Dehradun, March 1
Uttarakhand is well on its way to become the “gerbera” state and turning into a major hub of floriculture with a five-fold increase in the area under flower cultivation since its inception in 2000.

Cut flowers worth more than Rs 70 crore are sold annuallyin the state. Due to apt surroundings for the growth of gerbera flowers in different part of the state, the horticulture department has declared the Kumaon region a gerbera zone. Udham Singh Nagar district is fast growing into a major gerbera- producing area.

Commercial cultivation of gerbera has been taken up by farmers in a big way. This flower due to its unique size, resilience and beauty is in great demand in the flower mandis of North India.

“These flowers are very much in demand and we even supply these to Delhi and Lucknow. Due to apt environmental conditions here, the quality of the flower is very good,” informs Balbir Singh Kamboj from Nainital.

“Gerbera is Uttarakhand’s proud possession and due to its unique characteristics, last year it even won prizes at the flora exhibition in New Delhis,” says Amar Singh, District Horticulture Officer, Dehradun.

Most commercial flower growers in the state are here in Dehradun to participate in the annual “Colours of Spring” flower exhibition being held at Raj Bhawan.

According to Additional Chief Secretary NSW Napalchayal: “The area under floriculture has gone up from 150 hectares to more than 1,000 hectares. Our flower production stands at 582.82 tonnes and we are producing 18.70 crore cut flowers.”

The state has a monopoly in gerbera and it also abounds In roses, gladioli and carnations. “We have 34 varieties of orchids that can be marketed commercially,” says Napalchayal.

He says efforts are afoot to popularise floriculture as a commercial venture in the higher regions of the state.

“The state is already known across the world for its Valley of Flowers. But few know that in the higher reaches, every village has its own valley of flowers. We are in the process of installing 24 gravity-based ropeways so that the flower produce in the higher regions can be transported easily to the markets,” he says

Last year where 814 farmers participated in the exhibition, this year the number is more than a 1,000.

Around 126 commercial growers from different parts of the state displayed beautiful carnations and gerberas. In startling colours pink, yellow, white and red, they grabbed attention of flower lovers.

"I have a variety of carnations and from the past six years, we are continuously coming to the exhibition,” said GP Singh, one of the biggest commercial flower growers from Shahaspur in Dehradun.

Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, Dehradun and Haridwar are the four main districts were flower cultivation has been taken up by farmers.

“These are the four main districts but lately we have started working in the hill districts of Champawat and Almora districts also,” says RC Srivastava, deputy director, Uttarakhand Horticulture.

With facilities of poly houses for closed field cultivation, farmers can grow a variety of gerbera, gladiolus, rose and carnation on a larger scale.

The horticulture department, on the basis of demand from farmers, provide facilities for poly house, which has helped boost the floriculture economy of Uttarakhand.

Under the National Horticulture Mission, to ensure an end-to-end holistic approach covering production and post-harvest management, growers and producers are helped in processing and marketing to assure appropriate returns, besides promoting research and development technologies for production, post-harvest management and processing.

Napalchayal says the state government is giving special incentives to the farmers taking to floriculture.

“Besides the 20 per cent subsidy by the National Floriculture Board, we give an equal subsidy to them,” he says.

However, commercial growers feel that though the subsidy schemes are benefiting them, yet a lot more has to done to expand the market.

“Floriculture business in the state is doing well, but the government should impart knowledge to farmers by making training compulsory so that people with proper knowledge enter the field,” suggests GP Singh.

“Subsidy definitely attracts farmers, but the government should provide us local mandis and a cold storage so that in rainy days we don’t bear losses. Moreover, refrigerated vans for transportation would save our money as well as the flowers,” says Trilok Kamboj, commercial grower from Udham Singh Nagar district. “Refrigerated vehicles will further help us expand our reach,” agrees Singh.

“I started my carnation plantation on 1,500 square metres at Chandroti, Dehradun, and now I am growing flowers on almost 5,000 sq feet area. Apart from the government, farmers who want to do business, should take the initiative to come forward and even try experimentation as under poly house facilities, a variety of vegetables can also be grown,” said Jitendra Thakur, a commercial grower.

“We have started provided training to farmers on flower breeding and plan growing flowers like lilium and orchids on a large scale. As for refrigerated vans, we will try to provide these,” says Amar Singh.

