Visit to Telangana State Forest Academy (TSFA)

On Sunday, 17th June 2018, the students of Class VIII were very excited, curious and enthusiastic for the Educational Field trip to TELANGANA STATE FOREST ACADEMY (TSFA), Dulapally. They were accompanied by 4 teacher's Mrs.Srujana, Mr.Biswal, Mr.Balaji and Mr.Sudhakar. The team had breakfast and left the campus by 8:45a.m in the school bus and reached the spot by 9:45am.

At the TSFA the group was received by the Forest officers Mr. Dharma Chandra, Ms. Das, Mr. Lolo and Mr. Ajay Kumar (STARS). Mr. Dharma Chandra, the Chief Coordinator Officer welcomed them to the academy and lead the group forward.

Spread in 75 hectares, TSFA is home to several trees, medicinal plants, shrubs and many animals. Many Forest Officials get trained at different levels in this academy.

The group was first guided to the medicinal garden where knowledge about herbal plants like Tulasi, Aloe vera, Vaamu, Vassa, Ashwaganda, sarpagandha, Japanese mint etc. were gained. The students tasted pepper mint leaves, ashwagandha and other leaves. They were explained about the significance of these plants as they help in curing nerve disorders, diabetes, ulcers etc.

Later the group was taken to an artificial pond known as lily pond (check dam) which was originally a stone quarry site which was reclaimed and water lilies were planted.

Then the students and teacher in-charges were divided into two groups assisted by two forest officers for nature walk in forest area. It was an adventurous and nail-biting experience to walk in forest filled with various trees viz. Teak, Rosewood, Sandalwood, Nallamadi , Tiumanu, Kodisha, Vaka, Nakkera etc. Then the groups went on trekking and mountaineering, following all safety precautions, on the rocks in the forest and had a beautiful view of forest at about 30 feet height.

After returning to the base the group had lunch and took rest for one hour. Later the students formed into groups and had fun time playing games like kabaddi, cricket and relay race. By 4:30pm they started back to campus.