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The Muslim officer who raised 36 temples from shambles
Dehradun, October 24 Hasan worked round the clock and today all temples (big and small) in Uttarakhand, popularly known as Dev Bhoomi, don a magnificent look. From landscaping to lighting, provision of civic amenities and repair works, Hasan overlooked every aspect. His achievement can well be gauged from the fact that today Hindu priests ask Hasan to perform aarti, whenever he visits a temple. It may be mentioned here that with a view to taking over the conservation and management of monuments and sites of Uttarakhand from its parent body (Agra Circle) of the ASI, the Dehra Dun circle came into existence on June 16, 2003, with Hasan taking over charge. "There are 40 protected monuments/sites of historical importance in this region and a majority of them were in a shambles. My sole aim was to ensure complete conservation of all of these," said Hasan, adding that initially the task appeared to be extremely difficult. Hasan felt hurt and belittled when initially some people questioned his credibility, considering that he is a Muslim, but undeterred by such cynicism, he began his mission to restore to the temples their lost glory. During the past five years, one by one, Hasan has managed to give a fresh look to the temples, some of which were crumbling. Some of the renowned temples renovated by the ASI are Surya Temple (Almora), Jageshwar group of temples, (Almora), Baijnath group of temples (Bageshwar), Ancient group of temples (Adibadri Chamoli), Siva Temple (Lakhmandal Dehra Dun), Badrinath group of temples (Almora) and Mritunjaya group of temples (Almora). Sign boards, urinals, ramp for the disabled, history of temples on stone, suggestion box are all Hasan’s contributions. "The conservation and renovation of monuments/temples in Uttarakhand is not an easy thing. Natural calamities, landslides, snowfall and unpredictable weather make the job of workers extremely difficult. “ I used to remain stationed at the sites, where work was in progress during the night to ensure that everything proceeded smoothly, besides sorting out the difficulties being faced by labourers. In return, I got immense satisfaction, as now a major chunk of the sites/temples in the state that comes under the ASI are in sound condition," says a visibly happy Hasan. The most contentious issue that Hasan had had to face in his life was when a few people raised questions over his religion. "My job is similar to that of a doctor. I had to cure my patients and that is exactly what I intend to do while dealing with sites coming under the ASI, irrespective of the fact whether it is a temple, church, mosque or gurdwara. “Today, my work speaks for myself and all critics stand silenced," remarked Hasan, who has written more than a dozen articles on archaeological research. The 52-year-old Hasan is now a satisfied man, especially on account of the respect he has received from the masses and Hindu clerics for his efforts to maintain the temples. "Today when Hindu priests ask me to perform aarti in temples, I feel honoured.” Hasan was recently transferred to Uttar Pradesh.
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A befitting tribute to courage
Roorkee, October 24 The tower was built to commemorate the bravery of Subedar Devi Singh and his men who stormed the Ghazni Fort in Afghanistan. Subedar Devi Singh and 12 other rank of Bangal Sappers stormed this fort for which they were awarded IOM Class III in 1839. The memorial was built in two stages. The foundation stone for the memorial was laid by Lord Kitchener when he was C-in-C in 1907. The unveiling of the memorial was done on February 26, 1927, by Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood. The surrounding colonnades with domes were completed during 1927 in memory of war heroes of World War-1. In 1927 a black platform and grenade were added to the colonnade. The memorial, apart from being a rare monument of architectural value, is reminiscence of the numerous sacrifices made by the Bengal Sappers. Besides cherishing the historical lineage of Bengal Sappers, it has immense sentimental and emotional value and is held in the highest esteem. The Bengal Sappers War Memorial on the Watch Tower at Ghazni is a tribute to the courage and devotion of every Bengal Sapper in the last 200 years. Its Jawans and officers of the group have fought
for the glory of India in every corner of the world. The battle honours of the Bengal Sappers are like a glossary of the world, prominent among these are Ghazni, China, Afghanistan, Burma, Cassino, Jammu and Kashmir, East Pakistan and Sind. The units of the group have fought in Aden, Egypt, Palestine, Persia, Mesopotamia, France, North Africa, Italy, Malaya, Burma, Arakans, Jammu and Kashmir, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In the 1971 operations against Pakistan, the Bengal Sappers flag flew at its zenith as units of the group “sappered” their way to victory.
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Pheasant losing to poachers
Dehradun, October 24 Of the 1,248 species of birds reported from the country, over 621 are from Uttarakhand and pheasants certainly hold a place of pride amongst them. The biggest threat to them comes from hunting as they look too similar to chickens. A state in development mode, Uttarakhand continues to attract a large number of migratant labourers. These labourers live unmonitored in many interior areas and resort to hunting of pheasants for food and occasionally for crest and feathers. M. Virdi, a noted environmentalist and mountaineer in his report submitted to the World Pheasant Association recently in reference to conservation of galliforms in the Gori river basin of Pithoragarh has revealed that hunting is taking a heavy toll on galliforms in the state. He suggests putting grassroots institutions to use as the only way out to help curb the menace. As per National Family Welfare Status statistics of migrants, a big percentage of this workforce comes from Nepal and often indulges in hunting of the pheasants. Already reeling under manpower shortage and poor management skills, the state forest authorities find themselves helpless in protecting this avi -fauna as many of these bird species are outside protected areas, where they are most vulnerable to poaching. The rugged hilly terrain makes things tougher for the officials to apprehend the culprits. There have been till date little effort to check bird killing as the avifauna draws little attention on the list of conservation priorities. Uttarakhand Chief Wild Life Warden Srikant Chandola admits that conservation efforts in the state are essentially “large mammalian” centric and little information is available on the conservation status of avifauna. He hopes the recently concluded maiden estimation of avifauna helps them in gathering the baseline data for the birds. “This data will help us in establishing a population monitoring system and viability analysis of all bird species in representative localities," he says. As the birds descend to lower areas during the winter, it makes them vulnerable to poaching. Experts emphasise on focussed efforts at winter habitats, particularly during the period of snowfall. Working on pheasant conservation in India for the past many decades, Peter J. Garson, who belongs to the Pheasant Specialist Group, UK, calls for management of pheasant conservation that aims at reducing both direct hunting and indirect human impacts. “Translating research into a feasible conservation policy and the follow-up remains a huge challenge", he observes.
