Dehradun, April 17
As the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI) observes World Heritage Day tomorrow, it faces an enormous task of keeping the rich heritage legacy of the state alive.

With encroachments entering a virulent phase, the ASI has presented a proposal to a central committee for declaring Badrinath and Kedarnath temples as protected monuments.

As custodian of the heritage sites, along with the state government, the ASI faces the twin challenge of not unduly obstructing traditional practices observed since antiquity and also preserving the heritage sites for posterity.

“Besides the two temples, we have also proposed that the Shiva Temple at Maletha (Tehri), St. Thomas Church (Dehradun) and Badrinath and Kedarnath temples (Chamoli) be accorded protection status by the ASI.

“Our collective heritage can be utilised to reshape and revitalise the economy and culture of the state. It rests on the premises that it can add to the tourism appeal of the state and rejuvenate economy.

“Besides, both protected and unprotected monuments and heritage sites require to be located on a city map so that these are easily accessible to the tourists,” said Dr DV Sharma, superintending archaeologist, ASI, Dehradun circle.

The state boasts of several types of monuments and archaeological remains. These can be broadly classified as temples, archaeological sites, rock inscriptions, caves, graves of Britishers and memorials.

There are a total of 42 protected monuments in Uttarakhand under the Archaeological Survey of India. In Dehradun there are five monuments and Roorkee has one.

Among the protected monuments is the Jageshwar group of temples, a complex of 125 temples. These temples are dedicated to Shiva and Goddesses Jageshwar, Mrityunjaya, Dandehswar, Kedareshwar Baleshwar, Pushti Devi, Chandika, Kalika and Lakshmi.

Here the ASI has completed repair work and carried renovation at the Katarmal Sun Temple at Almora where miniature paintings have been restored back through colour integration. Renovation and repair work is also being carried at the Baijnath temple, Chandpur Fort, Khal Chamoli.

“At some of the temples, the stones were either dislodged or decayed, we either treated or placed new stones in order to add strength. We had to rely on masons from Agra and its adjoining villages as there are very few in the state who are conversant with stone masonary seen at these temples. Even the stones are not locally available and have to be procured from outside for repair work. “Though we try to train local artisans, still there remains a dearth of skilled craftsmen. Many have given up their traditional jobs, others may be too old to take up the strenuous work,” said MS Chauhan, ASI, Dehradun circle. The temples are in the Nagar Vallabhi style and built on Vastu Kala shastra.

Moreover before carrying out the repair work, the ASI carries out documentation and photography of the temple or site so that its originality is maintained.

Climatic conditions and diverse geographical areas have to be considered before launching any conservation activity. The region experiences both heavy rainfall and snowfall, causing much damage to the monuments and sites. However, in order to ensure the longevity of the monuments, the ASI has to seek cooperation of locals. “Without interfering with the religious practices of the locals, we have to carry out conservation activities. Most temples in Uttarakhand have begun to burn ghee lamps. We held meetings with the priests and asked them to refrain from using mustard oil at the temples. The soot generated from the burning of the oil not only looks ugly but is also difficult to erase.

“It emits carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide that endangers the temple paintings,” said Manoj Saxena assistant archaeologist.

Similarly, at Mahsu Devata Temple at Hanol, the ASI could not carry out repair work at the temple ceiling without the permission of the local deity. “Despite the fact that the temple is a protected monument, we could carry out repair works after talks with the priests the local deity was invoked and his permission sought,” said MS Chauhan, deputy superintending archaeologist.

In order to boost conservation activities in the state, experts say while the state boasts of ecologically protected zones, similar treatment should also be accorded to areas of archaeological importance.

“We have lost several monuments to encroachments and real estate. The sites should be kept free of encroachments with no activity around heritage building. Uncontrolled growth should be stopped around monuments as the cultural heritage of a country is no longer considered from the narrow regional point of view. In this campaign, the youth should be involved.

“The public should be encouraged to adopt sites and places of historical importance. In this way we would be broadening the parameters of government and private participation,”said PN Onial, a renowned academician and historian.

Dehradun, April 17
Eyeing elections as a good opportunity for expansion of Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi), party leaders have announced the launch of SAD (Delhi) Uttarakhand unit on April 19.

Making this disclosure today morning, general secretary of the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Dehradun, Manjeet Singh Sudan said besides formation of Uttarakhand unit of SAD (Delhi), they have also decided to support the Congress during the Lok Sabha polls.

While praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sudan said, “India is safe in the hands of Dr Singh, who is a world renowned economist. During his tenure as PM, he has put the country on the fast track of development.”

Sudan alleged that most of the political parties had exploited the Sikhs for their petty political interests.

“In the past, I was associated with Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal). But due to their ignorant attitude towards the Sikhs in Uttarakhand, I left the party,” he informed, while adding that now he along with his supporters would be joining SAD (Delhi).

Meanwhile, Sudan informed that besides the launch of Uttarakhand unit of SAD (Delhi), they would hold a massive conference of Sikhs in Dehradun on April 19. Besides, leaders of SAD (Delhi), president of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (DSGPC) Paramjit Singh Sarna would also be attending the conference.

Dehradun, April 18
With the temperatures soaring, animals are coming out of their forest habitat and entering human settlements in search of water.

