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| UP hills are on fire, like never before (April 25, 1999)
Wild forest fires rage in Uttar Pradesh hills (April 23, 1999) BJP base in UP hills may be eroded (April 20, 1999) Himalayan cedars fighting a losing battle (April 18, 1999) UP to have Asia's biggest telescope (April 12, 1999) Mountain quail: Waiting to be rediscovered (April 12, 1999) Van Gujjars turn into hi-tech forest guards (April 12, 1999) Sunita and the devil in Delhi (April 11, 1999) Official apathy stoking forest fires in Garhwal hills (April 10, 1999) Measures taken to ensure comfort of summer tourists (April 9, 1999) `Virasat' opens in Doon Valley (April 9, 1999) Errant cops will not be sent to hills, says IGP (April 9, 1999) Nanhi Dunya organises unique cultural fete in Doon (April 7, 1999) Policies for earthquake-prone areas (April 6, 1999) Cracks developing in Badrinath shrine (April 2, 1999) Garhwal farmers in need of cold storage facilities (March 30, 1999) Tiwari charges BJP with misleading UP hill people (March 29, 1999) Horticulture college to come up in Garhwal soon (March 29, 1999) Gujjar tribals to remain in Rajaji Park (March 28, 1999) Oustees threaten to launch mass agitation (March 28, 1999) Nature's four-year fury haunts Uttarakhand (March 27, 1999) Uttarakhand Agitation Regains Momentum (March 24, 1999) Dehra Dun tense as D-day for auction of liquor vends nears (March 21, 1999) Uttarakhand's hill resorts gear up for summer rush (March 19, 1999) Garhwal students prefer jobs to liquor vends (March 17, 1999) Uttarakhand MLAs submit memo to CM on teachers issue (March 17, 1999) IA to start flight to Dehra Dun in May (March 14, 1999) UP channels away hill wings (March 9, 1999) |
UP hills are on fire, like never before
25 April 1999 R P Nailwal DEHRA DUN: Perhaps never before has as a fire as big, or as many, raged in the 11 hill districts of western Uttar Pradesh as the one sweeping through forests now. And it's going to get worse. In the villages of Garhwal, surrounded by forests all around, the panic-striken quake victims living under open skies are said to be further mentally traumatised by spreading fires and wild animals which are fleeing the forests. No forest officer can say how long these fires will continue. They are also quite nervous. The worst is still to come - the crucial summer months of May and June. Huge columns of thick smoke start for the sky every minute from the rugged terrains in different parts of the 34 lakh hectares of sub-Himalayan forests. Already between 70,000 and 80,000 hectares for forest has burnt down. Principal chief conservator of forests of Uttarakhand M C Ghildiyal on Saturday held a meeting with the forests officers of the entire Garhwal division to take stock of the situation. ``What can any one do given the geography of the area?'' said Mr Ghildiyal when asked about the raging inferno. Despite the fact, he added, ``We took all the possible measures we could.'' He attributed the high intensity fire to lack of rain the last winter and heavy stock of dry inflammable material on the forest floor. ``This was due to a heavy needle fall early this summer.'' M M Harbola chief conservator of Garhwal division said: ``Even villagers light fires on the forest floor to ensure fresh grass regeneration for use as cattle feed.'' This cannot be prevented, apparently. Forest officers hold manpower, or the lack of it, responsible for inability to check these kinds of fires. Each forest guard, who is the man actually at the spot, has a whopping 1,000 or 2,000 hectares to look after. So fires ravage acres (actually hectares) of forest cover every year. And every four years, the local lore has it, the region is visited by a huge fire that nobody can control or do about - 1999 happens to be the year of a huge fire.
Wild forest fires rage in Uttar Pradesh hills 25 April 1999 By R.P. Nailwal The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: Wild summer fires continue to devastate large forest tracts in the U.P. hills. In the four-year cycle, this time about 60,000 hectors of green cover in Garhwal and Kumoun is reported to have been gutted though summer has just begun. Four years ago, in 1995, about 80,000 hectors of forests had been lost to wild summer fires both in the Kumoun and Garhwal forests. This time, this figure has nearly been touched much before the peak summer season. Several crores of rupees worth of forest wealth is understood to have already been lost in the last month, but an estimate is yet to be made as the forest department will take time to calculate the loss. Principal chief conservator of forests, Uttaranchal, M.C. Ghildiyal was not available for comments as he was away in Lucknow. Meanwhile, most people here are exercised over the lukewarm approach of successive state governments in tackling the forest fires that damage forest wealth every summer. This despite the governments' so-called efforts and claims to check environmental degradation. ``Why could the state government not chalk out a long-term strategy to tackle the fires?'' asks Preeya Thapliyal, a writer based here. In fact, some years ago, the state government had set up a separate fire-fighting circle under a conservator of forests at Haldwani in Nainital district in a bid to demonstrate its concern over the enormous annual loss to the Uttarakhand forests due to fires. However, official apathy made this ad hoc circle ineffective soon thereafter. In fact, when this circle came into existence, 16 deputy conservators of forest were sent abroad by the then state government to undergo training in fire-fighting. Interestingly, none of these was posted in this circle after they returned. Similarly, one helicopter and a plane, which were assigned to this special circle, were quietly withdrawn by VIPs for other purposes and the fire-fighting circle was left to fend for itself.
BJP base in UP hills may be eroded 20 April 1999 By R P Nailwal The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: The fall of the Vajpayee government may deal a severe blow to the BJP, which has a strong base in the 12 hill districts of UP. It has 17 MLAs of the total of 19 from the region and all the four MPs. In fact, the party's credibility was at stake even earlier as the party had failed to fulfill it oft-repeated promise that a separate hill state would be formed as soon as the BJP came to power at the Centre. Atal Behari Vajpayee had promised just before the parliamentary polls at Haldwani in Nainital that Uttarakhand state would be formed within 90 days of the BJP coming to power. But over the last 13 months, formation of the new hill state was never seriously considered, according to observers here. In fact, the issue was further entangled as the people in Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar districts opposed joining the new hill state. An agitation to press the demand for a seperate hill state has been on for the past several decades. It turned violent in 1994 claiming several lives. ``The BJP swept both the assembly and parliamentary polls three times in succession by capitalising on the separate hill state issue,'' says Ranjeet Singh Verma of the Uttarakhand Sangharsh Samiti (USS). ``But as soon as it came to power at the Centre, it kept on delaying the state's formation on some pretext or the other.'' He does not see any prospect of the new government doing anything in this regard. ``We will now launch a fresh agitation on the pattern of 1994 agitation,'' he says. ``The BJP now stands totally exposed. Everyone now knows how committed it is to Uttarakhand,'' says Dinesh Agarwal, a Congress leader. He says by creating the George Fernandes committee to study the Udham Singh Nagar issue and raking up the Hardwar issue, the BJP has succeeded in postponing the hill state formation. ``But it has lost a great chance,'' he points out.
