The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Let’s protect elephant to save ecosystem
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

An elephant was electrocuted in a field in Haridwar recently. A file photo

Haridwar, October 3
For the past three years, October 4 has been celebrated as Elephant Day in accordance with Wildlife Week in the state and the day assumes greater significance as India has 21,000 or 25,000 elephants, the largest surviving population of the Asian elephant, which is approximately about 50 per cent of the total world population of the species.

Elephant Day is not a fixed feature and is shifted accordingly by respective states, but is usually observed during Wildlife Week, which is held in the first week of October.

The state is home to approximately 1,340 elephants with 14 protected areas reserved for them.

However, contrary to the numbers, all is not well with this giant species and their survival and movement has been severely affected due to various anthropogenic factors. In the past few decades, developmental activities and destruction of habitats have caused a major decline in the abundance of terrestrial flora and fauna. The area-wise decline in the number of elephants is a major concern not only for wildlife experts, but is also harmful to the long-term viability of the terrestrial ecosystem.

Uttarakhand boasts of a special protected habitat for the Asian elephant (elephas maximus) in the Rajaji National Park, which came into being in 1983 with the amalgamation of three sanctuaries, namely Rajaji, Chilla and Motichur. The Rajaji Park is home to 416 Asian elephants and has a number of well-established traditional movement routes for elephants of nearby areas.

A largescale habitat loss and human encroachment on forest land in the state have escalated the instances of the man-elephant conflict. It has been observed that tuskers are dying mainly due to unnatural causes. This should ring bells of alarm for the government and animal lovers. For the past two years alone, around 20 elephants have died either through electrocution, poisoning, gun shot or bull fight in the Rajaji-Corbett wildlife corridor.

Rajaji National Park’s Director SS Rassailly points out that such weeks generate awareness about wildlife. Also, as elephas maximus is synonymous with the state, there is need to create awareness among people residing in the elephant corridor on the consequences of human intervention in the forests.

This year park authorities are conducting two workshops for children and for elders at Motichur. Elephants have specially been brought from Chilla to acquaint children better with this species.

While the other workshop is for the people who are severely affected due to elephant intrusions in their fields and human-elephant conflict. In the past few years, incidents of human-animal conflict have been on the rise. Elephants usually ravage crops in villages adjacent to the Ganga. More than 12 persons have been killed by elephants in the state.

“We are trying to make Hathi Diwas not only a mere formality but to make it a reality and try to solve the problems of both elephants and people. Elephant conservation is of paramount importance and such occasions like Elephant Day help in long run generating awareness and conservation of this species,” said Rasaily.

There is a need for maintaining the sanctity and exclusiveness of elephant corridors which are either receding or being threatened by human encroachments. Former park Director GS Pandey points out: “Elephant is the specie which moves on in a certain traditional paths or corridors, which are being obstructed by highways, railway tracks, canals and human settlements. These are primary causes of elephant moving into civilisations and hence more incidents of human-animal conflict”.

Wildlife experts suggest that apart from observing annually Wildlife Week, the emphasis should be on organising workshops, camps and other events to create awareness among people on wildlife. It should be ensured that steps are taken for conservation of animals to produce long-term results. Dr Ritesh Joshi, an eminent scientist, who has been studying elephant for the past one decade, stresses the need for creating more awareness at the grass-roots level not only for one species, but for the whole wildlife.

Tapping Tourism Potential
Uttarakhand rides high on river rapids
Whereas the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam has selected 11 spots on seven rivers of the region to be developed as rafting stations, the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam has selected mainly Saryu and Kali for this purpose. The 70-km stretch from Devprayag to Rishikesh is considered the best rafting stretch in Uttarakhand
BD Kashniyal

Pitthoragarh, October 3
Perennial Himalayan rivers have been a source of employment from times immemorial since they are considered sacred. Now, these crystal-clear rivers are being used to attract more adventure lovers. Two autonomous nigams of the state, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) and Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), have started river rafting in the Himalayan rivers to attract young tourists who come to the state seeking adventure.

