Mussoorie, August 23
Minister of State for Agriculture Prof KV Thomas celebrated Onam in the quiet and serene surroundings of the famous hill station in Mussoorie today.

Thomas who is here to deliver a lecture on governance to probationers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration found a few moments to relax and enjoy the festival of Onam with his family in the town. The Professor after reaching the academy went for a stroll in the market and enjoyed sumptuous food at a restaurant near the proposed Clock Tower.

Avoiding the media, he boarded his vehicle and left for the ITM guest house for a quiet stay. Professor Thomas conducted a meeting yesterday at Dehradun on the issue of foodgrain procurement. He will be delivering his lecture to the new IAS members tomorrow.

Dehradun, August 23
Scores of youths, led by Sudhakar Mishra, today joined the Congress at a state-level convention of the party’s labour cell here.

Inducting them into the partyfold, Uttarakhand Senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said he was very hopeful that the new induction would strengthen the party and ensure its ascent to power in the 2012 Assembly elections in the state.

Dhasmana alleged that the state government machinery had completely failed to provide help to the rains victims. He accused the state BJP government of failing to provide any succour to those affected with rain-linked disasters.

He said the development activities in Uttarakhand had come to a standstill ever since the BJP government came to power in the state.

“The state government has failed to utilise Central funds and a majority of the amount was repeatedly getting lapsed,” he said.

Dhasmana said unemployment was on the rise in the state and the government had so far failed to come up with any employment policy for the youth.

Dehradun Councillors Naveen Bisht and Arun Valmiki were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, August 23
Members of. the Rashtriya Sikh Mahasabha want the state government to provide a special package and bona fide requirement at the Hemkund Sahib.Talking to the media here today, Harpal Singh Sethi, national president, Rashtriya Sikh Mahasabha, said lakhs of national and international devotees visited the gurdwara every year, but they were not able to get basic facilities.

The government had provided amenities at all religious places, but failed to do so here and, thus, they wanted that the government should think about a place like the Hemkund Sahib.

Other than this, the delegation demanded that Gurdwara Gyan Godri Sahib, which is located at Haridwar, should also be started again as instead of the religious place some people had transformed it into a school for scouts and guides.

Rajinder Singh Ranjan, president of the Mahasabha, said they also requested the government to provide a second status to the Punjabi language all over the state as this would help to bring forward the Punjabi culture here. “Punjabi is treated as the second language in Haryana now and it should also get the same status here also,” he mentioned in the conference.

Pitthoragarh, August 23
When the entire nation celebrates Shrawan Poornima (August 24) as the day of Raksha Bandhan, a peculiar custom, which has been followed since ancient times, is celebrated in the Devidhura area of Champawat district in Uttarakhand. The festival, which this year started on August 20, will culminate on August 24 with Bagwal, a stone war between two warring groups of ancient kingdom of Kali Kumaon.

 “This year elaborate arrangements have been made to avoid any bigger bloodshed during the stone war, for which ambulances and medics will be kept ready,” said Prema Panday, chairperson, Zila Panchayat, Champawat.

According to the Devidhura Temple Committee, the ritual of stone war to shed blood equal to what lies in a person’s body, will begin at 10.45 am on August 24 when the fighters from all four clans (kham) will gather at the temple to take blessing of Bahari Devi for the victory of their clan. “The stone war will begin at 2.15 pm and will remain on till the temple priests stop it with the divine intuition,” said Laxman Singh Lamgarhiya, manager of the committee.

Lamgarhiya, who decried the non-cooperation of the Uttarakhand government towards this ancient custom, demanded a sum of Rs 10 lakh for the arrangement of this festival every year. “Lakhs of people gather to witness this festival every year from across the country and abroad, but our means is very limited to make arrangements for them,” said Lamgarhiya.