Himalayan cedars fighting a losing battle UNI - April 18, 1999 DEHRA DUN: Forests of the stately Deodar trees in the western Himalayas, need to be protected urgently against the various threats they are facing. A Deodar tree which may take a century to mature can be cut down within minutes. Once these forests are cut down, they are almost impossible to renew. Without the shade and the moisture generated by mature plants, the infant cedars are scorched before they have a chance to take root and fend for themselves. In an article on Himalayan Cedars in the recent volume of `Srishti', an environment journal, Raja Bhasin says that the Deodar is considered to be one of the world's four varieties of true cedars. The other three belong to the Mediterranean shores. According to Mr Bhasin, the first organised attack on the Deodar forests was made about a century ago. The Indian Railways wanted strong, durable `sleepers' for its tracks. Like teak, cedar wood is remarkably water and insect resistant. ``Once this became well-known, the Deodars were steadily force- marched to the saw mills,'' the article says. The extensive roots of age-old Deodars strongly hold the topsoil in place in the craggy topography of the Himalayas. Once these trees are cut down, wind and water waste no time in washing away the topsoil rendering the Himalayan ecosystem more fragile, says the author while pleading for the protection of these `Himalayan Sentinels'. For an adult Deodar tree, a height of a 100 feet and more is the norm rather than the exception. A Deodar's needle-like leaves usually last several years. In a young tree, these are a soft silver green that darken with age. Mr Bhasin says the regal cedars do all good and no harm. Small beds of their needles stay back for a while to check erosion. The remaining needles merge into the soil as fertile leaf-mould. Renowned authors Rudyard Kipling and Ruskin Bond have made constant references to the beauty and stateliness of the Deodars. One of Kipling's better-known stories is titled Under The Deodars. The Deodar tree, with its majestic structure, has been the object of worship and its name comes from `Devdaru' (wood of the gods). It is also quite possible that the original name was `Devtaru' (like the gods) Hindu mythology has it that Lord Shiva was once meditating under a Deodar tree when Kamadeva, the God of Love, disturbed him. Angered, Lord Shiva opened his third eye and burnt Kamadeva to cinders. Through this legend, the Deodar remains closely connected with the worship of Shiva in the Himalayan region. Often, Shiva temples can be seen near Deodars or even encircling them.
UP to have Asia's biggest telescope 12 April 1999 By P B Varma The Times of India News Service LUCKNOW: A three-metre telescope, the biggest in Asia, would be set up at Nainital by the department of science and technology, UP government. The proposed optical telescope would go a long way in meeting the scientific requirement of astronomers from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai and UP State Observatory (UPSO) alongwith the universities and research institutes in the state for the next two decades. Ram Sagar, director of the UP State Observatory (UPSO), Nainital said with the help of this telescope, it would be possible to study new galaxies located at a distance of several crore light years. He said the study of the star formation and the solar system would be possible through it. It would also supplement the information collected by the satellites like X-ray, Gamma-ray and Infra- red. The secretary of the state science and technology department Dinesh Rai said an excellent site for the proposed telescopes has been located at Devasthal, about 50 km from Nainital towards east. Devasthal is situated at an altitude of 2,400 metres. It has more than 200 clear nights in a year, the sky is dark, the area is thinly populated and it is logistically well- suited for establishing various observation facilities. The telescope is being set up in collaboration with the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, which is under the department of Atomic Energy, government of India. The preliminary work on this Rs. 3480.78 lakh project has already started and it is expected to be completed in five years. Mr. Rai said the government has sanctioned Rs. 4.30 crore for the current financial year for it out of which Rs. 3.66 crore has already been released. He said during the next three years, the government would provide Rs. 5.10 crore each year as its share. The balance would be provided by the TIFR.
Mountain quail: Waiting to be rediscovered 12 April 1999 C R Jayachandran NEW DELHI: More than 120 years after the mountain quail was last spotted, a full-fledged survey is being launched to put to rest doubts about the existence of the small shy bird in the Terai Himalayas. Although the critically endangered bird has eluded sighting since 1876, wildlife experts and ornithologists are not willing to write off the bird, especially after several other species thought to have gone extinct have made a reappearance after several decades. ``Given the unclear status of the mountain quail, a working range for these birds is being established and an extensive survey is proposed from November to January in the Garhwal and Kumaon hills to encourage people to search for and identify the species,'' says WWF- India secretary general Samar Singh. ``It is not fair to assert that the bird is no more. Lack of information or evidence by itself does not necessarily mean extinction,'' says Samar Singh. The rediscovery of two birds, the jardine courser in Andhra Pradesh and the forest owlet in the Shahada forests of Maharashtra, is a good example of species ``resurfacing'' after a long period of about 100 years, he says. ``During the 40 years of its known existence in India, the collection of only 11 specimens from the vicinity of Mussoorie and Nainital is on record and of these, nine are held in various museums of the world. Unfortunately, none of these are in india,'' laments Brig Ranjit Talwar of the WWF. If man had discovered the mountain quail at a time when it was on the verge of extinction due to natural causes, the species may not have perished. Its natural habitat is still reasonably intact and the bird has certainly not been over hunted, Brig Talwar adds. ``Logic therefore forces one to believe that this extremely shy bird is still alive somewhere in the lower Himalayas where suitable conditions still exist,'' he says. A near perfect image of the mountain quail, the least known Indian bird, will be created so as to enable the local people to recognise and identify the species. By using well-trained dogs, a small search team will try to track down the bird in the grasslands and adjoining forests which are its known habitat, says Singh. Slightly smaller than the grey partridge, the mountain quail or Himalayan mountain quail's range is difficult to trace since only two locations have been recorded by ornithologists. The earliest authentic record of the mountain quail's, zoologically called Ophrysia superciliosa, existence dates back to 1836, when a British sportsman, tucker, collected a pair from the vicinity of Mussoorie. The last mountain quail, a female, was shot on the ridge known as Sherka-Dhanda, overlooking the Nanital lake, in 1876. There is no reliable evidence to suggest that the bird has been sighted since. Described as a shy bird, the Himalayan quail is believed to be a resident of grassland or scrubland and oak forests at an altitude of 1,650 to 2,500 metres. Drastic changes in vegetation and land use pattern and other forms of disturbances have been responsible for the decline in the population of this species. ``The bird is an enigma and nobody could ever photograph it. Its survival depends on its evasiveness and preservation of its habitat,'' says D Mathai of Traffic-India. It has been estimated that in the first five decades of the 20th century, a bird or a mammal species became extinct every 1.1 years, an extinction rate approximately 230 times faster than that in the pre- human era. The need for natural resources for the ever-increasing human population of India has had an adverse impact on the habitats of wildlife species. ``For a species to become extinct, there has to be loss of habitat, over hunting or over exploitation. None of these are applicable to the mountain quail,'' Brig Talwar says. The mountain quail measures about 10 inches in length, has a 3.5 inches long wing, a three-inch tail and one-inch tarsus with a bill measuring 0.6 inch from the gape. The male is dark olive in colour while the female is drab or dark brown, adapted to ground dwelling and nesting. ``Whatever movement it made was usually on foot, unless it was alarmed, when it probably used its wings to escape. Its wings were ill adapted for flying,'' Mathai says. According to famous British ornithologist A O Hume, the bird's irregular appearance in areas around Mussoorie and Nainital is due to the fact that it is possibly a migrant from the well wooded south-eastern portion of Chinese Tibet during severe winters. But Brig Talwar says the body structure and recorded observation of this bird suggest that it was a poor flier and was at best capable of local migration of a few hundred metres. ``It should thus be treated as a resident bird of the lower himalayas between altitudes of 1,500 to 2,400 metres,'' he says. ``It will be reasonable to assume that the distribution of the mountain quail extended from Mussoorie in the west to Nainital, and on to the Indo-Nepal border. How much further east it extended is possible to state only if fresh evidence is obtained,'' he says. Thirty years ago it was believed that the white-winged wood duck, jordan's double banded courser and the forest owlet were extinct. Thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated individuals, these birds were rediscovered and are now safe for posterity. Is such a fate waiting in the wings for the mountain quail? (PTI)
