29 May 2008

An 18th century’s temple dedicated to Goddess Ganga located near Gangotri in Uttarakhand is facing threat due to increased human activity and environmental degradation.

Increased human activities and deforestation is causing soil erosion in the region.

As a result, the rivulet that culminates near the temple and merges with Ganga river is during rains flooded with storm water bringing along sand and silt to the temple threshold.

“The site needs to be preserved. The way this rivulet gets flooded with water and the way it causes landslides are very dangerous. When it rains, all the silt and sand comes here causing landslides. During winters, when there is heavy snowfall, glaciers also come down,” said Swami Raghuvendra Nand, a resident.

“This riverlet needs attention. There have been many incidents. The priests and devotees had to run away from the place many a times,” said Dhaam Singh, a resident.

Construction activity in the area has taken its toll on the Gangotri Temple and other places of tourism and pilgrimages in the vicinity.

A research done by Geological Survey of India (GSI) reveals that Gangotri glacier slided back by ten metres every year between 1935 and 1956. While between 1956 and 1995, it shrinked by 27 to 30 metres and further by 76 metres between 1996 and 1999.

The depleting glacier has also been a major concern for the local population and hermits who have set up hermitages in the Himalayan region.

The authorities said that they are already working on an action plan to save the temple and the glacier.

“Attention needs to be paid to the upper reaches also. We are planning out a strategy with the GSI. We will comply with whatever they suggest,” said R. Minakshi Sundaram, District Magistrate, Uttarakhand.

Perched at a height of 3042 meters, the Gangotri Temple was constructed in the early 18th century by a Gorkha Commander, Amar Singh Thapa.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throng the sacred temple between May and October. (ANI)

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

24 May 2008

Born in the lap of the Garhwal Himalayas at Joshimath in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand, Ashish Kumar Singh became attracted to mountains at a very young age and always dreamt of conquering the lofty peaks. On Thursday morning at 5:30 am, 28-year old Ashish – posted as a constable with the Uttarakhand Police – realised his childhood dream and scaled Mount Everest – the tallest peak in the world.

An avid mountaineer, Ashish was part of a select group of 15 mountaineers chosen by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the expedition. Nine of them successfully reached the peak on Thursday.

On reaching the top of the world, Ashish unfurled the Uttarakhand Police flag, which was presented to him by Director General of Police Subhash Joshi in February this year before he left for the expedition. The team, which comprises of policemen from other states as well, had started their ascent from the base camp at Jhangmu on April 11 and were able to reach their target more than six weeks later.

Elated at Ashish’s feat, DGP Joshi announced a cash reward of Rs 20,000 and also recommended an out of turn promotion as Sub-Inspector for the constable who joined service seven years ago. He would also be felicitated on November 9 – the state foundation day.

But more than his colleagues and superiors in the Uttarakhand Police, it is Ashish’s 64-year old father Bhola Singh, his mother and elder brother and sister who are ecstatic at Ashish’s climb to glory. A retired police Inspector, Bhola recalls how his son used to scale small mountains even as a young child and how they missed him during his brother’s wedding on May 7.

“Ashish was always interested in mountaineering and he completed all the courses at the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering before joining the Uttarakhand Police in 2001,” Bhola said. An adventure lover, besides mountaineering, Ashish had also undertaken courses in para-gliding, rafting and canoeing and taken part in nearly a dozen successful expeditions to peaks like Kamet and Abi-Gamin before he was chosen for the Everest expedition.

“We are all very happy for Ashish and it is because of the blessings of goddess Durga that my son was able to manage the difficult feat. Hopefully he will bring more laurels to the state in the future as well,” said his father.

News Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com

Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehradun, 23 May 2008

Stating that the public-private partnership (PPP) path will not be a good option, the Uttarakhand government today said it had shortlisted five expressions of interest (EoIs) for the expansion of Pithoragarh airport.

“We have shortlisted five expressions of interest for the expansion of Pithoragarh airport,” said Civil Aviation Secretary P C Sharma.

All the five companies that were shortlisted have been asked to send their technical and financial bids within a month. The letters in this regard have already been dispatched.

Sharma said the government had also made a provision of Rs 30 crore for the expansion plan.

Earlier, the finance ministry has raised objections to inviting EoIs and suggested to the civil aviation department to go for PPP in Pithoragarh airport’s expansion programme. But following a meeting of a high-powered committee, it was felt that no company would like to take up the project under the PPP mode and the EoI would only be the viable option.

Last year, the government received 12 expressions of interest (EIs) for the modernisation plans of Pithoragarh airport in the Kumaon region. The companies, which have applied through the EoIs, include the Mumbai-based Atlanta group and some local companies from Uttarakhand.

Sharma said he would not disclose the names of the companies. The government has so far spent Rs 22 crore on acquiring land for the Pithoragarh airport, which is being upgraded to facilitate the landing of 48-72 seater aircraft.

Under the modernisation plan, the length of the airport strip would be increased to 4,800 feet. A separate terminal building will also be constructed.

Meanwhile, the government is also interested in upgrading airstrips in Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts. All these airstrips are not suitable for the operation of 20/50 seater class of aircraft due to their location and surrounding terrain.