The exhibition also saw great interest in herbs and wild flowers. "This is for the first time we have displayed a collection of wild flowers of Uttarakhand such as citrus deodara, orchids, berbiss and butea frondora with brimma, black tulsi, aloe vera and trifla,” said Rajesh Tiwari, senior inspector, Horticulture.

On the opening day, where only the exhibitors and their families where allowed at the venue, Sunday provided Doonites an opportunity to savour this florid ambience. Local nurseries and state-level growers sold quality flowers at reasonable rates.

A carnation which is sold in shops for Rs 10 per stem was sold at Rs 5 per stem at the exhibition. “Though we sell flowers every year, our main purpose for coming here is to acquaint the people of Uttarakhand with the wide variety of beautiful flowers here,” said GP Singh.

Dr Brijmohan Sharma, a scientist, enlightened visitors with his innovative creations in horticulture. After research for three years, he has made an organic solution which without the support of sun and soil can help survive plants in water.

“The response has been good, and it’s nice that people are appreciating my work,” says Brijmohan Sharma.

Dehradun, March 1
A 233m bungee jump could send jitters through many, but this was not the case with Mareesh Kumar Devgan. A 14-year-old boy from The Asian School here, Mareesh jumped from a record 233m to get his name registered in Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest boy in the world to have tried such an act.

He attempted this daredevil act at Macau Tower, Hong Kong, which is the world’s highest bungee jumping point, on January 10. This was his first try and he had little knowledge before the jump that he was going for a world record.

“I had no intention of making a world record. After the jump, people informed me of my achievement. It was difficult for me to believe what I have achieved unknowingly,” said Mareesh Devgan while addressing mediapersons at a press conference in Dehradun.

Stunt director AJ Hackket at the Macau Tower had got Mareesh’s name registered for the jump.

“I had tried para jumping earlier but certainly bungee jumping was totally new to me. When I looked at the depth under my feet, a feeling of uneasiness crept up in my body but I did not hesitate from jumping. My father’s presence, however, made me feel confident,” added Mareesh.

Next, Mareesh wants to try his luck at Akshay Kumar’s show where one has to perform various stunts.

Apart from adventure sports, he wants to focus on his studies and dreams of becoming a software engineer.

His school vice-principal Sanjay Srivastava said that Mareesh is an all-rounder and participates in basketball, swimming, stage acting and mimicry.

His parents originally belong to Amritsar but have settled down in Hong Kong. His father, Manoj Devgan, is a trader and his mother, Rajani Devgan, a garment dealer.

Roorkee, March 1
Owners of mango orchards here are a worried lot. Rapid growth of brick-kilns in this mango belt has been causing serious damage to the crop.

Kilns have come up in hundreds in and around Roorkee in the last couple of years, causing a drastic fall in mango produce and telling on its quality.

The mango growers are finding it hard to get contractors for their orchards. If
the owners are to be believed, their earning has fallen drastically over the past
couple of years.

“A contractor is willing to give a measely Rs 5,000 for my 70-bigha orchard. Can a family survive in this meagre income,” asked a disappointed Ram Dyal, who owns a mango orchard in Manglore, 8 km from here.

Another farmer, Maqsood Ahmed of Bhijoli, said he had to take loan for the upkeep of his orchard and was looking to shift business.

A major part of land in the region is being used for growing mangoes. Manglore, Bhijoli, Tanda Bhandera, Pirpura, Nagla Imarti, Landoura, Gadarouna and Chandanpur are well-known mango belts.

A horticulturist admitted that the kilns emitting carbon-monoxide was the main reason behind the destruction of the mango belt here.

Pollutants released by the kilns settle on the mango trees, affecting transpiration and thus the yield. The fly-ash blemishes the fruit with black spots.

Mango growers are looking forward to authorities to get permission for axing trees so that they can switch over to some other crop.

Haridwar, March 1
With the menace of terrorism engulfing a majority of countries in the world, the solution lies not only in applying stringent, newer and Draconian laws but on creating and mobilising every citizen so that the seed of terrorism get eliminated at the root level itself.

These were the views of prominent speakers related to the media at a seminar in SMJN College on ‘Regional terrorism and India: Specially in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack’.