Van Gujjars turn into hi-tech forest guards 12 April 1999 DEHRA DUN: Tribal Van Gujjars living in the forested Srivalik ranges of the Himalayan foothills since time immemorial have turned from silent sentinels into active honorary forest guards and are using hi-tech communication equipment to detect and prevent raging forest fires, poaching, and illegal tree felling. Over a 100 Van Gujjars, a pastoral, nomadic tribe who depend solely on animal husbandry and sale of milk and milk products, are now actively engaged in safeguarding forests armed with wireless sets provided by a NGO, the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK). The trained tribals also use the communication sets to detect epidemics attacking fauna as well as bring help during natural disasters, says RLEK chairperson Avdhash Kaushal. The training of the Van Gujjar tribals in the use of communication equipment is part of the RLEK's plans to promote the practice of community forest management (CFM), which is being increasingly adopted by more and more countries, says Kaushal. The CFM scheme is based on sustainable traditional systems of management and makes use of age-old traditional knowledge of forest dwellers in silviculture and wildlife. The scheme entrusts the Van Gujjars with more responsibility and initiative in forest management. According to Kaushal, the present joint forest management scheme had failed because the forest authorities were not actively supporting it and forest dwellers were not sufficiently motivated to enjoin the endeavour. The recent National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) judgment, recognising and protecting the right of Van Gujjars living in the proposed Rajaji national park to reside within the forest area and enjoy traditional lopping and grazing rights as well, has now given a boost to the CFM scheme. In the Rajaji national park case, forest authorities of the UP government were restrained by the NHRC from attempting to coerce and forcibly evict Van Gujjars from their forest homes on the ground that they did not enjoy traditional rights even before the notification on forming the park was issued. The NHRC has made it clear that the authorities were not entitled to coerce the Van Gujjar families to move out of their habitation until their rights are legally determined. Until they move out of their own volition, to be ascertained by a retired district judge nominated by the state government, the tribals' rights had to be protected and they should not be subjected to any harassment or put to any difficulty in enjoying their legitimate rights, the NHRC order said. In a large gathering near Dehra Dun on Saturday, the tribals unanimously rejected the UP government's rehabilitation plan and reiterated their resolve to continue living in the forests. (PTI)
Jug Suraiya Sunita, 25, is at first glance a typical example of a Delhi housemaid. Two years after coming from her tiny village in Pauri Garhwal, she seems breezily at home with her adoptive world of high-tech gadgetry: fridge, CTV, micro, two-in-one; as she vacuums her employers' houses, she hums and dances to the tune of Antakshari, her favourite programme. But Sunita's electronic paradise - as remote from her village home as the surface of an alien planet - is haunted by a demonic nightmare: She is convinced that she is possessed by a devil. The haunting began six years ago, when she was a girl in her village. An unknown ill-wisher put a jadu tona (voodoo spell) on her and caused a howaa (evil spirit) to take possession of her. The howaa quiescent in her village, has become increasingly assertive since she came to the city. Normally bright, cheerful and hardworking, Sunita suffers fits of melancholia, headaches, dizziness, nausea and loss of appetite when the howaa exerts its malefic influence, every two or three days. She is convinced that eventually it will kill her, unless she goes back to her village and gets a jhakri (exorcist) to cast the demon out of her. Dr Rao, the neighbourhood medical practitioner, whom Sunita's employers sent her to, has diagnosed clinical depression together with chronic anaemia and prescribed appropriate medication. Sunita takes the medicine, but has no faith in it; only the jhakri can combat the howaa who is slowly killing her. Sunita's incubus is contagious. Her husband, Digamber Negi, a driver in the same household, claims to have seen the howaa, a big man in white kurta-pyjamas. ``He came at night, through the door of our quarters when we were sleeping. He stepped on my chest, bent down and put both his hands on Sunita's throat as she lay beside me. I tried to get up, but couldn't. I finally managed to cry out, and the howaa vanished,'' he recounts ``Let her go to the village for a week to see the jhakri, sahib,'' he pleads with his employers. ``Otherwise she will surely die.'' Sunita's is not an uncommon affliction in the Capital. Samir Bharti, a senior art director who lives in Faridabad, says he has come across several cases of demonic possession. ``The victims are generally servants or menial workers of either sex, mostly migrants from backward hill areas. The howaa usually takes the form of a person from another community. The symptoms are always the same: giddiness, severe headache, inability to eat. Finally the victim begins to see the howaa, there in the room, standing just behind you. If not treated by a jhakri, who sacrifices cockerels beside flowing water, the victim wills himself to die.'' There are jhakris in Delhi too, and Samir says he has been to one, accompanying a domestic worker who believed he was possessed. ``The jhakri scattered rice on the floor, recited something. Suddenly the rice grains flew together to form a heap, as though drawn by an invisible magnet. This I've seen with my own eyes. Hypnotism? Don't ask me; I don't know.'' Some psychologists believe that such possession is a symptom of a subconscious pathology generated by a conflict between ageless Bharat mata and contemporary Mother India, with its veneer of modernity thinly overlaying a primordial core of ancient animism. Cities like Delhi which have been swamped by migrants from the rural hinterland are particularly susceptible to such extreme manifestations of cultural rootlessness and psychological disorientation; it is the dark side of the increasing popularity of `godmen' and faith healers. Which is more powerful: the magic of the jhakri or the jadu that lives in the washing machine, the cellphone, the endless mirage of television commercials? That is Sunita's choice, and she has made it. I know because as her employer I've just given her leave to go to the village to meet the exorcist. Perhaps it's not just Sunita who is in need of exorcism. The news headlines daily spew their venom of savagery and violence. An 88-year-old woman raped; two four-year-olds stab a three-year- old to death; a couple hacked to pieces; someone burnt alive; a pregnant woman killed, raped and mutilated. I don't know if there really is a howaa in Sunita. But there is a devil within, and his name is Fear and he is legion for he lies in wait in each and every one of us.
Official apathy stoking forest fires in Garhwal hills Harish Chandola (Joshimath, April 9) The recent earthquake has overshadowed another serious natural calamity recurring in the Garhwal hills - that of fires consuming forests and their wealth. The fires are raging in the Ganga-Yamuna watershed, the most vital of the country's four watersheds. A vast number of people living in the Gangetic plains are dependent on this watershed for their survival. As the spring ends and summer begins, forest fires spread their tentacles to devastate newer, larger areas. In Pauri district alone, 41 fires have consumed forests covering 349.25 hectares in the past few weeks. Last month, six persons had died in the fires on the Mussoorie-Chakrata road. In 1995, trees and other forest wealth over 3,75,032 hectares were reduced to ashes. That year the fire had not only burnt the forests but also the earth beneath them. Though after the 1995 devastation, the World Bank had provided millions of rupees to control and fight fires, no concrete plan was made to check the menace of forest fires. Usually, the forest fires break out in the hills in mid-March and continue raging until the rains set in by June-end. But this year the fires started raging much earlier, in December, in the Badri-Kedar forest division, the highest and most moist in the country. And, going by the experience of the hill people this was not unexpected. The hill folks say a year of heavy rains is always followed by a very dry winter. Last year, the rains in Garhwal hills were abnormally heavy, causing widespread landslides, wiping whole villages and killing almost 400 people. Last December, when fires started in 3,800-metre high Badri-Kedar division, it was feared that the lower, dry divisions of Alaknanda, Bhilganga and Yamuna would also get affected. But the administration took no precautions. Fire ditches were not dug to prevent flames reaching wider areas. When this correspondent enquired about fire ditches from the junior forest officials, they said implements for digging them had not been received. Here it may be recalled that after the 1995 fires, for buying these implements a generous provision was made in the budget of the forest department. Forest officials were told to set up committees at panchayat and block levels to rope in local people to save the forests. But, if anything was done in this regard, it remained on paper. The hills have seen a mushrooming of non-governmental organisations in the name of protecting trees and the nature. Almost all of them are funded by the government.But apart from obtaining funds, they do little else. Not a single representative of them has been noticed around the places of forest fires, leave alone anything done by them to tackle the fires. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation had given two aircraft, about five years ago, for helping the firefighting operations in UP hills. These used to be based in Haldwani, until the then Environment and Forest Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, took them to Delhi. Thereafter, one aircraft crashed while returning to Delhi from Madhya Pradesh, where Mr Kamal Nath was building a house. The last, one heard of the second aircraft, a helicopter, was when it was flying a religious leader close to Mr Nath to Badrinath.
