The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Dogs on the job
After every three years, these dogs are transferred with their trainers to other stations. They get training like ITBP personnel do and they are able to perform everything except fire.
Dehradun, February 20
Trained dogs are an integral part of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) Dehradun, looking after the Indo-China border besides doing internal security duties within the country.

(L to R) Gingaru, Rohit and Golu at the ITBP campus, Dehradun. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Chalti ka naam gaadi

Boys will be boys but girls are not far behind. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Ayurveda lab faces govt apathy
Dehradun, February 20
The Drug Testing Laboratory in Haridwar, which could have proved a boon for medicine manufacturers, still lies unused: thanks to the vision-less policy of the state government.

Gurukul fest concludes
Haridwar, February 20
The week-long annual festival of the Gurukul Girls College culminated with fine cultural programmes and awarding of medals and certificates to meritorious students who won in various activities throughout the year, here yesterday.

Farmers find no humour in cane
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Bitter facts

The acreage under sugarcane production last year was 1,33,000 hectares last year which has dropped to nearly one lakh hectares this year.

Last year, 400 lakh quintal sugarcane was crushed and 42 lakh quintal of sugar was produced. This year, it was estimated that only 160 lakh quintal of sugarcane will be available for crushing and will produce 25 lakh quintal of sugar.

Sugarcane production, that touched 78.5 million quintal last year, is now estimated at 63 million quintal during 2008-09

For every 100 kg of sugarcane crushed, mills were getting nearly 9.75 kg of sugar. This year, the production has come down to 9.04 kg.

Dehradun, February 20
The production of sugarcane and sugar in Uttarakhand is in the throes of a major crisis.

Sugarcane production and the resultant production of sugar from sugar mills have shown a marked decline setting alarm bells ringing.

Already five out of the total ten sugar mills in the state have shut shop in the midst of the crushing season.

According to state government estimates, sugar production has drastically reduced by half compared to the previous crushing season.

Large agricultural lands in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun districts were under sugarcane cultivation till last year.

However, due to several reasons, farmers have started discarding sugarcane for more cash-rich crops.

With the falling sugarcane acreage, the estimate suggest that sugarcane production has also fallen by 30 per cent.

According to officials, the acreage under sugarcane production was 1,33,000 hectares last year which has dropped to nearly one lakh hectares showing a decline of nearly 30 per cent this year.

With near-zero arrival of sugarcane from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, growing disenchantment in sugarcane farmers due to non-payment of their dues and a shift to more lucrative cash crops among the sugarcane farmers of the state have led to the fall in production.

Out of the total 10 sugar mills in the state, five have already closed and two more are on the verge of closure due to acute shortage of sugarcane.

Out of these ten mills, Iqbalpur, Libberhadi, Laksar in Haridwar district and Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district are in private sector.

Kiccha, Bazpur, Gadarpur, Nadehi, Sitarganj (Udham Singh Nagar) and Doiwala (Dehradun) are in the government or cooperative sector.

Already five mills namely Nadehi, Sitarganj, Bazpur, Kashipur and Gadarpur have closed in the middle of the crushing season.

Dr BN Mishra, assistant cane commissioner of the state, said that last year, 400 lakh quintal sugarcane was crushed and 42 lakh quintal of sugar was produced.

This year, it was estimated that only 160 lakh quintal of sugarcane will be available for crushing and that will produce not more than 25 lakh quintal of sugar.

The crushing season has also been restricted to 90 days on average this season. Last year, the crushing season had extended to 120 days.

A large number of farmers have also preferred to give their produce to private small crushing units, which make jaggery, rather than going to the mills due to delay in the payment.

Sugarcane farmers in Uttarakhand and nearby areas of western Uttar Pradesh are peeved at mill owners for not getting their dues on time.

Disenchantment among farmers towards sugarcane has been growing rapidly. Many of them in Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Nainital districts have already switched to other crops.

Sugarcane production, that touched 78.5 million quintal last year, is now estimated at 63 million quintal during 2008-09, official statistics said.

However, officials claimed that most government-controlled mills in the state have settled their dues.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri in December 2008 had announced a package of Rs 56.3 crore for settling sugarcane dues of farmers.

Last year, the government had issued a package of Rs 72 crore to settle the dues
of the farmers.

According to official estimate, a total of Rs 26 crore are still due on private mills.

With an aim to attract sugarcane farmers, Uttarakhand government had announced the State Advised Price (SAP) for ordinary sugarcane at Rs 143 per quintal and Rs 148 for the early variety for 2008-09, which was Rs 2 more than what was offered in Uttar Pradesh but it failed to attract the farmers.

Last year, the State Advised Price (SAP) was Rs 127 per quintal for ordinary produce and Rs 132 per quintal for the early variety in the hill state.

The sugarcane crop had also been affected due to more monsoon rains in 2008 and this has not only affected agricultural yield but sugar mills have also reported that the amount of sugar yield from per quintal of crushed sugarcane has also dropped.