The speakers were unified in their view that terrorism doesn’t have any religion and nor is any religion terrorism centric. Sushil Bahuguna, news editor, NDTV, emphasised on the role of beat constables.

“The beat constable is the base where we can eradicate seeds of terrorism as he is in interaction with the local people and the police. Crores may be spent on state-of-the art artilleries and ammunition but we fail to utilise our beat constables and informers,” said Bahuguna.

He said that terrorism in the subcontinent began in the Cold War era when USA-USSR were at loggerheads and they used the land of Afghanistan as the indirect battlefield.

“Afghanistan guerillas, who were trained and funded at that time, now have engulfed the whole of Pakistan and they are creating disturbance in India.

Harsh Dobhal, editor of Combat Law magazine who had spent six years in Israel as a journalist, cited stringent laws as ineffective in totally curbing this menace.

He said that since 1948 when Israel came into being, it had brought a tough anti-terrorism law but till today, it is affected by terrorism.

“Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad and well-equipped army have helped Israel survive in the middle of Arab nations. But it could not eliminate terrorism.”

He also said that due to terrorism, various important issues are not getting attention. “Poverty, malnutrition, AIDS, unemployment are being shadowed by terrorism and their neglect kills more than those killed by terrorism” said Harsh.

The guest speakers also answered questions posed by the audience. On the live telecast of the NSG activity in Taj Hotel and Nariman House which helped terrorists, Sushil Bahuguna accepted the fault of the electronic media.

“Yes, the electronic media crossed the limit. There were two-three channels who showed the events live, otherwise majority of us showed deferred live images by at least 10 minutes.”

Avneet Ghildiyal, principal of SMJN college, said that India is united against the war on terror irrespective of religion. He condemned NATO allies for having Pakistan as an ally in war on terror who is the root cause of the problem in the sub-continent. 

Dehradun, March 1
Small dhabas and eateries on the Dehradun-Mussoorie road are a hit with youngsters. With a number of educational institutions, including professional colleges, coming up in Dehradun in the last nine years, young students prefer eating joints away from the hustle and bustle of the city, preferably in the hills.

Sunil Kumar’s pakora shop situated at Khulukheth, en route Mussorie is one of the oldest and famous for its crispy, delectable pakoras. Since the past 48 years, the shop is doing steady business among the locals as well as the tourists.

"Earlier, my father used to look after the shop, but since the past 16 years I am managing the business,” said Sunil Kumar.

The pakoras are not only yummy, but cheap too. These just can’t be overlooked, especially if you are heading to Mussorie, the queen of hills.

"Not only are locals most frequent clients, but tourists too. Whenever they are here, they don’t go without eating our pakoras,” said Sunil Kumar with an air of pride.

The pakora shop has gained so much popularity that it inspired actor and famous theatre personality Tom Alter, a native of Musoorie to write a piece on it.

“Tom Alter is very fond of my pakoras, and I am glad that he wrote an article about my shop, which in January 2008 got published in India Today,” he said.

For Rs 10 a gram yummy onion and potatoes pakoras, one can even try brinjal and
mirchi pakoras.

Sizzling pakoras rolled in home-maid chatpata masala with tangy tamarind chutney and a cup of sweet tea leaves one yearning for more.

“I often visit this shop to have my favourite onion and potato pakoras,” said Ravi, a local resident. Apart from the pakoras, another hot favourite is noodles at the famous Maggie Point.

Maggie Point is another popular destination where college crowds flock for yummy Maggie amid the scenic beauty. An array of shops located along the roadside serve Maggie noodles.

“This is one destination where in the evenings I love to come with friends to have my favourite egg Maggie,” said Anuj, a former student of DIT College.

Ten years ago, when the city did not have many colleges, the crowd was limited. But with a number of colleges coming up at “Makka Wala” en route Mussoorie, the crowd finds this location accessible and affordable.

“Since the past 17 years we are running our shop, but with colleges like the IMS and DIT coming up at Makka Wala, our sales have shot up,” said Vijay of Mohan.

“Along with green chilly Maggie, I love bread omellete of Mohan Maggie Point,” said Rahul, a student at DIT College.

“As tourist are always in a hurry, they come here during the peak season. Basically, it’s the local people who find this place a perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city,” said Sushil Kumar of Basant Maggie Point.

Some elected women members face hurdles while implementing schemes and in utilising money allocated specifically for development works.