Measures taken to ensure comfort of summer tourists UNI - April 9, 1999 MUSSOORIE: Dehra Dun District Magistrate PK Mahanty has said that the administration was gearing up to ensure that tourists to the Doon valley and Mussoorie this summer had a comfortable stay. Presiding over a meeting held here to prepare the administrative machinery for the coming tourist season, Mr Mahanty said all possible financial help would be made available to improve tourist facilities in Mussoorie. He gave instructions to the electricity and water departments to regulate supplies. Directions for improving the roads in the hill resort were given to the representatives of the public works department and municipal authorities present at the meeting. Police officials have been instructed by the district magistrate to assist and protect the tourists. Also present at the meeting was Mr Charanjeet Mittal, superintendent engineer of the Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board who said that from April 15, there would be no more cuts in the supply of electricity to Mussoorie during the tourist season. Mr Om Veer Singh, DSP, said that an action plan had been prepared by the police to case parking and traffic problems faced by tourists every year in Mussoorie. The DSP said that after 11.00 a.m., vehicles carrying milk or vegetables would not be allowed on the Mall Road. Government vehicles coming from Tehri road would be made to stop at the Tehri bus stand, he added. Buses coming from Hardwar would be allowed to come till Mussoorie upto 11.00 a.m. After that, they would be stopped at Kincraig and the tourists would have to come till ``Picture Palace'' or ``Library Point'' by taxis, he said. Cycle rickshaws are also available for the tourists for sight seeing. Mr Mahanty clearly instructed the municipal authorities not to allow any vehicles on the Mall Road during the summer tourist season. In very exceptional cases, he said, vehicles could be allowed from the Library till Kulri area via Camel's back road. He said all roads must be repaired before April 15 and the dangerous speedbreaker on the Kincraig road must also be removed. One-way traffic has already begun on many routes in the hill station for the convenience of tourists and locals alike. Tourists will soon begin arriving to ``the queen of hills'' and the tourist season will continue till the beginning of the monsoons.
`Virasat' opens in Doon Valley UNI - April 9, 1999 DEHRA DUN: Once again, the Doon Valley will become the centre of rich cultural and literary activity with ``Virasat'', an 11-day annual cultural exposition, opening in the valley today. Virasat is being organised this year by Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural Heritage (REACH) in association with the Dehra Dun chapter of the SPIC MACAY and is being supported by the Uttar Pradesh Government, said REACH general secretary RK Singh who is closely associated with SPIC-MACAY, at a press conference held on the eve of the multifaceted event. Mr RP Joshi, former director, Intelligence Bureau, who is chairperson of REACH, said that this year. The festival would greatly highlight the arts and crafts of the Uttarakhand region and would have a distinct ``regional hue''. Literary meets would be held on a large scale and ample opportunity would be given to local talent to express itself, he said. As REACH is a local organisation, it would be giving a local colour to the cultural extravaganza which can be called unique as it is from the Doon Valley that the concept of Virasat began, Mr Singh said. ``Doon film festival'' will be a highlight of the gala fair this year. This will feature retrospectives of Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Shyam Benegal in their presence. National folk performances will include the Langa manghaniars, Baiga tribal dance of Madhya Pradesh, Prahlad Singh Tipania's ``Kabir Vani,'' Sufi Gayan by the Wadali brothers and Tibetan folk ``Birha'' by Ram Kailash Yadav. Renowned theatre personality Habib Tanveer will conduct a theatre workshop and a performance of ``Gaon Naam Sasural, More Naam Daamaad'' will be part of the festival, which is being held at the ``Virasat Gaon'' set up in the campus of the St Joseph's Academy in the valley. Dr Jaya Jaitley, Habib Tanveer, Chandi Prasad Bhatta, Shyam Benegal, Mark Tully, Manjit Bawa, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Dr Madan Gopal, and Pandit Arun Apte will deliver talks during the festival. A seminar on ``Himalayan heritage and cultural ecology and development'' would be held on April 15 next. Performers from Uttarakhand will be Nanda Devi Club, Sonara Club from Nogaon, Chanchari from Almora, Mahasu Nritya from Hanol, Dhol and Mukhota Nritya and Jhora. Master craftsmen of textile printing, leather toys, marblecraft, Kalamkari, batik, basketry, phulkari, applique and several other crafts from all parts of the country will display their wares at Virasat.
Errant cops will not be sent to hills, says IGP Pioneer News Service / Dehra Dun (April 9, 1999) The new Inspector-General of Police (Meerut Zone), Ashish Kumar Mitra, has said that delinquent policemen will no longer be sent to the Garhwal hills on 'punishment postings'. He said the practice had resulted in the decrease in the quality of policing in the hills, resulting in proliferation of crime. Mr Mitra, addressing reporters here on Wednesday, also announced that a fresh scheme to prevent crime had been operationalised. Under it, raids would be conducted at the possible hideouts of criminals. Also, the intelligence system was being geared up to keep tabs on suspicious characters at bus terminals and railway stations, as recent findings had revealed that these people commuted mostly via public transport. Mr Mitra also said that the intelligence network was being widened to cover hotels and movie theatres in all the districts of the Meerut zone. To a question as to why the police failed to act in cases involving a nexus between politicians and the mafia, the IG remarked that the phenomenon was "quite old and more political will was required to do away with the problem". Admitting that there was a resource crunch within the police administration, he said efforts were being made to provide the force, especially in UP's 'wild west', with latest wireless systems to match criminals equipped with cellular phones etc.
Nanhi Dunya organises unique cultural fete in Doon UNI - April 7, 1999 DEHRA DUN: Music loving audiences of the Doon valley witnessed a wonderful synthesis of European and Indian music at the concluding cultural event of the ``Millennium Mela '99'' organised in the valley by ``Nanhi Dunya'', the international movement of children and their friends. The three-day festival was held to celebrate universal harmony and the coming of the new millennium. The highlight of the event was the participation of the members of the `Idriart' movement which was founded by Miha Pogaenik, a world famous violinist and his friends to promote live music and create a platform for artists of the world. A group of 30 Europeans including German, Russian and Swiss artists participated in the festival held in the gardens of the `Nanhi Dunya' centre's campus. After these artists rendered a song from the play `Faust' and an air from Mozart's opera, ``The Magic Flute'', the gathering of local artists and other citizens of the valley was treated to a concert of Hindustani classical vocal music. The foreign artists sat enraptured as Doon's famous classical singer Rajiv Marathe rendered Tumhare Daras Bin More Naina Bhaye Anath in Raga Multani. Marathe is an electronic engineer in the Irde, Dehradun, and a vocalist of repute from the Gwalior Gharana. Marathe's performance was followed by Bandish in Raga Kalawati by Kiran Ulfat, daughter of Prof Lekhraj Ulfat, founder of the ``Nanhi Dunya'' movement. Over the last five decades, ``Nanhi Dunya'' has been serving the Doon valley and its environment through its eco-friendly activities and projects, festivals, seminars, workshops and creative presentations on environment for children and adults are a regular feature of ``Nanhi Dunya''. Besides Nanhi Dunya, Avikal, an initiative for life and active learning, has been conducting workshops on theatre, art, environment and active learning. Led by Mr Alok Ulfat, son of Prof Ulfat, Avikal successfully held Greenwaves 98 in Doon last year to raise an awareness about the degradation of the valley's environment. Tibetan Lamas, priests from Hindu temples, granthis from gurudwaras, maulvis and Catholic priests participated in a prayer meeting held on April 2 as part of the millennium festival. As a mark of protest against the growing noise pollution in the once-tranquil Doon, all the events of the festival were conducted without using microphones. Some of the events were held in candle light as the electric supply was erratic in the valley. The foreign artists who participated in the fest will leave for Lahore via Amritsar as they are on a cultural tour of north India and Lahore.
