30 Apr 2008

The Uttarakhand Government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court in an affidavit that three villages on the rim of a lake formed as a result of Tehri dam construction needed to be shifted immediately as they faced a grave threat as the result of lying in a zone prone to landslides. The affidavit and a compliance report came in response to the court’s earlier orders.

After a second joint site inspection on 13-14 February 2008, an expert committee comprising officials from the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC), Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), departments of Forest and Disaster Management and the UK Government found “no immediate threat imminent as on date to human settlement in the Bhialangan valley”. But it issued a warning with regard to three villages — Rolakot, Nakot and Syansu in the Bhagirathi valley.

An earlier inspection by a GSI team had said “the villages of Rolakot, Nakot, Bhaldgaon, Myunda, Kansali and Barola are sensitive to landslides”.

Acting in compliance with the joint inspection recommendations, the state Government on its part informed the apex court that rehabilitation was being considered for which procurement of forest land was in progress. It further pointed out that “valuation of the properties of these three villages is also in progress”.

According to Bhuwan Chandra Deorari, Superintendent Engineer (rehabilitation), Tehri Dam Project, about Rs 43 crore has also been submitted to the THDC to release funds for the rehabilitation of the three villages.

After fears of landslides in villages situated close to the dam site were raised, the Supreme Court last year had asked the state Government to take safety measures in populated areas around the lake.

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

Dehradun, 17 Apr 2008

Uttarakhand government has roped in private tour operators to promote famous as well as lesser-known tourist destinations of the hill state through ‘familiarisation tours’ starting on Friday.

Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has planned six ‘familiarisation (FAM) tours’ to various areas of Garhwal and Kumaon regions. Around 50 tour operators from across the country would be on a four-day visit to these regions from Apr 18 to 22, tourism secretary Rakesh Sharma said on Thursday.

Spots such as venue for SAF Winter Games 2009, tribal villages and Niti Valley which has recently been opened for foreign tourists has been selected as tourist destinations for these tours.

“We want to convey that Uttarakhand is an all-season multi-interest tourism state besides being a place for pilgrimage, trekking and rafting,” Sharma said.

After the completion of FAM tours, the government expects the tour operators not only to bring more tourists to the state, but also give their feedback for an effective tourism promotion strategy.

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

Shishir Prashant / Almora, 15 Apr 2008

Few years ago, Harendra Bist was unemployed . Hailing from Danya, a backward village in Almora district of Uttarakhand, Bist recently took a bank loan of Rs 1.5 lakh and set up a candle-making unit.

Now, Bist has not only been able to support his family but also provide employment to three other youth of the village in his unit.

Not very far off from where Bist lives, the story of Anand Singh Dhela of Lamgarha village is no different. Unable to make ends meet, Dhela also took a soft loan of Rs 60,000 and set up a pickle and juice unit at his village. And now Dhela is living a comfortable life.

Welcome to the Rural Industrialisation programme (RIP), an innovative social scheme of the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in the district of Almora in Uttarakhand.

“RIP is a comprehensive enterprise support service programme for the benefit of entrepreneurs and aims at promoting viable rural enterprises leading to employment generation in rural areas,” says Sanjay N Gowan, deputy general manager (DGM), SIDBI, Dehra Dun.

SIDBI chose the hilly region of Almora because in these areas rural unemployment and under-utilisation of local resources remain one of the most daunting tasks for all concerned.

“The gainful utilisation of large number of local resources in hilly but remote areas like Almora by harnessing locally available skills, poses a challenging task to policy makers,” said Gowan.

Unemployment, migration of youth to urban areas and under-utilisation of resources continue to ruin the backward areas of Almora.

Recognising the need for development of viable and self-sustaining tiny enterprises, SIDBI roped in the Centre for Bharatiya Marketing Development (CBMD), a Delhi-based NGO, to implement the RIP scheme in Almora.

Imparting training and developing entrepreneur skills among youth was the main task of CBMD, which also helped people in getting loans from various banks.