After a huge success of river-rafting operations in the Ganga, the KMVN, the nodal agency for tourism development in the Kumoan region, has started river-rafting courses in the Saryu river at Ghat in Pitthoragarh district. “We are organising an eight-day package of river rafting for 17 girls on 6-km river stretch from Bautari to Ghat which will be extended to 25 km from Ghat to Pancheswar, when all these girls get trained,” said Dinesh Gururani, Manager, Adventure Tourism, KMVN. He said during the preliminary course, participants would be taught peddling, swimming, cliff jump and rescue action. The Uttarakhand government has selected the field of adventure tourism besides spiritual one to attract more tourists to virgin areas of the state. “The state government is taking help of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in formulating project reports to develop a specific area of water sports like rafting, which not only can be held as a round-the-year activity, but can also attract tourists in all seasons,” said AK Singh, Deputy Director, Uttrakhand Tourism Development Corporation. “Besides excellent rapids in the Saryu, Kali and Ganga rivers and their tributaries, we have 83 snow-covered Himalayan peaks, 112 trekking routes, which could fetch good revenue for the state as well as provide better adventure facilities for economy-class tourists,” he added.

The Saryu, which forms a combination of glacial-fed rivers of the Saryu and Ramganga rivers, is considered one of the best places for river rafting in the Kumaon region. “Last year, 80 youths from Champawat district were trained for 15 days. They were briefed on the use of raft, life jacket, life ropes beside giving them training in peddling and swimming. Sixteen youths were trained on the Mahakali river on Indo-Nepal border from December 10 to 16 last year,” said Dinesh Gururani.

Elaborating the rapids in the Kali river, Gururani said being a fast-flowing river, even rapids are more adventurous than the Ganga at Rishikesh. Out of the first lot of 16 youths who were trained, 12 have been commissioned by the Tourism Department and given licences of river guides.

“The KMVN has a plan to link these rafting facilities with the tourist inflow as we are developing a package which will cost only Rs 800 to a tourist who wants to look for one rafting trip in the Saryu. This facility will be ready by the next year and the tourist coming for our trekking routes will also be linked to this rafting attraction,” said Girdhar Singh Manral, Manager, Adventure Tourism, KMVN.

“This rafting stretch is fully developed. We will be able to employ more than 1,000 youths of the district in this activity,” claimed Manral.

After the success of the GMVN to link rafting with the tourist inflow at Rishikesh on the Ganga, where besides the GMVN, more than 107 private partners are providing rafting facilities to tourists, are also providing direct employment to more then 5,000 persons.

“The Ganga from Rishikesh to Devprayag is overcrowded due to rafting operations of these companies. Now, we want to redirect this rush towards Kumaon rivers,” said AK Singh.

“Our rivers in Kumaon are not only more challenging for adventure seekers, but we also have a rich bio diversity in dense forests across these rivers. We can run adventure activities throughout the year except the four months of rainy season,” said Gururani.

AK Singh, who, for the first time in 1993-94, participated in a rafting expedition with a team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in the Kali river, which forms the border between India and Nepal, from Tawaghat to Tanakpur for five days, was of the opinion that the Kali river was more challenging than the Ganga from the rafting point of view, but a lack of link roads remains the main hindrance to develop it for rafting.

“Besides, the Kosi river, near Corbett Park, and rivers like Saryu and Ramganga are future potential for rafting in the Kumaon region,” he added.

Whereas the GMVN has selected 11 spots on seven rivers of the region to be developed as rafting stations, KMVN has selected mainly Saryu and Kali for this purpose. The 70-km stretch from Devprayag to Rishikesh is considered the best rafting stretch in Uttarakhand.

“We are trying our best to develop rafting facilities in Kumaon according to international standards as this is one of the selected activities, which, in future, will be able to place this region on the map of world adventure tourism,” said Ashok Joshi, General Manager, Tourism, KMVN.