A neelgai and its calf was attacked by a pack of dogs when the animals strayed into Jagjitpur early this morning.

The four-year- old calf was badly wounded and smeared in blood. Some villagers came to its rescue and drove away the dogs. Montu Chaudhari, a local resident, said: “At about 7.30 am, we heard dogs barking. We came out and saw them attacking the calf.We locked the poor animal, which was in a state of shock, in a room and shooed away the dogs.”

Said Chaudhary RajKumar and Chaudhary Rajesh: “It was quite a tough job catching the calf and locking him in a room. We called the forest officials so that his medical care could be provided.”

Half an hour later, a forest team led by forest officer GL Dabral, Khadak Bahadur and Mahavir visited the village and took away the calf. After treatment , it was again left at the Rajaji National Park so that it could return to its habitat.

In another such incident last week, a deer had entered a house in Krishna Nagar in search of water but panicked on seeing people gather around him and tried to escape. It hid inside a room and was finally rescued by forest officials.

Also, elephants have been spotted in the Chandighat Bridge area trying to cross the highway to drink water and bathe in the river water. Experts say the drying up water resources and global warming is to blame for these animals venturing out of their habitats for survival.

Haridwar, April 17
Private schools are facing stiff resistance from parents as they hiked annual and monthly fee charges manifold. Parents are getting support from various quarters of society, including Nayi Disha, Apna Manch (NDAM), a social organisation.

The organisation is demanding instant rollback of the hike.

The NDAM activists have put the onus on the state government for keeping silent on this public issue. Sanjay Chopra, convener of the Manch. termed private schools stance as an act of exploitation in the name of education.

“This is ridiculous that school managements are aligning fee hike with Sixth Pay Commission,” Chopra. Every parent is not central or state government employee, said Chopra.

Many private school managers justify the hike by saying that the infrastructure and state-of-art facilities provided in schools are borne out of the fees and it is eventually for the benefit of the students.

Many private schools in Roorkee, Mangalore, Lakshar have also increased the fees in view of the hike in salaries of government employees.

Labour leader, Bhoopendra Rajput termed the fee hike as inappropriate and demanded a high level probe into this matter, which arises every year in the beginning of new academic session.

“Earlier it used to be one school’s monopoly and parents used to succumb to the pressure. But this time as it everywhere therefore, people are coming out open against the hike,” said JP Pandey, a protestor.

The Manch activists have decided to meet secretary education Dr Rakesh Kumar in this regard to look into the matter.

Among those who voiced against the fee hike were Satvir pal, Anil Gupta, Mahendra Saini, JayRam Yadav, Kundan Negi, Vikas Sharma, Vishal Kakkad, Sandeep Gupta, Akhilesh Gupta, ManiRam Jakhmola, Pooran Chand Gosain, Anil Joshi, Vimal Thakur, Dharmendra Rawat, MoolChand Kashyap among others.

Dehradun, April 17
The IVth All-India Hugh Catchpole Memorial English debate competition concluded at the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). A total of 18 teams participated in the English debate, which was held in four pools.

The topics for the discussion included “Honesty is no longer the best policy”, “Beauty pageants do more good than harm”, “Reality TV does more good than harm”, “India should adopt English as the Official language” and “Peer Pressure does more good than harm”.

Cadet Astitva Tyagi (RIMC- II); Cadet Abindu Dhar (RIMC- I); Rachit Aggarwal (Sherwood College) and Anchali Singh (Wynberg Allen School) were declared as the best speakers of the four pools.

In the second preliminary round, four teams namely RIMC-I (348), RIMC-II (333.5) Wynberg Allen School (316) and YPS, Patiala (323.5) qualified for the coalition round. Since two teams from RIMC that qualified, the RIMC-I team withdrew from the coalition round. Subsequently, Mayo College for Girls, Ajmer, which was the best team next in line, substituted the RIMC-I team in the coalition round.

In the coalition round (semifinal), four teams merged into two teams comprising Mayo College for Girls, Ajmer and RIMC in one team and Wynberg Allen School and YPS, Patiala in the other team.

The participants from RIMC were cadet Astitiva Tyagi and cadet Archit Gupta and the participants from the Mayo College for Girls were Damini Roy and Karishma Kadyan. The participants from YPS, Patiala were Abeer and Chinar Kad. The participants from Wynberg Allen were Vinith Kurian and Anchali Singh.

The topic for the discussion was “Cellular phones should be allowed in schools”. The master of the ceremony and the timekeeper for the coalition round were cadet Ankur Rawat and cadet Siddhartha Prateek Singh. The team comprising YPS, Patiala and Wynberg Allen School qualified for the final round. Cadet Archit Gupta of RIMC was awarded the Best Speaker in the coalition round.

The topic of discussion for the finals was “Leadership is all about giving incentives”. The master of the ceremony and the timekeeper were cadet Abindu Dhar and cadet Astitva Tyagi, respectively. The participants from Wynberg Allen School were Vinith Kurian, Anchali Singh and Pulakit Singh and the participants from YPS, Patiala were Abeer, Chinar Kad and Amrita Mann. All the participants were awarded participation certificates and the escorts as well as the judges were given mementoes.