Eco-tourism and adventure-activity projects like river-rafting and rock-climbing were a success with the youth. Photography, videography studios, cyber cafes, small dhabas, repair shops, beauty parlours, basket-making, bakery units, tailoring shops and dairies are the other small enterprises which have now come up in Almora through this scheme.

Under the programme, CBMD also provided counselling support for identification and selection of suitable projects.

So far, nearly 200 new units have been set up in Almora since the scheme was launched, three years ago. SIDBI officials claimed that all these units have created 450 jobs.

SIDBI extends start-up support to meet the initial expenses of the implementing agency on a reducing scale spread over a period of three years. During the period, efforts are made for establishing sustainable and long-term marketing network and linkages.

News Source: http://www.business-standard.com

Nainital, 13 Apr 2008

Every summer, forests of Uttarakhand face a danger that threatens to destroy their ecosystem and biological diversity — fire.

The fires usually break out between February and June (fire season) in the coniferous chir pine forests in the 1000-1800m range, with many of them being ignited intentionally by men.

A high percentage of these fires are man-made, either deliberately or accidentally, forest officials said, adding 63 per cent of them were intentional and 37 per cent accidental.

“Accidental fires some times start during burning of the crop residue in agricultural fields near forests, or due to flames that escape during controlled burning by the forest department, or perhaps due to a live cigarette of ‘bidi’ butt thrown by a careless passerby,” Ashish Tewari, Project Investigator, Hazard Zonation mapping and fire risk modelling in Bageshwar district said.

As per data gathered by the National Remote Sensing Agency, the greatest forest fires occurred in 1999 affecting around 22.64 per cent of the forest area of Uttarakhand. Prior to that in 1995, forest fires affected 19.32 per cent of the total forests cover of the state.

Experts said frequent fires left forests vulnerable to invasive species and damaged bio diversity.

“Frequent fires really increase the potential for invasive species, and they make it difficult for natural plant communities to recover,” said R P Singh, a senior ecologist and Head of the Forestry Department, Kumaun University.

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

6 Apr 2008

The Uttarakhand police force is all set for a makeover. It has decided to acquire new colours, new credo and a brand new anthem.

These men in uniform have penned the anthem by themselves, showing their poetic side to the world. The two-and-a-half minute song was released with much fanfare at a function in Dehradun to mark the Police Day.

The function consisted of a dog show and horse riding. But, the show stealer was the brand new police anthem.

And every policeman is very excited about the song.

”This song inspires our soldiers and instills in them vigour and energy,” says Jaiveer Singh, a soldier.

The soldiers feel proud when they sing this song. ”The song inspires as well as it unites the jawans,” says A K Arya, another soldier.

And the reason for all the celebrations is that the seven-year-old state has recently passed the Police Act, officially launching their law-enforcing agency.

”We have got a new Police Act on the 19th of March. After that, we thought we should have new colours and we have also given a new song to our jawans, which will inspire us to achiever greater glory,” said Subhash Joshi, DGP, Uttarakhand

This new song for the country’s youngest police force will perhaps inspire it to scale new frontiers of a truly people friendly police – one which stands for friendship, service and security.

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

Nainital, 1 Apr 2008

The early ripening of the popular ‘Kaafal‘ wild fruit in Kumaon division of Uttarakhand is being seen by experts as a fallout of global warming in the Himalayan region.

The edible wild fruit has hit the markets this year a month before than the usual time and it is being sold at four times higher than its normal rate.

According to Forestry Department of Kumaun University the ripping of Kafal, is at least a month in advance, which has not been reported earlier.

Such incidents are example of the impact of climate change and global warming that has begun to affect the Himalayan region in many ways, experts said.

Glacier retreat, early flowering and early leaf production in many trees, and arrival of mosquitoes at altitudes beyond their traditional range are some of the examples of the climate change in the region, they said.

Eminent ecologist and vice-chancellor of HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal said “a species can fruit early in a direct response to warming.”

“However, it can start fruiting also under a stress, such as drought,” he said.

The warming by enhancing the rate of evaporation can cause water stress on trees, thus forcing them to complete reproductive cycle quickly, he said.

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