The preparation for this festival begins on Shrawan Shukla Ekadasi when local people chant the prayer of Goddess Barahi and worship the throne she sits on. On this day the people, who participate in this festival and are divided into four local clans of Balic, Lamgarhia, Chamyal and Gaharwal, collect at the temple and worship the goddess collectively. After this worship is over, all clans select their brave men called Dyoka, who will participate in the Bagwal and since that day these persons are treated specially in their respective families and served the food before other members of the family eat.

According to the legends related with this festival, in ancient times human sacrifice was being made at the altar of the goddess, surrounded by these four clans. The temple used to provide one human sacrifice per day for the goddess. One day when the turn of the only grandson of an old woman of the Chamyal clan came, she prayed to the goddess to save her grandson. The goddess said this Bagwal would be played among able males of all four clans till the blood measuring in one body was shed.

The tradition of the Barahi worship is in abundance in Nepal where Barahi is the Goddess of Water and lives in water bodies and protects the interests of fishermen.

On the evening of the Bagwal day, all brave youths gather at the temple complex with their bamboo shields in one hand and stones in the other, as the pujari gives a signal, they start hurling stones at one another. This process goes on till the blood measuring the quantity in one man’s body is shed.

The noted historian, Dr MC Bhatt, relates this festivity with the Bagwali tradition of Shakti pooja. “The various forms of the Shakti pooja were prevalent in the mythological era. The worship of Shakti in the Bagwali form was one of them. The old sanctity of feelings is maintained by every person who participates in this battle which is for them a form of devotion for Goddess Barahi. “When the Dyokas (the braves) of a rival clan prepare for this fight they just behave like friends and when this Bagwal ends they remain the friends. No one becomes biased to each other,” said RP Gahtori, local villager. The Bagwal has become popular festivities now.

At the temple complex in Devidhura only a symbolic stone war is demonstrated under the guidance of district and police officers. “In the old days this stone war prolonged some times for more than an hour leaving tens of participants wounded,” said Kriti Ballabh Shastri, priest of the temple.

The Bagwal stone war is also being related to the Mahabharata epic by some historians. The Mahabharata has mentioned that the army of pahari tribes participated in the Mahabharata battle with stones in their hands. “It reflects that the stones were traditional weapons in the armoury of Himalayan tribes where 20 places related with the stone battle (Bagwal) still exist,” said MC Bhatt, an eminent historian of the Himalayan region.

The Bagwal celebrations at Devidhura is not only an ancient depiction of the hill tradition but it is also rich in cultural expressions. During these five days of Bagwal, the villagers from interior parts of Kali Kumaon play Kumaoni songs as phag, chanchari, ramoul, jhora. Situated at a height of 2,000 metre from the sea level, Devidhura has its place in Manas Khand of the Skand Puran and various other Hindu scriptures. Some local believe the ashram of sage Muchukund, who was having a boon by God to endure his sleep during Satyug and finished Kalyavan when his sleep was disturbed in the Dwapar era, was also situated at this place, “the remains of which are still visible here,” says the chairman of the temple committee.

Pitthoragarh, August 23
Villagers of Dharchula subdivision of Pitthoragarh district have submitted a memorandum to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) demanding rights to extract the yarsa gumba herb in their region too like they do in the Munsiyari region. “While people of Munsiyari extract this precious Himalayan herb and have become prosperous, farmers of Dharchula are being charged under the 26 Forest Act for doing so and being declared criminals,” said Mahendra Singh Budiyal, leader of the local tribal community.

According to a forest officer, the extraction of yarsa gumba in the Dharchula region is illegal as the entire area of high-altitude meadow in this region falls under the Askot wildlife sanctuary. “People who extract yarsa gumba in the sanctuary area are to be sued under the 26 Wildlife Act to prevent the violation of forest laws,” said Nishant Verma, DFO, Pitthoragarh.

The people of Dharchula say they are being humiliated under this Act by the forest people, but they will continue their fight till they get their rights to extract yarsa gumba. “There are two laws prevalent in the district on one subject which should be removed,” said Ashok Singh Nabiyal, Chairman of the Town Area Committee, Dharchula.

