic agricultural techniques
- Indigenous culture
- Farmer training (etc.).
If you are visiting this ecovillage, you can be invited to stay at the organization’s headquarters in the lush Barunei Hills. Tourists may also stay in nearby villages to see other spots. This ecovillage is the top priority among visitors when it comes to visiting Orissa.
7. Sagg Eco Village
This eco-friendly village is situated in Jammu and Kashmir near the Sindhu River. Fayaz Ahmad Dar founded this beautiful village. As per the information, Sagg Eco Village is an eco-cultural and recreational village. You can find an educational farm in this village. It also contains camping facilities. This innovative village promotes regenerative lifestyles based on the integration of all resources.
Interestingly, this creative ecovillage produces several products. All of their products are entirely organic and healthy. Moreover, these products are affordable for the residents.
8. Hiware Bazar Village
Hiware Bazar Village is located in Maharashtra state. This village is quite famous for its irrigation system. This village is also known for its water conservation strategy. This program helped tackle the drought of 1972. In the 1990s, residents of this village stopped farming crops and started dairy farming. They also practice horticulture with minimum water usage. It is the most beautiful ecovillage in India.
Surprisingly, this village has nearly 300 water-filled open wells. It is reported that almost 60 millionaires’ families live in this village. With villagers’ continuous efforts and hard work, it transformed into a wealthy town.
9. Gujarat’s Dhaj Village
Dhaj village is located in the forest area of Gujarat’s Surat city. Or in other words, this village is situated nearly 70 km far from Surat. This village has emerged as the first Ecovillage in India. Villagers try to use all natural resources to live their lives. Several sustainable practices are included, such as –
- Biogas plants
- Solar panels for power generation
- Collecting rainwater (etc.).
The main motto of this village is to support the Adivasis residents. They are trying to develop their village by maintaining the same with lesser costs. As part of the state’s Forest and Environment Department’s efforts, this ecovillage was also developed. Several visitors come to this village to explore its scenic beauty.
10. Odanthurai Village
Odanthurai Village is in Tamil Nadu State. This ecovillage became famous for its self-sufficient power generation. As per the information, this village has a windmill that can generate up to 350 kilowatts of power.
Most interestingly, this village sells two lakh units of electricity to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. It makes revenue of more than 20 lakhs in a year on average.
11. Arna Jharna Village
This eco-community village is located in Rajasthan state. It’s mainly focused on finding the balance between the desert and its inhabitants. A museum was built on the site of this village. It is also known for its traditions.
This museum shows different types of Rajasthani brooms and includes broom-making workshops. If you want to explore desert flora and fauna, consider visiting this place. You can closely observe Rajasthan’s rural communities. Foreign visitors can also enjoy delicious local meals.
Conclusion
The concept of ecovillages will become even more famous as climate change becomes an important issue. Several individuals are finding ways to live sustainably. Moreover, we also have to minimize negative impacts on the environment. Eco villages can boost sustainable living. That may be the reason why the importance of ecovillages is increasing unimaginably.
An ecovillage can produce a lesser possible negative impact on the environment. Moreover, these ecovillages can promote positive values such as – ecology, diversity, equality, hospitality, and many more. If you want to analyze such practices, you have to visit an ecovillage.
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