Haridwar, August 28
Whenever one visits Haridwar, especially Har-ki-Pauri, one can see sea shells on sale. Many pilgrims buy shells for religious purposes as these are used during rituals.

But not many pilgrims and tourists know that many of these varieties are rare and come under the protected category and it is illegal to sell or buy these.

Similarly, cobras, pythons and other animals can be seen at these places and are used by ‘godmen’ to collect money in the name of religion. The commercial use of many animals is unlawful.

As this has been going on for years, no one has paid heed to this practice. The trade in shells is worth crores of rupees.

Sea shells worth lakhs were seized during a joint raid recently conducted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and the People for Animals (PFA), an NGO run by Maneka Gandhi, with help of the Forest Department.

These shells are brought from coastal areas and are sold openly not only in the holy city of Haridwar but also in Rishikesh and Nainital at reasonable rates.

Not only pilgrims, but sellers, police and forest employees showed little awareness about the law in this regard.

According to the Wildlife Act, selling and possession of shells is a crime and invites punishment. These come under Schedule 1 and 4 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

Initially, the traders at Sapt Rishi protested against the raid but later, they sought some time to clear the protected species from their shelves when they got to know that the trade in some shell species was illegal.

Sanjay Chopra, the representative of the traders, said that they were oblivious of the fact that sea shells were a protected species and accused the forest department of not making them aware in this regard.

“The laxity of forest officials has allowed this trade to prosper. Had they made us aware or issued guidelines about the species that come in the preserved category, we would not have sold them.

“The forest officials should now clearly tell us about the species in the protected list that are illegal to sell or possess,” said Chopra.

The joint team also seized pythons, snakes, parrots and other reptiles which come under the protected category at Har-ki-Pauri.

Later, these were released at the Rajaji National Park in presence of forest officials. A parrot was sent to Malsi Deer Park in Dehradun.

Chila ranger MS Negi said that on the instructions of Chief Judicial Magistrate, these protected species were medically examined before their release.

Divisional Forest Officer RD Pathak said that the department was making a list of those persons who make these protected animals a means to earn money.

“We will also carry out awareness programmes so that traders and common people refrain from buying or collecting such articles and pay to see the display of these animals.

But social activists and wildlife experts hoped the police and forest department would make sure that such illegal activities don’t prosper again in the name of religion.

Pitthoragarh, August 28
Being an area inhabited by ‘Shaivites’ since times immemorial, the worship of ‘Shiva’ and ‘Parvati’ assumes much importance in the Kumaon region.

In September, people here celebrate the “Sathon-Aanthon” festival, which is devoted to Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, also known as Gaura.

Notably, Shiv-Parvati are worshipped all over the Himalayan region as Gaura-Maheshwar - in the form of Bhavani in Jammu and Kashmir, Parvati in Himachal Pradesh, Nanda in Garhwal and Gaura in eastern Kumoan and western Nepal.

On the fifth day of the month of ‘Bhadon’ (this year on August 28), the village women collect seeds of five local pulses, especially grown in the Himalayan region, and pour them into water for two days.

If these pulses sprout and are given to those women who cannot beget children, people believe that the infertility is cured.

On the seventh day, villagers clean these swollen seeds and on the eighth day worship Lord Shiva and Parvati. The seeds are distributed as ‘parsad’.

“The tradition of worshiping Lord Shiva and Parvati as Gaura and Maheshwar seems to have been conceived during the Kulind era around 2,000 years ago when batches of Khas tribes settled in Yamuna Valley in Garhwal.

It is evident in local folklores, as the description of river Yamuna is frequent in them,” informed Dr. Ram Singh, an eminent social historian from Kumaon region.

The festival is celebrated with traditional fervour in the entire area of Pitthoragarh and Champawat district, including Soor, Seera, Askot, Berinag, Thal, Barakot, Lohaghat, Pancheswar, Talladesh, Gumdesh and Sui, and Bisuing areas of Kali, Kumaon.

On the eighth day, ‘Gaura Pujan’, the marriage of Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvati is solemnised.

The idols of Gaura and Maheshwar is made out of local grass. While elderly women of the village clean the wet pulses, those married make the idols.

“The worship of ‘Gaura-Maheshwar’ is depicted as a tale of a common ‘pahari’ girl, who gets married, faces difficulties at her in-law’s house and faces the wrath of the second wife if the husband marries again,” said Padma Datt Pant, an expert on eastern Kumaon culture.

“The tale of Gaura is the same as that of Nanda Devi in Garhwal, but the latter has been glorified as a royal goddess while Gaura is depicted as a common girl from the hills who faces hardships,” informed Dr. Ram Singh.

“The tale of Gaura-Maheshewar also reflects the real hardship faced by Himalayan women. When Gaura is married off to Maheshewar who resides in the high Himalayan peaks, as per the legend, she sees only snow and fog, quite unlike her mother’s place, which is full of greenery. However, when she visits her mother, she is not welcomed and has to return to the high peaks to face hardships again, which is why she is revered by local women,” he added.

Haridwar, August 28
Sanitation and cleanliness of the city suffered badly with 350 odd cleaning contractual workers abstaining from work as they held a protested and staged a dharna regarding the non-payment of their salaries yesterday.

Protesting at the municipality office, the contractual workers raised slogans against the executive officer and municipality chairman for not paying attention towards their problems.

The problem arisen when the municipality in its meeting has passed a resolution citing a scam in cash payment and irregularities in payment mode to the employees’ specially contractual ones.

In the resolution it was stated that now onwards the payment will be done through account transaction and the payment will be temporarily barred to those contractual workers who don’t have account till they open one such.

But contractual workers say that they had not been properly informed about this and till they open account cash payment should be made instantly to them as it has been in the past.

Several ward members have condemned the strike terming it uncalled for as payment done through account number is apt and anomalies in payment is avoided through this method.

The safai karmacharis have warned of stern steps if their payment is not made within a week in cash as for past two months and there families are also suffering due to stoppage of payment.

Dehradun, August 28
Diploma certificates were awarded to 16 students on completion of professional accounting and computer courses by the Institute of Computerised Accounts and Technology (I-CAT) at a small function held here yesterday.

Chief guest chairman of Baluni classes Dr Naveen Baluni said the valuable training provided at I-CAT would be an immense help to the students, added that the institute provided quality education at nominal rates.

While special guest engineer PK Khatri said I-CAT was a leader in providing computer accountancy education in the city.

Indu Verma, Pradeep Kumar, Apurva Agarwal, Sachin Duseja, Kamini Negi, Shailesh Jaiswal, Indra Thapa, Kushbir Singh Rana, Naveen Singh, Geetika, Suman Singh Rawat , Seema Rawat, Anup Pal, Satish Negi, Ajit, Simran and Deepika Rawat received diplomas yesterday.

The institute conducts courses in professional accounting, triple tally and advance diploma in computer application.