Policies for earthquake-prone areas April 6 (Bharat Dogra - Hindustan Times) Earthquakes are generally looked upon as disasters which strike without warning. However, recent advances have enabled scientists to identify earthquake-prone areas on the basis of several indications. They can now prepare maps of high risk areas, medium risk areas and so on. A significant part of the Himalayan region and some areas in the vicinity of large dams in Maharashtra can be identified as high risk areas. Once earthquake-prone areas have been identified, it is important to formulate policies which will minimise the loss of life if and when a high-intensity earthquake strikes. First, people should be given clear, region-specific instructions about how they should behave when a quake strikes. Clearly such instructions will be different depending on whether these are meant for Delhi or Garhwal. However, often while giving such instructions regional specifications are not kept in mind. After the recent earthquake in Chamoli some instructions based on even American manuals were issued. Instructions should be in simple language which can be easily understood even by illiterate persons. Radio can perhaps be the best medium for spreading this awareness in villages, but this should be supplemented by television, newspapers and other mediums. It is important that clear instructions should reach the people and they know what to do when a quake strikes. Even the loss of a few seconds can lead to the loss of life at the time of a quake; so if people act quickly without any confusion this can save a large number of lives. Secondly, arrangements should exist at the local level for rescuing persons trapped under rubble. The critical period for saving trapped people is generally no more than 48 hours. In most villages the trapped people are likely to die before specialised rescue teams can reach them. A study of the rescue effort at the time of the Armenian earthquake in 1988 revealed that 95 per cent of the trapped people were saved by local people, while only five per cent were saved by the high profile international rescue teams. Keeping in view the importance of the local effort, ordinary villagers should be trained in rescue effort as well as in providing first aid to those injuries which are more common in quakes. The equipment and medicines for this should be available locally. The doctors and medical staff of such regions should get special training to work in quake-hit areas so that they are well prepared when the need arises. Clear instructions regarding earthquake-proof constructions should be issued for such areas and enforced rigorously. Here again we have sometimes made the mistake of copying high-tech ideas from abroad, while ignoring the possibilities of cheaper technologies. . Construction of high dams, nuclear power stations and other high-risk industries should be avoided in earthquake-prone areas. Maintaining a green cover will also help to reduce the damage in many areas. If high risk construction work has already been done Ñ for example if a lot of existing homes are likely to have low resistance to earthquakes Ñ then safety provisions should be incorporated to the extent it is possible. Scientists can be involved in detailed discussions with local people to find some practical solutions. The government should not hesitate to subsidise these safety works. Even from a narrow economic point of view, this will be more cost-effective than the large scale reconstruction which may be required at a later date if safety provisions are ignored. By mobilising ordinary people it may be possible to predict an earthquake Ñ a clear example is the success achieved by the Chinese in predicting the earthquake in Liang province in 1975. This prediction led to the timely evacuation of people. It is now agreed that before an earthquake strikes, rats, snakes, crows, dogs, fish and many other animals behave in a peculiar way. They appear to panic and are quite restless. Existing studies of such behaviour need to be widely circulated among people, particularly among the communities of snake-charmers, rat-catchers, fishermen, grazers and pastoral nomads. They should be asked to immediately report any strange and restless behaviour to the nearest officials, who in turn should have clear instructions to initiate the necessary action . A mix of these policies can save thousands of lives when an earthquake strikes.
Cracks developing in Badrinath shrine Lucknow, April 1 (Umesh Raghuvanshi - Hindustan Times) Badrinath, the highly revered and holy shrine, is facing a threat to its well being from cracks that have developed on the rocks on which it stands. Though the cracks have not developed because of the the earthquake in Garhwal and Kumaon Himalayas, there is cause for concern that the weakening of the shrine's foundations could make it vulnerable to the elements. Talking to The Hindustan Times, Professor A.R. Bhattacharya of the Department of Geology, Lucknow University, said the cracks in the rock need immediate attention. The cracks may widen with the force of the water pouring in from the Alaknanda, on whose river-bed the shrine stands. Immediate measures to strengthen the rocks, however, could save the shrine's structure. Dr K.K. Aggarwal said a plan has to be drawn up after consulting engineering experts and geologists. Prof Bhattacharya remarked that the cracks have no connection with the devastating earthquake recently as Badrinath is situated in a comparatively stable seismic zone. The Kedarnath shrine is also safe and there was no threat to its building. However, he said, a PWD inspection bungalow had been flattened in the region in 1973 as the rocks supporting it were not as firmly grounded as they should have been. Referring to the recent earthquake in Chamoli and other districts of the hill region, he said the rocks may become unstable following the tremors, though many other factors may also affect the stability of the region. The earthquake may lead to more landslides in the rainy season. However, much will depend on the extent of rainfall. Dr Rameshwar Bali, who had recently conducted a study of the landslides in the area near Malpa, said the earthquake may lead to failure of slopes. The recent earthquake and tremors that followed could have far more devastating had they occurred during the rainy season. He said the geologists should always be consulted before finalising a Master Plan of a region. He suggested that precaution should be taken to check devastation in the landslides prone areas. While no establishment should be there in the landslide prone area, the master plan of any area should be finalised only after studying geotechnical aspects of the same.
Garhwal farmers in need of cold storage facilities UNI - March 30, 1999 DEHRA DUN: Gen (Retd) BC Khanduri, MP, has asked the Central Government to urgently address the problems faced by farmers of the Garhwal and Kumaon regions in the absence of adequate storage facilities for their horticultural and agricultural produce. This information was given here to mediapersons recently by Dr Devendra Bhasin, spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party and chairman of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam. Dr Bhasin said Gen Khanduri had called upon the Government to frame a suitable policy in this regard. Farmers in the Uttarakhand region (Garhwal and Kumaon) have always incurred huge losses due to absence of proper storage facilities for perishable items like potatoes and kinnows, a citrus fruit grown in abundance in the hill region. Gen Khanduri has said that the Central Government was contemplating measures to provide preservation and storage facilities to the farmers of Garhwal and Kumaon. The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam also helps the hill farmers by purchasing their fruits or making jams and juices and marketing them. Dr Bhasin said that Gen Khanduri had also given proposals to the Central Government regarding the expansion of railway services in the Uttarakhand region. These proposals, Dr Bhasin said, included a direct rail link between Kotdwar and Delhi, a superfast train between Dehra Dun and Delhi, and a direct rail link between Delhi and Ramnagar. Besides these, Gen Khanduri has also given a proposal that the Jan Sewa Express, Himgiri Express and the Amarnath Express should be halted at Najibabad. He has also proposed that the speed of the Dehra Dun Express be increased, a train should be started to link Dehra Dun, Najibabad, Ramnagar and Kathgodam and a Railway line as constructed between Hardwear and Ramnagar. Gen Khanduri has also proposed that stalls be allowed to be set up at Dehra Dun, Rishikesh, Hardwar, Kotdwar and Rajibabad Railways stations by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam to sell its products which include fruit juices, squashes, jams and pickles.