Plans are also afoot to construct at least one helipad in all the 13 districts headquarters in the state.

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

Dehra Dun, 21 May 2008

The ongoing turmoil in Tibet has cast its shadow on the annual Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. China has decided to defer it by at least three weeks, citing “domestic reasons”.

According to the external affairs ministry, China has said that it is not prepared to receive pilgrims till June 21 in view of the “domestic conditions”. The ministry has accordingly canceled the visit of the first batch of 60 pilgrims, which was due to leave for Tibet via Uttarakhand from Delhi on June 1.

Although Beijing did not specify whether it was referring to the internal turmoil in Tibet or the recent earthquake in citing “domestic conditions”, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Prakash Pant said: “The yatra has been postponed due to internal problems of China in Tibet.”

The Uttarakhand government is in charge of the pilgrimage from the Indian side up to the border.

The Chinese are also wary of the growing protests in the Indian areas bordering Tibet, and the threatened march by a group of Buddhist monks from Uttarakhand along with the pilgrims.

The MEA has intimated the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the nodal agency which makes arrangements for some 960 pilgrims, about the postponement of the pilgrimage, Pant said.

The minister claimed that Beijing had also asked India to halve the number of batches from the original 16. Officials, however, claimed New Delhi was trying to persuade Beijing to allow bigger batches to accommodate all the 960 pilgrims who had cleared a cumbersome procedure and rigorous medical tests for undertaking the 865-km journey that passes through altitudes as high as 19,500 ft.

The pilgrims, comprising Hindus, Buddhists and Jains, have to trek some 70 km of inhospitable terrain through cold desert conditions for having a ‘darshan’ of Mount Kailash and ritual walking along the 52-km circumference of the Mansarovar lake located at 14,862 ft.

The pilgrimage was suspended between 1962 and 1981 in view of the unfriendly relations between the two countries. Each pilgrim has to pay $500 fee to the Chinese government for the facilities on the Chinese side.

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

By Vipul Goel, Nainital (Uttarakhand), 19 May 2008

For many decades, Municipal Corporation of Nainital and Uttarakhand’s Department of Irrigation have been earning revenues from popular Naini Lake. But no effort has been made by either of them to keep the lake clean.

They have not been able to agree as to who is responsible for the lake’s upkeep.

Commissioner of Kumaon Mandal, S. Raju has been at his wits’ end trying to fix responsibility for the upkeep of the lake.

“This debate has been on for a long time after all the lake belongs to whom– Municipal Corporation or the Irrigation Department. Both make their own claims. At the time of collecting money, Municipal Corporation comes forward and so does the Irrigation Department. But when it comes to the maintenance and cleanliness of the lake, everyone vanishes,” opined Kamal, a local resident.

The history of Nainital is as old as 150 years.

There is a huge turnout of the tourists at Nainital every year.

While the Municipal Corporation earns revenue by collecting boating tax, fishing tax and toll tax. The Irrigation Department earns a big sum by drawing water from the lake.

Many believe that the District administration should be given the responsibility of maintaining the lake.

“District administration is the responsible authority. But it is not getting any benefit from it. It is rather the Municipal Corporation or the Irrigation Department, which are getting benefited from it. I believe that the lake should be handed over to the District administration because so far whatever work has been done there, it was by the District administration,” said Ajay Rawat, an environmentalist.

But no final solution has been reached, the Commissioner is working for documentary proofs.

“Such questions have been raised since every Department has been taking benefits from it (lake). The Municipal Corporation is taking fishing rides and boat rides but when it comes to incurring expenditure, they turn their back. Similarly, the Irrigation Department says that it has the duty of closing the gates surrounding the lake but nothing towards its maintenance,” said S. Raju, Commissioner of the Kumaon Mandal in Nainital.

He says: “I have been who is responsible for it. So far, I have not seen any documents.”

Meanwhile, the Naini lake that draws so many honeymooners and tourists, is becoming dirtier with each passing day.

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

Dehradun, 18 May 2008

Forest fires are quite common in Uttarakhand during summers, when about 65 per cent of Uttarakhand’s forests face the threat of accidental forest fires.

This year has been no exception. There have already been over 800 incidents and over 2000 hectares has been damaged.

In fact, it seems to have become a trend over the last four years, between mid-Februray and mid-June, which is known as the forest fire season.

But now, all that could change. A team of scientists from the Forest Reasearch Institute, Dehradun is collecting and analysing data of forest cover in 13 districts.

The Forest Research Institute has tied up with the Indian Space Research Organization to build a model, which will help keeping the fires in check.

”We are trying to build up a model, so that we can predict as to how we can predict forest fires depending on various seasons and the fuel load content and what will be the extent of fire and gaseous emission,” said Dr Prafulla Soni, Head Deptartment of Ecology and Forestry, FRI.

”So the modeling part will carried out by the Space Research Organization while we will be collecting and analyzing the data,” he added.

This unique tie up between the Forest Research Institute and the Indian Space Research Organization will not only go a long way in protecting Uttarakhand’s precious forest cover, but if a success, this model will then be followed in other States as well.

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