Earlier, for every 100 kg of sugarcane crushed, mills were getting nearly 9.75 kg of sugar besides the other residues like molasses and baggase.

But this year, production has come down further to 9.04 kg, according to officials.

However, despite an increase in sugar prices up from Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,200 per quintal in the market, less production has worried the sugar mills.

Dogs on the job
After every three years, these dogs are transferred with their trainers to other stations. They get training like ITBP personnel do and they are able to perform everything except fire.
Divya Semwal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 20
Trained dogs are an integral part of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) Dehradun, looking after the Indo-China border besides doing internal security duties within the country.

Since 1973, when ITBP inducted dogs, these canines have done exceptional work in several successful rescue and search operations.

“These dogs are ITBP’s proud possession, since 1975, they have been participating in dog shows, organized by All-India Police Duty Meet. And till now they have won 19 gold, 12 silver and 1 bronze medal,” said Kuldeep Singh, head constable, ITBP.

These dogs are expert in locating explosives and humans beings buried under debris.

They performed a commendable job in rescuing people, buried under the debris of a collapsed building in sector 26, Chandigarh, two years ago.

Presently, there are three dogs at the ITBP campus here. There are two German Shepherd called Rohit, Gingaru, and a golden Retriever, Golu and each dog has been assigned a particular task.

“Dogs are excellent at detecting, as their smelling sense is 200 per cent higher as compared to humans,” said Kuldeep Singh.

Rohit is an expert in finding explosives and participates Republic day and Independence Day functions.

Gingaru is a tracker, who can easily find out thiefs and Golu being new to the group, is presently under going training.

As per the requirement of the ITBP, these dogs are purchased by the purchase committee, located in Chandigarh and Delhi under the instructions of the head office, Delhi.

Thereafter, they undergo a strenuous 60-day training programme in Chandigarh, by expert trainers who earlier are well trained at the National Training Center for Dogs.

“In those 60 days, dogs are taught various activities and after completing the training period, their fitness is examined before making them a part of any police station. Moreover, a permanent constable or a dog handler is also assigned for each dog and then it’s entirely his responsibility to groom the dog,” said Kuldeep Singh.

“These dogs are our responsibility, and after every three years they are transferred with their trainers to various other locations,” said Trilok Singh, a dog handler.

Interestingly, these dogs get the similar training like the personnel at ITBP. “Yes, people might find it strange, these dogs after the training can exactly do what the recruits are accustomed to,” said Kuldeep Singh.

They obey commands like salute, namaste, thank you, hide, roll, jump, these dogs can even swim and perform dangerous fire activities.

”Except firing, dogs are doing everything as our recruits,” said Kuldeep Singh.

Food allowances are given to these dogs in order maintain their health and to get quality performance.

“We get Rs 1200 every month for their food and we feed them twice a day. The diet contains all the nutrients, helpful for their growth,” said Kuldeep Singh.

Dogs here follows a proper time-table, and from six in the morning till 7 in the evening, they are busy in various activities,” said Trilok Singh.

Apart from Dehradun, ITBP is also actively involved in disaster prone areas.

“Since Dehradun was declared capital, crime has increased, but still there are naturally sensitive areas. We have have deployed our dogs with police force at Pittoragah, Joshimath and Uttarkashi,” said Kuldeep Singh.

Ayurveda lab faces govt apathy
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 20
The Drug Testing Laboratory in Haridwar, which could have proved a boon for medicine manufacturers, still lies unused: thanks to the vision-less policy of the state government.

The condition is no different in other states where drug-testing facilities are rotting.

Under the Central government programme, Rs 1 crore was allocated to all state governments to set up a laboratory in 2006 to help the local manufacturers of ayurvedic medicines gain acceptability and improve the quality of their products.

But two years have passed since then and the laboratory is still non-functional.

“To ensure that the money allocated was spent, the state government even procured testing instruments, but failed to appoint other staff members, except one person who looks after the laboratory. Due to the apathy of the government the laboratory has remained locked for the past two years,” said Dr YS Malik, patron, Rajkiya Ayurvedic Unani Chikitsak Sewa Sangh.

The matter came up for discussion during Bhartiya Swasthya Chintan, where small manufacturers said they needed to restore faith in the quality of their medicines and a properly functioning testing laboratory would have proved beneficial.

“The ayurvedic system of medicine goes haywire if there is no control over the quality of medicines; in fact there has to be complete coordination in the four stages of the treatment comprising disease, doctor, patients and medicine. If there is a slight deviation in one of these the treatment can suffer,” said Vinod Prakash Upadhyay, Himalik Herbs, Haridwar.

“To speed up the appointment process, the Centre had also allocated an additional sum of Rs 10 lakh that would have taken care of the salaries of the staff (one month), who were to be appointed by the state government,” said Dr BM Gupta, principal of Government Ayurvedic College, Gwalior.