Auli, Feb 18 2005
Skiing enthusiasts from all over the world have arrived on the near-perfect slopes of Auli, scheduled to hold an annual winter game extravaganza next month.

Situated at an altitude of 3,049 metres (11,000 feet) and in the vicinity of mountains Nanda Devi, Kamet and Mana Parvat, Auli, often called the Switzerland of the east, lies in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttaranchal.

The pristine hamlet has been covered in a blanket of white as India’s northern reaches reel under their heaviest snowfall in over 20 years. While in some areas the snow has blocked out tourists, in Auli, its boom time.

“Its good skiing, the weather is good, the Himalayas are fantastic. I think as scenery goes and skiing itself it is one of the best places to visit in the world. The mountain views are fantastic, the journey here was out of this world I have been to New Zealand, France and America and this is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is absolutely fantastic,” said James Nagi, a British tourist.

Apart from the magnificent alpine slopes, Auli has a 3.9 kilometres ropeway, the largest in Asia, linking it with downtown Joshimath. Besides, an 800 metres long ski lift and 500 metres chair lift add to the thrill.

“The kind of snowfall we have had this year, I think it’s the best since the last two to three decades. This is a very good thing for skiing and we have made special arrangement to capitalise on them. We have already have Asia’s longest ropeway the four kilometer rope from Joshimath to Auli, besides that we have ski lifts, chairlifts and we have also got snow beaters to level the snow on the slopes,” said the secretary for tourism, NN Prasad. (ANI)

News Source: http://www.newkerala.com

Chamoli (Uttaranchal), Feb 16 2005

People in Chamoli district have still not got over the after affects of the earthquake which hit the area almost six years ago.

Locals say that they are still awaiting rehabilitation or compensation from the government. Almost 90 percent of the semi- urban areas were destroyed and at least 100 people killed in the earthquake.

They say tall promises were made to them after the devastation struck in 1999, but till now not even half the compensation money has reached them. “We have received only two installments of our compensation money. Once we got 500 rupees, next time 6,000 rupees while we were promised 25,000 each after the disastrous earthquake. Earlier we used to inquire about the rest of our compensation but now we have given up hope,” said an agitated Deen Dayal Bisht.

Mangala Devi, who lost her mother and sister, said they have only received 25,000 rupees against the promised one lakh. “They had announced that they would give us 100,000 rupees as compensation as we were staying in makeshift tents after we lost everything in the earthquake. But five years down the line, we have received no help,” she said.

On the other hand, the authorities claim that they have already distributed 132.5 million rupees as compensation to the affected families and are awaiting the release of 675 million rupees from the government. “According to the availability of the funds the affected families have been given two instalments. There are some families, which were to receive a relief amount of 25,000 rupees, and some out of these have been given the first instalment of 12,500 rupees. Many families have been given first instalment of 12,500rupees,” said Ajay Nambiyal, District Magistrate, Chamoli.

Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts in the Himalayas were the worst affected in the earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale. The quake was felt across many parts of northern India, western Nepal and southern China. (ANI)
News Source: http://www.newkerala.com

Dharchula, Pithoragarh, 14 Feb 2005

State-run National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), country’s largest hydro power utility, will begin generation from the 280 MW Dhauliganga power project near here next month with the commissioning of the first unit.

The first unit of the 4×70 MW plant on river Dhauliganga will become functional in March and the other three units will start generation by August-September 2005, S K Aggarwal, general manager of the project said.

The hydel project will generate 1,134 million units of electricity, which will be evacuated by a transmission line of Power Grid Corporation for supplying to the Northern Grid. Besides Uttaranchal, which will get 12 per cent of electricity for free, other beneficiary states include Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,578 crores, the run-of-the-river project is funded by Japanese Bank of International Cooperation which has given a loan of 21,985 million Yen (approx Rs 924 crore), official sources said here on Monday.

The project in Pithoragarh district on Indo-Nepal border entails the construction of a 56-metre high dam, a 750-metre long diversion tunnel and a 5.3 km long head race tunnel through which water will be taken downstream to an underground power house consisting of four turbines where electricity will be generated, sources said.

A 437-metre long tail race tunnel will then take the water back to the river.

The project also involved international companies in the construction work.

The dam and part of head race tunnel is being constructed by Kajima-Daewoo joint venture while the power house and part of head race tunnel is being built by a joint venture of Samsung and Hindustan Construction Company, sources said.

News Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Dehradun, February 13, 2005

Despite clear cut orders from the Centre to halt eviction of forest-dwellers temporarily, in view of the proposed law to give propriety rights to them, Uttaranchal government has hastened the process to evict Gujjars from the proposed Rajaji National Park, thereby sparking a protest.

Officials of the proposed Rajaji National Park yesterday forcibly evicted several Gujjar families from Motichoor Range by destroying their temporary shelters. The evicted Gujjars then went to Raiwala police station but officials refused to intervene.

