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Mumbai attacks sink rafting Cos
Dehradun, December 4 Rafting camps on the banks of the Ganga upstream Kaudiyala to Rishikesh are near empty. It is for the first time that the white water rafting industry that witnessed rapid strides in the past one decade has hit
rock bottom. The rafting season that starts from October and peaks during December has failed to attract enthusiasts this year due to the global economic meltdown. The fear of terror attacks has added to the woes of the rafting companies. "The business was down this year from the very beginning and the terror attacks has further choked us," said a rather dejected Rajiv Tewari, president of the Uttarakhand Finest Outdoors, a body of river rafting companies at Rishikesh. Before 1996, there were just two river camping sites, Kaudiyala-Shivpuri and Byasi, 35 km upstream from Rishikesh, owned by the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, a state government enterprise. Besides, there were two private river campaign sites, at Brahmpuri and Shivpuri. However, with the tremendous rise in the number of rafting enthusiasts in the past decade, more than 30 companies have set up camps on the banks of the Ganga, doing a business of more than Rs 20 crore per annum. "Our largest clients were from corporate houses. The global financial crisis has hit the corporates hard and they are fending for their jobs. Moreover, foreign tourists who would come in groups have cancelled their tours following the recent terror attacks," said Dilip Kathiat, general Secretary of the Indian Association of Professional River Outfitters. "Every company is faced with weekend cancellations after the terror attacks," said Kathiat. Similarly, the hotel industry in the state has been reeling under tremendous strain
and the atmosphere of fear and insecurity has left the industry crying hoarse.” A delegation of the the state hotel industry called on Uttarakhand tourism minister Prakash Pant
and expressed concern over the Mumbai attacks which have created a sense of fear among tourists, especially foreigners. "The economic meltdown has affected us badly and the terror attacks has led to a spate of cancellations," said R.N. Mathur, president of the Mussoorie Hotel Owners
Association. He said during the winter months even middle-level hotels in Mussoorie would attract foreign tourists but this year has been bad. "You will not find a single foreign tourist in Mussoorie hotels," Mathur said. Hoteliers reportedly told the tourism minister that the occupancy rate in various hotels in Uttarakhand had come down by 30 to 40 per cent. With Char Dhams, famous Hindu pilgrimage centres closed for the winter months in the Garhwal Himalayas, it was the hill stations of Mussoorie and Nainital along with wildlife parks of Corbett and Rajaji that attracted a large number of tourists during the winter months. "Even the number of tourists coming to Corbett National Park and Rajaji National Park have come down this year," claimed Mathur. Tourism is considered the backbone of the hill state's economy. "We took up all issues concerning the hotel industry in Uttarakhand," said S.P. Kochar, president of the Uttarakhand Hotel Industry Association. The delegation also demanded tax concessions. "We asked the minister to give due publicity to Uttarakhand at the International Trade Fair being held in New Delhi," said Mathur. The tourism minister assured the hotel owners that the government would take necessary steps to safeguard the interests of the industry besides providing adequate security to the hotels and their guests. "We too are facing the impact of the Mumbai incidents and economic meltdown," said Shrikant Chandola, Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden.
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Women on health track
Dehradun, December 4 With gyms offering modern facilities mushrooming, more and more women are getting health savvy and aware of the ill-effects of obesity.Till five years back, the city had a few men-centric gyms. Gradually, gyms for women were set up.
These attracted a large number of health-conscious women. “In 2005, I opened a gym exclusively catering to the needs of women. It was important that women were made aware of the benefits of a well-maintained and well-nourished body,” said Surbhi Walia, owner of Jogger’s Point. In this fast-paced life, being fit is not a mere fad. The women desire to remain well-groomed and healthy so as to be on a par with men. “After my delivery, I had gained eight kg extra weight, but thankfully I could shed it all after working out in the gym,” said Pooja, a fitness freak. “With more and more women becoming health conscious, it encouraged them to join unisex gyms. Our gym has the latest machines and 50 per cent of our clients are women. Special care is taken of overweight women,” said Govind Singh Rawat, instructor at Velocity Gym. “From homemakers to working women, depending on their needs and time, they manage to burn those extra kilos. Mornings are generally packed with housewives whereas evenings are preferred by the younger lot,” said Rawat. “As I dont get time in the evenings, I make sure I visit the gym early morning. Now that I am so used to exercising even a day without it makes me feel lousy,” said Seema Gupta a housewife. “Stressful working hours and increase in the number of health problems are motivating people to opt for gyming. Long working hours and sitting jobs cause overweight and other problems such as spondylosis and arthritis. Workout at the gym acts as a stress-buster,” said Surbhi Walia. “ The response in the gym industry in the past 10 months has been good. Women from various backgrounds visit our gym.We plan to expand our facilities with yoga and aerobics,” said Yogendra Singh Chauhan of Velocity.