Almost 15 Van Forest Panchayats of Munsiyari Subdivision have been given rights to extract yarsa gumba and sell it to the Van Nigam for the past 10 years by the Uttarakhand government. According to forest officers, out of nearly 80 kg of yarsa gumba, extracted in the district every year, only 40 kg is legally counted, for the rest 40 kg villagers of Dharchula Subdivision are often arrested when they try to sell their collection. “This is sheer act of inflicting humiliation on the villagers of Dharchula who have no other employment than to extract yarsa gumba during three months every year and sell to international consumers who reach their doorstep to collect it in good prices,” said Ahok Nabiyal.

The movement demanding the extraction rights of yarsa gumba and legalising it gaining momentum in Dharchula and is being supported by every political party. “If we do not get justice here in Dharchula, we will go to Dehradun to meet the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary in the Uttarakhand government and will continue our movement even if they don’t accept our demand because our people are facing insults despite not doing any crime in extracting this herb which decays if not extracted every year,” said Kailash Rawat, president of the Block Congress Committee, Dharchula.

Dehradun, August 23
The nationwide ban on smoking in public places seems to have no impact in the state capital. People here can be seen smoking everywhere, in government offices, bus stands, inside buses, markets, hospitals, cinema halls and restaurants etc, but no action has evidently been taken against the violators. Not even a single case has been registered nor any one fined in the city since the rule has been implemented.

The Dehradun administration admits that it has not fined even a single person since the ban came into existence.

Sources in the administration claim that they have no idea about the notification been issued, but all gazetted officers are free to chalan the person caught smoking in public places.

“Nobody has been penalised so far under the Anti-smoking Act here,” confirmed ADM Vinod Kumar Suman, while Dehradun District Magistrate Sachin Kurve said he needed to check why no chalan had been done till now.

The ban on smoking in public places came into effect on October 2, 2008, under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, which is also known as the Anti-Smoking Act. The provision said anyone found violating the ban would be fined Rs 200 and if the offender refused to pay, he would have to appear before the SDM’s court.

Samriti, a PR consultant, wonders if the government is so serious about citizens’ health then why not impose a ban on cigarette manufacturers instead of on smoking. The male brigade however feels that it is not practical to impose the ban. Most of them are convinced that any drive to fine smokers will be short-lived. “Let’s see how many times they challan us,” exclaimed Sunil Sharma, a businessman.

Bus drivers are usually seen smoking while driving, though “No Smoking” is mentioned in the bus. They say they feel sleepy if they don’t smoke. “We need to travel long distances and to keep awake we need to smoke. It is difficult to stop every 5 minutes,” said a driver en route Delhi. “A lot of things are written, who cares for that,” he asks and adds, “It doesn’t matter, as no one checks the buses and we can easily throw it away if 
anyone comes”.

Talking to The Tribune, the ADM said a case needed to be registered for challaning and it was only the Police Department that registered the case.

“If the Police Department and other agencies act seriously in this matter, the government can generate a good revenue for the state with the challans, besides taking care of the health of the public,” a senior official claimed.

MA Ganpati, IG, Gharwal Range, exclaimed, “Enforcement of the Anti-tobacco Control Law has to be done at the level of the administration. It is not our priority at present as we have to deal with other things like crime and disaster management etc. I agree that it is the duty of the police to enforce the laws, but it will succeed only if the Health Department takes out informative drive and educate people regarding its consequences,” he affirmed. 

Dehradun, August 23
Citizens of Doon were witness to different facets of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) brought alive by ace photographer Bhumesh Bharti at his photo exhibition titled “Moods of FRI Campus” at the Uttaranchal Gramin Bank Art Gallery here today.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr SS Negi, Director, FRI.