Tiwari charges BJP with misleading UP hill people 29 March 1999 The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN:Senior Congress leader N.D. Tiwari charged the BJP with misleading the Uttarakhand people on the issue of formation of separate hill state. The BJP was accusing parties like Congress of not cooperating with them though the Bill concerned was pending, he alleged. The Bill is scheduled to be debated in the current budget session of Parliament. Speaking to newsmen here on Sunday, the Congress leader said the BJP was totally confused about the Bill as it does not even know whether to name the new state ``Uttaranchal'' or ``Uttarakhand''. The state assembly had moved a resolution calling the new state ``Uttaranchal'' where as the Centre had preferred to name the new state ``Uttarakhand'', he said. `` By appointing the George Fernandes committee, the Centre has further omplicated the issue ...while the committee has not given its verdict on Udham Singh Nagar till date,'' Mr Tiwari said. He said all kinds of amendments made to the Bill by the BJP state government showed that the party was fooling the hill folk. Reiterating his party's total support to the Bill, Mr Tiwari, however, said: `` What to support when we do not know even the nature of the Bill? ''He said the BJP should sincerely approach his party leadership on the issue of passage of this Bill.``Sonia ji has already extended support to the formation of new the state,''he said.
Horticulture college to come up in Garhwal soon UNI - Monday, March 29 1999 DEHRA DUN: Uttarakhand region's first horticulture college has been sanctioned by the State Government and will come up in Bharsara in Pauri district of Garhwal. An amount of Rs one Crore has been sanctioned by the government for this college, said Hill Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank while speaking to mediapersons in the Doon Valley recently. The college would be built in three phases and would ultimately given framework of a university said the minister. A medical college would be set up in Haldwani in the Kumaon region. An amount of Rs two crore has been sanctioned for this medical college, he added. The State Government was also planning to establish an ayurvedic medical college in the Uttarakhand region soon, Mr Pokhriyal said. Moreover, setting up a tourism institute on a large scale in this region was also being considered by the government to strengthen the tourism - based hill economy, he added. Every student at the tehsil level in the hill region would be given computer training from now on, the minister said. Mr Pokhriyal said the government's declaration of the Niti-Mana road route as a national highway was a positive step which would attract a large number of tourists to the region. Nearly two hundred high schools and inter colleges in Uttar Pradesh were being upgraded, he said. Regarding the creation of the hill state of Uttarakhand, he said he was hopeful that the Bill relating to this would be brought up in the Parliament very soon. A private airlines flight would soon begin operating between Delhi and Dehra Dun, Lucknow and Dehra Dun and Lucknow and Pantnagar, the Minister said. Meanwhile, BJP's state unit president Rajnath Singh has given a grant of Rs 75,000 from the party fund for the construction of a library in the Doon Press Club. Mr Rakesh Chandola, president of the Press Club, expressed his gratitude to Mr Singh and presented him with a memento on behalf of the club.
Gujjar tribals to remain in Rajaji Park UNI - Sunday, March 28 1999 DEHRA DUN: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has held that the tribal Gujjars living in the proposed Rajaji National Park in the Shivalik Hills near the Doon valley ``cannot be coerced'' by forest authorities to leave their forest homes. The commission has also held that the Gujjars cannot be deprived of their traditional grazing and polling rights. ``The forest authorities are not entitled to coerce Gujjar families to move out of their habitation until their rights are legally determined in accordance with law,'' the commission declared in its thirteen page order. The commission, after investigating complaints by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), a Doon-based NGO fighting for the cause of the Gujjars, held that ``the authorities cannot be allowed to move them (tribals) out by use of force or by denying them their traditional rights.'' The commission's decision has brought to a conclusion controversy between the proposed park's authorities and the Gujjars on whether the tribals can be evicted from their forest homes without determination of their rights, according to RLEK chairperson Avdhash Kaushal. The main charge by the RLEK was that the tribals were being prevented from ferrying fodder for their animals and food for themselves and selling of their milk. It had also been alleged that the ambulance vehicles bringing medical assistance to the Gujjar families were not being allowed to enter the park, resulting in loss of precious human lives due to lack of timely medical aid. The commission, stating clearly that the forest authorities were not entitled to coerce the Gujjars to move out, has however said that this did not preclude the authorities from persuading them to move out by offering them land and other facilities. The commission has directed the Government of Uttar Pradesh to appoint a retired district judge to undertake the task of independently ascertaining the willingness of Gujjar families to move out to the rehabilitation camp at Pathri near Hardwar. It also said that the forest authorities may consider providing additional grazing facilities outside the proposed national park area to the extent of meeting their demands but it made it clear that ``no coercion should be exercised to graze in the outside area that maybe provided.'' The NHRC has directed the forest authorities to declare a particular area as fit for lopping by the van Gujjar community families after taking into consideration the age and growth of the trees.
Oustees threaten to launch mass agitation ANI - Sunday, March 28 1999 TEHRI GARHWAL: A long pending row over rehabilitation of displaced villagers at the site of Asia's largest dam is threatening to halt construction work. The villagers have threatened to launch a mass agitation against the project, which is being constructed in the Tehri region of Uttar Pradesh, if their rehabilitation is delayed any further. When completed in 2002, the project will generate 2,400 mw of electricity, control floods in the area and provide additional irrigation to about 270,000 hectares of land, besides stabilising the existing irrigation facility on 604,000 hectares of land. The project has been long delayed by several agitations since construction work began in 1971. In 1997, New Delhi constituted a 12-member committee under a senior bureaucrat Hanumantha Rao to look into the rehabilitation process. An association of displaced people charges the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition with making several changes in the recommendations of the committee which it says are not acceptable to the villagers. ``The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has diluted many of the provisions of the Hanumantha Rao committee. The committee defined everyone above 18 as adult but the government increased it to 21. The committee gave compensation of Rs 1,50,000 per adult per family which was reduced to just Rs 36,000'', said Vijay Pal Panwar, leader of a residents' association. ``The people are angry and there will be strong agitation until the original recommendations are implemented'', he threatened. Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC), which is assigned with the rehabilitation task, identified 10,000 families which were to be moved out in 1990. Out of these, only 1,500 families have been rehabilitated till January 1999. Officials admitted the delay but said it was on account of non- availability of land. ``Earlier many people accepted the land given to them which they rejected later on. The rehabilitation committee identified many areas for resettlement which the people did not like. So the delay is only because of lack of land'', said BM Vohra, district commissioner. Officials say the cost overruns due to any further delay would seriously question the project's viability. The cost of the dam, built jointly by the Government of India and the Uttar Pradesh government, has already escalated 10 times because of slow progress and frequent stoppages of work.