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Banquet halls give safety the go-by
Dehradun, December 4 In Haridwar, a large number of banquet halls have come up. Most banquet owners are playing with the lives of the people by not conforming to security norms. According to rules, the use of synthetic pandals and curtains at banquet halls is banned. But in reality, synthetic inflammable material is vastly used. Also, the banquet halls should have more than one entry and exit gate, but in Haridwar most wedding palaces have only one gate, which in the event of any emergency could be disastrous. An emergency exit door is also often missing at the banquet halls. With no stringent action, the owners are flouting rules with impunity. Most of the banquet halls doesn’t have the space to accommodate more than 500 guests at a time, but at most weddings, the number exceeds to a thousand. Though banquet hall owners charge exorbitant rates, they pay little heed to security. It’s essential to have the fire extinguisher, hose pipes and buckets of sands but most
halls don’t conform to the requirement. Though the administration had sent notices to banquet owners, there has been no further action. Fire service officer of Haridwar S.K Sharma said: “The fire authorities can only check the banquet halls and on finding irregularities issue notices. Beyond that we have little authority.Every year in March, we inspect these venues as a matter of routine.” Apart from the security measures, the garbage after a wedding or party poses a health hazard to people residing in the vicinity. Usually the wastage is
When questioned, most banquet hall owners evaded a reply. They argued that if people who booked the banquet halls paid them more, they were willing to spend more on safety measures. Most halls have been opened in congested areas like Jwalapur and New Haridwar with high density of population. This means that banquet halls in a minimum space arrange facilities for thousands which makes these halls more vulnerable to accidents. Add to make matters worse, there is almost no space for parking. “Controlling traffic near banquet halls is a strenuous task and lack of parking space at these venues further increases the problem,” says Shweta Chaubey, CO, Traffic. “Everyone who books these halls should first enquire about the safety norms and stress on their implementation like they do for decoration, food and lighting” says Prof SK Batra of SMJN College.
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Forest institute to battle invasive species
Dehradun, December 4 Presently, a paper at the International Plant Taxonomy seminar at FRI, Dehradun, the duo of Sas Biswas, head of Botany Department, FRI, and Devendra Kumar from ICFRE held that the aquatic invasive species were causing enormous direct and indirect loss to ecosystems and threaten biodiversity. Terming management practices as the only way out to deal with these species, Dr Biswas said that, at present, it was only better management strategies that can check the invasive species of the aquatic ecosystem. He said prevention was still considered to be most effective approach to meet the challenges posed by these non-native species. While invasive species continue to threaten forests, aquatic invasive species that have the potential to interfere with the production of hydro-power, block water flow in the irrigation projects, choke rivers and other water bodies and hinder navigation. They have thrown open a major challenge before botanists. Four major obnoxious aquatic invasive species include Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart) Griseb, Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms, Ipomaea carnea Jacq and Salvinia molesta D.S. Miltch. A species is termed invasive only when it is non-native to the eco-system under consideration and secondly, causes economic and environmental harm and also harm to human health. As of aquatic species, these species facilitate breeding of mosquitoes and other vectors fostering water-borne diseases. It also encourages water losses due to evapo- transpiration. As India is surrounded by Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean on three sides, this vast coastline has influenced the fate of India not only in terms of trade but also the invasion of alien species as well.
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Letter
Iwas delighted to see pictures of actors of various plays staged ast the Uttarakhand Mahotsav. So were my friends. Your paper needs to be appreciated for highlighting cultural festivals with writeups on the participants too.
As a society, we need to encourage performing arts. In this era of science and technology, several art forms are in real danger of being annihilated. We should not allow this. A collective will is required to preserve and encourage our ancient art forms. The Indian artisan is being pushed to the wall. In the absence of state patronage, he is fighting for
subsistence. I hope your paper will continue to focus on cultural issues. As it is, we are all on a heavy dose of Bollywood with the electronic media obsessed by stars. We need to focus on our own stars, our local artistes. I request you to carry more articles on people’s issues. Sonia Garewal,
Haridwar
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