Later the Gujjars staged a dharna at the gate of the proposed national park, forcing the forest officials to postpone their eviction campaign.

Wildlife Warden K.S. Rawat told the Gujjars that they would be given few more days to voluntarily quit the forests. The eviction campaign has begun barely a week after the the Union Environment Ministry orders (to stop eviction of forest-dwellers temporarily) reached Uttaranchal.

The Centre has decided to bring a legislation to give propriety rights to lakhs of forest-dwellers on the advice of the security agencies to end unrest and sense of discrimination against them, which has allegedly forced many of them to join the ranks of Naxalites.

Chief Wildlife Warden Shrikant Chandola when contacted said the orders of the Environment and Forest Ministry did not apply to the proposed Rajaji national park as it was a notified area under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Asked how some villages, railway line and cantonment areas are there in the park, Chandola admitted that one railway line was running through the park.

More than 60 per cent of the land in Uttaranchal is under forests. Last month, hundreds of forest-dwellers from all over the state converged in Dehra Dun to protest against their forcible eviction.

‘‘We being Muslims are discriminated against and forced to evict despite the fact that revenue villages, army cantonment and railway line are there in the park area,’’ said Mustook Lambardar, a leader of the Gujjar community.

Awadhash Kaushal, Chairperson of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) who has been fighting fo the Gujjars, charged that the park was a proposed one and forest officials were misleading the people.

News Source: http://www.indianexpress.com

by N J Bahuguna, 10 Feb 2005

WHEN Pushpa Rana was elected gram pradhan (village council head) of the Attakfarm panchayat in the hill state of Uttaranchal in north India, she vowed to work for the betterment of her community. To keep herself well informed, she made frequent trips to the block office to find out about all the development schemes earmarked for her panchayat (village council).But whenever she visited the block office, neither the Block Development Officer (BDO) nor the other staff would offer her a chair (they remained seated themselves). Finally, one day, she gathered up her courage and asked the BDO: “Sir, should I get my own chair the next time I visit the block office?” The embarrassed BDO got the message and immediately offered her a seat.

There are probably hundreds of examples of gender prejudice that elected women (panchayat functionaries) confront in their day-to-day work. And in the little over four years that Uttaranchal has been in existence (the state was formed in 2000), elected women in villages have been challenging and dealing with such prejudice in various ways. Today, the state has 39 per cent representation of women in panchayats. Uttaranchal has a total of 7,227 gram panchayats.

There is Sunita Devi – pradhan of Bugaintalla village in Pauri district – who fixed “equal wages for equal work” for both women and men workers in her panchayat. Ms Natho Begum, from a poor Muslim family, fought against class and gender barriers to lead her panchayat on the road to development. Others like Pushpa Rana compromised their principles and bargained with corrupt officials to bring down their ‘commission’ or kickbacks out of development funds from 30 to 15 per cent. The bargain was struck with the aim of getting development schemes off the ground, and to gain the panchayat’s confidence.

Ms Meenakshi Bhandari, the pradhan of Kulyani village in Pauri district, says that a few years ago only three or four women pradhans could be seen attending block meetings, even though about 35 women members should have been present. This situation often made things difficult for her because Ms Bhandari had little support whenever she challenged the men. The attitude of the male block officers did not help either. On one occasion, she says, the BDO passed a snide remark after which all the men at the meeting laughed at her, making her feel uncomfortable and helpless.

News Source: http://www.navhindtimes.com

Corbett (Uttaranchal), 5 Feb 2005

A record number of foreign tourists are flocking to the famous Jim Corbett wildlife sanctuary in Uttaranchal this winter.

Scared in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami wave attack, these foreigners, mainly from Europe and the US, have headed for the reserve, best known for its tigers.

Spread over 1,000 square miles on the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, the park, named after the famous British hunter- turned-conservator Jim Corbett, is also the best place to sight elephant, deer and crocodile.

“Jim Corbett National park is absolutely beautiful and has exceeded all our expectations. We saw tigers on a number of times. Actually on our first trip we were over the tigers, it was scary but we felt safe all the time,” said an unidentified foreign tourist.

Usually, more than 60,000 tourists visit Corbett Park every year, a bulk of them from abroad but this year the park authorities have been trying to cope up with an unexpected number of tourists.

“Till now since last year there has been an increase of 23 percent of foreign tourists and I expect the number to increase in the coming months,” said D.S. Khati, park’s director.

Located about 400 km from Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, the park remains open from November 15 to June 15. It was set up on August 8, 1936 in South Patlidoon in the Kumaun region of the Himalayan foothills.

Initially the park was in an area of 323.75 sq. km. In 1966, it was extended to 520.32 sq km (200.8 sq. miles). In the year 1973, as part of Project Tiger, Corbett National Park was declared India’s very first Tiger Reserve. (ANI)

News Source: http://www.newkerala.com