Nature's four-year fury haunts Uttarakhand 27 March 1999 By R P Nailwal The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: If nature could be locked up for arson anywhere it should be in Uttarakhand. It brings to the forests in this region huge fires every four years. Scientists have no answers and folklore blames nature for it. In 1995-96, about 1,000 sq km forest area was damaged by 2,272 fires; 1,836 sq km by 1,948 incidents in 1984-85; 853 sq km by 1,680 blazes in 1988-89; 667 sq km by 1,618 fires in 1991-92 (a little less than four years). And, the millennium's last round of fireworks scheduled for 1999 has started, killing four persons in Chakrata earlier this week. Reports of fires elsewhere have started streaming in. They will peak as summer is truly in. Newspapers are full of ads now warning people against carrying inflammable material into the forests. ``We are preparing ourselves for a tedious job,'' said M M Harbola, chief conservator of forests of Garhwal division. Some the small fires reported so far, he said, were actually pre-emptive ``control burning''. But the big ones, when they come, rage uncontrolled till they die out themselves, or with a little help from the fire-fighters. Forestry experts say though there is no definite scientific reason for this four-year fire cycle, they tend to attribute it to the piling up of inflammable material and disappearance of moisture from the forest floor. The inflammable materials being referred to may be dry pine needles and oak leaves, which fuel the fire, big or small. Even between the big-fire years Uttarakhand forests burn, but the frequency and extent is low. Between 1984-85 and 1988-89, there were 136 fires affecting 27 sq km in 1986 and 460 incidents and 166 sq km in 1987. From 1991-92 to 1995, 111 fires in 1993 and 210 in 1994 affecting 18 sq km and 60 sq km respectively. But this is the big-fire year. And it will be a ``real test,'' said forest conservator in charge of fire-fighting M R Fuleria, ``as we are now in the process of establishing a fire forecasting system.'' It will be a test no doubt but a very tough one at that. Mr Harbola said, ``There was no rain this winter, so there is no green grass on the forest floor making it easy for a small spark to become a raging inferno.'' Forest officials and non-government organisations say one reason for forest fires - big or small - has been the withdrawal of rights given by the colonial government to the people living in and around these forests. The villagers, it is said, had certain rights to the forest wealth so they helped in sweeping the forest floor and burning the inflammable material separately. But the loss of these rights has ended this practice. In fact, in some cases they were responsible for the wild fires as they themselves set some parts of jungle on fire in anticipation of good regeneration in their area as a cattle feed.
Uttarakhand Agitation Regains Momentum 24th Mar 1999 By Ravish Mishra (India Express) The agitation for getting a separate Uttarakhand state carved out of the hill districts of Uttar Pradesh has gained renewed momentum, after a lull of sorts. More than thirty organizations in the Uttar Pradesh hills have come together to re-launch the agitation from March 24 and carry it on till the separate state is created. This agitation has come as an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in New Delhi. It may be recalled that in the last Lok Sabha polls the BJP had sought votes in the Uttar Pradesh hills with the promise of a separate hill state. The voters had backed the BJP to the hilt. The BJP's election manifesto had promised to create the state within 90 days of coming to power. But one full year has passed since the Atal Behari Vajpayee government came to office and the separate state remains an unfulfilled promise. Local leaders of the BJP are saying that it will be only when the Lok Sabha passes the resolution for creating the hill state that the BJP will regain its credibility in the area. That does not mean that the BJP has not made efforts to carve out the new state. But there have been problems along the way, what with the Akali Dal, the BJP-ally from Punjab, demanding that Udham Singh Nagar not be included in the new state, even though it falls in the hill district of Nainital. The Akalis are of this view since a large proportion of population in this town is Punjabi speaking. Then, there is resistance from the plains of Uttar Pradesh to the creation of the new state, which would rob Lucknow of its power over the hills. Also, since the hills have returned a large number of BJP men to the Uttar Pradesh assembly as legislators, there is also the danger that BJP's Kalyan Singh Government in Lucknow will be reduced to a minority in the plains of Uttar Pradesh. With the movement in the hills once again gaining momentum, it is to be seen how the BJP will keep its promise to the electorate without risking its government in Uttar Pradesh. Perhaps, this means that assembly elections are now on the cards in Uttar Pradesh.
Dehra Dun tense as D-day for auction of liquor vends nears Dehra Dun, March 20 (Amitabh Srivastava) Tension is building up in the city as the D-day for the auction of liquor vends approaches near. The total revenue in this lucrative business along with lottery and quarrying in hill areas is about Rs 300 crore per annum. It is more than the non-Plan expenditure of Uttarakhand. According to sources, all the business in the area is under the control of a Moradabad businessman. This lobby has been ruling the roost here. It had also staked its claim in the auction of liquor shops in Etah and bagged the contract by quoting higher rates. The rivalry has created tension in the area. Senior officials are keeping their fingers crossed. They are also in touch with their officers in Lucknow. About 151 people have been issued identity cards to gain entry to the auction hall on March 26 when the auction is scheduled to take place. Of them, 91 are from this lobby. Thirty passes are issued to people from Etah and seven for a group close to a liquor businessman from Ghaziabad. The lobby, which is in power, tried to prevent one group from entering the ring by giving a memorandum to the administration. But the officials after consulting lawyers, decided to issue passes to other group. Ideology has nothing to do with the policy on liquor. The hills are adversely affected, giving rise to slogans like 'Sooraj act, pahad mast'. One cannot say that there is no resistance to this policy among the masses. The Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, headed by Mrs Kamla Pant, has recently handed over a memorandum to District Magistrate P. K. Mohanti, demanding total prohibition in Uttarakhand. Mrs Pant says: "Women have been protesting against the sale of liquor in Uttarakhand. They have also damaged liquor shops but a lot remains to be done. We have great hopes from the BJP Government that it would be different but they are all the same." In Srinagar (Garhwal), the students took out a rally demanding a ban on the sale of liquor.
Uttarakhand's hill resorts gear up for summer rush UNI - Friday, March 19 1999 DEHRA DUN: The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), responsible for tourist facilities in Mussorie and Nainital respectively, are adding to their establishments in order to cater efficiently to the rush of tourists heading for these popular hill resorts this summer. Besides arranging for package tours, these two allied organisations of UP Tourism make arrangements for the stay of visitors in their guest houses and tourist bungalows. The headquarters of the GMVN are in the Doon Valley while those of the KMVN are located in Nainital in the Kumaon Himalayas. There are about 15 guest houses of the KMVN in the Nainital district itself besides several more in Almors and Pithoragarh districts. In Musoorie, ``Garhwal terrace'', a hotel and restaurant run by the GMVN has 25 rooms, a dormitory and a conference hall. While Mussoorie has been hailed as `the Queen of Hills'', Nainital, the Pride of Kumaon, is often described as India's ``lake district''. Numerous lakes are spread across its boundaries, the most prominent of which is the ``Naini Lake'', surrounded by hills on all sides and named after the Goddess Naini. With a maximum depth of 29 metres, the Naini Lake has a circumference of 3620 metres, creating a beautiful promenade that skirts the lake. There is Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam tourist bungalow in Dhanolti which is 25 km from Mussoorie on the Mussoorie-Chamba route. The Nigam is making efforts to develop more tourist amenities in Dhanolti to take off tourist pressure from Mussoorie. Naina peak, Dorothy's seat, a high altitude zoo, Khurpatal (a lake abundant in fish) and Kulbury, a quiet picnic spot, are the major tourist attractions of Nainital. There is also a state observatory which carries on optical tracking of artificial Earth satellites. Places of historical interest, fruit orchards, religious sites and picturesque landscapes attract a vast variety of tourists to Nainital. Till 1947, Nainital was the summer capital for the UP secretariat for a hundred years. Mussoorie is connected by a motorable road with Tehri, about 80 kilometres away. Tehri leads tourists to a number of trekking routes. Organised treks are made available by the GMVN. The Nigam also offers a fully-conducted tour to Dhanolti and the Surkanda Devi temple, the highest point around Mussoorie at 3,048 metres. The UP Tourism Department is also making efforts to develop the lesser known destinations in the Garhwal and Kumaon hills to reduce the pressure of tourism on Nainital and Mussoorie.