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Kasiga — school with a difference
Dehradun, October 24 "Kasiga school", built in the sylvan surroundings in the foothills of Mussoorie aims to provide quality education to the students in the lap of nature. Established in 2007, this nascent school feeling proud of its' achievements will be celebrating its' first founders' day on October 25. Students are made to focus on almost everything, and the school. Affiliated with CBSE, the school provides all the facilities, from a huge cricket field to activities like horse riding, dance and music. Having 116 boarders with 25 in each class, the school looks apt for people who have the money but, at the same time want a home away from home. Students also get to participate in innovative activity like Design Technology. Children from 3rd standard to 8th are taught to improvise small gliders, and audio equipments. "The school is working on their own FM radio station as well as plans to get international affiliation soon," said Christopher Haney, General Manager of the school. Further he added that students are also encouraged to participate in social activities like visiting various institutions such as Raphael, Old age home, participate in village development, adult and child education, and spend time with those less fortunate, so that they remain in touch with the socio-economic ground realities of the country. Besides making them aware about the environmental degradation, afforestation and recycling of the waste, efforts have been put to make the whole school premises environment friendly with a "water harvesting" system that can provide ample water to keep the fields green during the scarcity period. Provision has been made to take the classes in the open as well. The amphitheatre, the tennis courts, cricket field are of high standards and the current tree plantation will make the whole surrounding all the more beautiful in the years to come. A new gem has been added to the shining galaxy of fine schools of which Doon is known about.
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Students out on a rare job
Dehradun, October 24 Under the guidance of Dr Anil P.Joshi of the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), a voluntary organisation, these students will interact with the villagers to know about their priorities. " We took the student volunteers to the village to make them understand the conditions prevalent there ," Dr. Anil Joshi told The Tribune. Whether the villagers want to get roads repaired or toilets build, the students will lend all help to them in their endeavours. " The idea behind the exercise is to help the students get a reality check of rural India," Dr Joshi explained. Shivangi from Ann Mary finds it not only interesting but educating too. Helen from Germany says she is from a village Heiligkreorstenach which has all modern facilities. The students will work with 30 selected families of the village. Corinna from Germany was moved to tears on seeing the pathetic conditions in the village. " We are committed to generating financial resources to develop the village," said Dr Deepak Arora, principal of Ann Mary School. Dr Joshi pointed out that such an initiative would attract other schools too. “ This will exppose urban students to the problems faced by rural India and these efforts will reduce the growing gap between rural and urban India,” he felt. The students would be working on new employment avenues, nutritional security and infrastructural development.
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Crumbling highways in Roorkee
Roorkee, October 24 Crumbling highways in this ‘technical education hub’ of the state and the adjacent areas has not only caused a lot of inconvenience to commuters, but also hit the pace of industrial growth. The Roorke-Laksar stretch was last repaired during the occasion of ‘ardh-kumbh’ a few years ago: since then the road is awaiting the much-needed revamp. Similar is the condition of the Manglore-Landura stretch, which has turned into a danger zone with numerous pits, hollows and yawning cracks. This has also hindered the pace of industrial work in the Landura region where numerous industrial units have come up. With a large number of brick kilns located along the road on this six-kilometre long stretch, there is an increased risk of accidents. Industrialists here allege that transporting raw and finished material has become difficult and due to this reason, fresh investors are hesitant to draw closer. “The roads are in a bad shape with holes all around. Major repairs are required soon,” says a local. Residents of villages connected with these roads allege that their complaints to the administration have fallen on deaf ears. Stating that a stretch of road between Iqbalpur-Narsan was in need of immediate repairs, a resident here said: “Rainwater enters our houses due to lack of repairs and also causes problems for the commuters. Many two-wheelers have met with accidents in the area, especially at night.” The stretch connecting Manglaur-Jabreda road and stretches between Bahgwanpur-Puana-Iqbalpur are also in need of immediate repairs.
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Letters
Being an Army officers’ wife means frequent postings, a lot of travel and scant time for reading. But The Tribune is one newspaper I always find time to read whereever I go. The reason is that I did my college from Chandigarh and read the paper regularly. Since then I have carried the habit.
My husband has been recently posted to Dehradun and its heartening to note that The Tribune has launched its Uttarakhand edition. I am especially looking forward to reading the four-page supplement that carries feature articles and I hope that stories from the lives of defence personnel would be given a good coverage. —
Sonali Dehradun Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words at dehradunplus@tribunemail.com or write in at: Letters, Dehradun Plus, Sector 29,
Chandigarh – 160 030
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