Giving details about his love affair with the FRI, Bhumesh said: “I have lived in close proximity of the institute and wanted to paint it. Paint I did with the photographers”. He was accompanied by his wife and father who continue to motivate and inspire him.

In fact, the eye behind the camera was all too visible in his photographs. The FRI building built by the British almost competes with the Rashtrapati Bhawan in grandeur, and the photographer in Bhumesh managed to capture the hidden and mysterious aspect of the building. From the imposing wrought iron gate to the insignia, all have been beautifully photographed.

The symmetry and the arches of the building, some in black and white, while others set in bright tones are at once catching and add a rare appeal.

Spellbound by the 50 photographs on display, the Director of the FRI could not help but offer a permanent space for the photographer. “I think the photographs speak for themselves and we would like to show case them at the institute itself,” said the Director.

A large number of dignitaries, including Thireesh Kapoor, Chairman of the Uttaranchal Gramin Bank, artistes Monica Talukdar, Sahay, Satpal Gandhi and others were present. 

Dehradun, August 23
After four consecutive years of crop failure, good snowfall and rain this year has turned the tide for Uttarakhand apple growers who are in the midst of a bumper crop, but poor marketing and identity crisis are proving to be barriers in the accruement of desired profit to the farmers of the state.

The major apple belt area comprising Sankari, Naugaon, Purola and Arakot in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Nainital and Chakrata received good snowfall this year ensuring an adequate dormancy period for apples to get the desired size and taste.

“We are in the middle of a bumper crop and the production is expected to hit, at least, 1 lakh metric tonne. For the past two years, there was not adequate snowfall which affected the cooling period, a prerequisite for apples to gain maturity,” said Dr BP Nautiyal, Director of the Horticulture Departent, Uttarakhand.

As the state apple hits the market first and has the season’s first advantage, 70 per cent of the apples are already in the market and only the late varieties of apples such as Rhymer and Buckingham will come in the market in September. As of now, 32,230 hectare of land is under the apple production.

Apples in the state were introduced in the pre-Independence era and the most popular was the Red Delicious, a hybrid variety that was also introduced in Himachal Pradesh by the British. The Red Delicious variety is mainly grown in Chobatia, Munsiyari, Chakrata, Harsil, Joshimath and Naugaon.

Unlike Himachal Pradesh, in Uttarakhand the apples are yet to become the mainstay of economy or change the fortune of the farmers, and the farmers continue to dither to adopt the apple crop in a big way. “The apples of Uttarakhand also face an identity crisis of sorts as Himachal Pradesh apples have a clear advantage - the name sells and they are clearly ahead in the race as far as marketing goes. In fact, the Arakot Tyuni belt that is near Himachal Pradesh has been attracting apple suppliers from across the border and at times the distinction between Himachal and Uttarakhand apples blurs.

Then the culture of nurturing orchards and expanding the area is still to seep in. We have to increase the quality of apple plants. Unfortunately, we have not been able to introduce newer disease varieties nor spread orchard management procedures among the farmers,” said Mahender Singh Kunwar, whose organisation is engaged in horticulture activities in the state.

However, after the creation of Uttarakhand, serious efforts are on to revive old orchards and also encourage farmers to embrace new varieties. “Our farmers are still way behind in collection and plucking methods. They lack knowledge of the grading system. On our part, we have given them the timeline. At times they pluck immature apples that may not fetch a good price,” said SK Singh, District Horticulture Officer, Dehradun.

Besides, this year the Horticulture Department did not go in for departmental intervention for the sale of C-grade Apples. Most of these were sold at the factory rate of Rs 10 and the processing units came forward to buy them. Where ever the farmers were facing difficulty like in Chamoli our arrangement with Patanjali helped immensely,” said Dr Nautiyal.

He said farmers were also given subsidy for procuring crates. “It is an open commodity. I do not think lack of crates could pose a problem. The department is giving subsidy of Rs 10 per on corrugated boxes and I think with time we will be able to overcome marketing glitches,” he said Nautiyal.