Garhwal students prefer jobs to liquor vends 17 March 1999 The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: Even as the concerned state government agencies in the Garhwal hills are preparing for the annual auction of liquor vends, which is usually held in March, protests are being made again against the ever-increasing sale of liquor in the hills. Anti-liquor movement has a long history in Uttarakhand. Not long ago, a student had set himself afire in the high altitude district of Pithoragarh in Kumoun region, to protest against the open sale of liquor. Once again the university students in Shrinagar(Garhwal), have launched a campaign against the sale of liquor in Garhwal. They are not only holding protest demonstrations, but also staging a dharna outside the liquor vends, discouraging prospective buyers. On Monday, they took out a rally in the town to demonstrate their anger against the state-sponsored sale of liquor. Nasha nahin rozgar do (Give us jobs not liquor) is their age-old slogan, which forms the main theme of their demonstration. They have revived the agitation once again. In the past also students have held anti-liquor rallies demanding jobs as there are fewer government jobs available in the 12 hill districts at any given point of time. The question of getting employed in the private sector does not arise, as the hilly area is a zero industry area. There are no industries worth the name in the hills. According to a rough estimate, while this is so, the number of liquor shops and addicts among a population of 65 lakhs, is increasing at an incredible rate. Per person the liquor consumption in the hills is stated to be somewhere near 275 millilitres. ``Despite this situation, the successive state governments have been aiming at earning higher revenue through the sale of liquor in the backward hilly region,'' says Kamla Pant, a Uttarakhand Mahila Sangrarh Samiti leader. She reiterates the stand taken by Mahila Mangal Dal for a total ban on the sale of liquor in the Uttarakhand region, as was done in 1969, on the eve of Mahatama Gandhi's centenary celebrations. At a meeting held in a college here, under the auspice of University Womens' Association, Bajaj award winner Radhaben, who has been relentlessly working for the upliftment of womenfolk in the Uttarakhand hills, also stressed the need for fighting the ever-spreading habit of drinking among men in the region.
Uttarakhand MLAs submit memo to CM on teachers issue 17 March 1999 The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: The ruling party legislators from Uttarakhand are up in arms over the government apathy towards education in hills and the deteriorating standard of education in the present generation. They have demanded chief minister Kalyan Singh's intervention to, what they called as, chaotic condition prevailing in the government-managed educational institutions. In a memorandum to the chief minister, 17 MLAs have urged him to revoke cancellation of appointment orders issued by state education minister Nepal Singh, of 38 lower grade teachers in the Garhwal division. They were appointed by the joint director of education, Garhwal division, sometime ago, in compliance with the Allahabad High Court order. The education minister, signatories allege, not only cancelled the appointment orders, but also suspended the joint director. The newly appointed teachers have since not been paid their salaries. With examinations round the corner, there are scores of schools in every district in the hills, without the teaching staff for the past several months. Agitated over the plight of students, two legislators, Bharat Singh Rawat and Mohan Singh Rawat, have threatened to go on hunger strike, according to reliable sources.
IA to start flight to Dehra Dun in May 14 March 1999 The Times of India News Service DEHRA DUN: The air service between Delhi and Dehra Dun is likely to be resumed in May after a gap of over a decade. This time, Indian Airlines is likely to begin operations thrice a week. Earlier, the erstwhile Vayudoot was operating flights between the two stations. According to official sources, this service for tourists to the pilgrim centres and hill stations of the Garhwal region and its adjoining areas is being launched the instance of the chief whip of the BJP Parliamentary Party, Maj Gen (retd) B.C. Khanduri and the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a UP government undertaking. Maj Gen Khanduri recently met Union minister for civil aviation Ananth Kumar and urged him to re-establish the air link between the national capital and an important centre of the Uttarakhand region. The GMVN, which caters to tourism activity in the region has agreed to look after ticketing and make the other arrangements for the tourists. ``We have been trying for such an air link for a long time and now it seems to have materialised. A large number of tourists visiting this area constantly talk about the need for quick transportation,'' says H.C. Joshi, managing director of GMVN. He said that a helicopter service between Dehra Dun and the holy shrines of Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib would also be launched from May 15. This air service would last till June 15. ``The helicopter service will be operated by Pawan Hans, with which GMVN has signed an agreement,'' said Mr Joshi pointing out that among the lakhs of pilgrims, many found it difficult to drive all the way to the shrines located high up in the Himalayas. About five years ago, a private airline had begun a helicopter service between Dehra Dun and Delhi but it could not last even one season as the operator reportedly found it uneconomical. During a Himalayan Tourism Advisory Board meeting at Rishikesh in 1993, the then Union civil aviation minister had assured some leaders of this region that air services to Dehra Dun would be introduced in a big way. It was also said that the five airstrips being built in the hilly region would help increase the tourist traffic to the hills. However, nothing happened since then. ``With the introduction of this new service, a new chapter will be added to the existing transport facilities for tourists who come to the hills especially during the summers,'' Gen Khanduri told The Times of India News Service over telephone.
From our special correspondent Uttar Pradesh irrigation minister Om Prakash Singh seems to have taken a leaf out of Mohamad bin Tughlaq’s book of administration. Like Tughlaq, who moved his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad, south of the Vindhyas, Singh has ordered the shifting of 13 divisions under his department from Uttarakhand to towns in east Uttar Pradesh. Ten divisions were set up for the World Bank-funded Upper Ganga canal project to build waterways in several towns through which the Ganga flows. Hardwar and Roorkie were chosen as project headquarters. The divisions catering to the project have been shifted to towns like Hasti, Gonda and Saharanpur which are miles away from the Ganga. All these departments were moved in March and April after the BJP came to power at the Centre and resolved to go ahead with the creation of Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, one of the leading groups campaigning for a separate state, alleged this was a "conspiracy" to deprive the region its share of government departments and resources. This was stated in memoranda sent to the President, Prime Minister, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, chief minister Kalyan Singh and hill development minister Romesh Pokhriyal. "The Upper Ganga and East Ganga canal projects resulted in annual revenues of Rs 100 crore in this region and enabled locals to find work," the memoranda added. Sources said when the creation of Uttarakhand appeared to become a reality, the government decided to take divisions away from the irrigation department in the Uttar Pradesh hills and transfer men, machines, files and other items to other projects in the plains. They added Ganga Canal project offices would be set up in towns in the plains. With the departments transferred, land and buildings that had been acquired are in the process of being sold off and the revenue transferred to the Uttar Pradesh treasury. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal alleges this goes against the basic principles of the draft Bill on creation of Uttarakhand. It argues that the Bill specifically mentions that projects and departments now situated in Uttarakhand district will remain in the future state, adding staff deployment will be decided by the new government. "If staff in these divisions were required for other projects, they could have been transferred. What was the need to wind up entire divisions and begin selling off immovable assets? When the new state is formed, these divisions will be required to carry out irrigation and hydroelectric projects," said J.P. Pandey, executive member of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. Singh does not agree. "There are 29 major irrigation projects on the anvil in the state of which 20 are to be completed in the Ninth Five Year Plan. There are not enough employees. With the Ganga Canal project in Uttarakhand nearly complete, we decided to wind up," he said. |