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Police all polished up for tourists
Football re-invented
The state’s Central Ground Water Board, which conducts an assessment every five years, has revealed a substantial depletion in the main Dehradun aquifer
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A long winding road, indeed
MKP pupils dabble with paint
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Police all polished up for tourists
Dehradun, March 6 To showcase its rich tourism potential, Uttarakhand introduced the tourist police for the first time in 2008. The first batch of 100 tourist police personnel were trained by prestigious private institutes that train young girls and boys to become cabin crew. They were then deputed at 37 points in Garhwal region during the yatra last year. Based on the positive feedback by tourists on the tourist police, the Uttarakhand Police has decided to increase the strength of the tourist police personnel. The IG, Garhwal, MA Ganapati said both male and female police personnel had been inducted into the force. He said for the coming yatra, they had increased the strength of the tourist police from 100 to 150 in Garhwal region. “Those who have been inducted into the tourist police have been trained by experts in language, communication skills and hospitality, besides being told about various tourist places in the state,” he said. In order to teach etiquettes to young police personnel, including women constables, drawn from various police stations, the police department engaged the services of these private institutes once again. A particular private institute was romped in by DGP Subhash Joshi to impart training in self-control and for personality grooming. On completion of training, the personnel were asked to undergo an examination to check their levels of acquired knowledge. A separate test was conducted on behavioral training. IG Ganapati said: “Equipped with tourist literature provided by the police and with increased confidence after the training, most tourist police personnel are confident of taking up the challenge. For the coming Char Dham yatra, the tourist police will be deployed at 55 places known to attract tourists, particularly on the yatra route. The main objective of the tourist police is to assist the pilgrims coming for the Char Dham yatra and the tourists. “Special booths for the tourist police will be set up at all routes leading to the Char Dham - Yamnotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. At least two tourist police personnel will be deputed at every booth. Besides, a first- aid kit will be kept at these booths. “The tourist police will assist domestic and foreign pilgrims on ttarakhand’s geographical conditions and travel fares so that none is cheated,” he said. Stating that a two-day orientation course would be organised for the tourist police on March 28 and 29, the IG said all tourist police personnel would be stationed at booths by April 15. “The uniform of the tourist police will be khaki with a red badge on a sky blue cloth on the right arm and a police monogram on the left arm.” A convention on the tourist police was organised under the DGP Joshi here yesterday where discussions were held regarding the expansion of the tourist police in the wake of the coming Char Dham Yatra .
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Football re-invented
Dehradun, March 6 This football follows new rules on the number of players on each side, play time, rules on changing players and on penalty shootout. The game is played in a ground half the size of a standard football field. The team consists of seven players on each side, who battle it out among themselves for 15 minutes before the whistle for the first half time is blown. If the game ends in a draw, then a penalty shootout is carried out. Both sides are awarded three penalties each. One of the senior referees of Dehradun, Govind Singh Thapa, said the game has grown in popularity over the years because of the increasing shortage of play fields and finance for the game in Dehradun. He says 150 to 200 players participate in the football matches in a day. Thapa says the game is getting popular in localities on the periphery of the city - Prem Nagar, FRI, Raipur, Clement Town and Cantonement area. Five or six such tournaments are held in these localities annually and 16 to 22 teams participate in each one of them. “The winners get cash prizes up to Rs 7,000. Ram Bahadur Chhetri Memorial Football tournament at the FRI campus and Shaheed Vivek Gupta Memorial Tournament are popular,” says Jagmohan Singh Rawat, vice-president of the Dehradun Football Association. Club teams do not participate in these tournaments, though players from clubs form their own teams to participate in the matches. Thapa is not too happy with the new form as he feels the game does not help football in any away. “ Football requires great skill, speed, coordination, ball control and team work. But in this form, one does not develop any of these qualities in the player. It is more of an individual game than team work,” says Thapa. “In villages on the periphery of Dehradun like Garhi, Dakra, Anarwala and Jhajra with a sizeable Gorkha population, this form of soccer is getting much support,”says Jagmohan Singh Rawat.
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The state’s Central Ground Water Board, which conducts an assessment every five years, has revealed a substantial depletion in the main Dehradun aquifer
Dehradun, March 6
There are as many as 200 tubewells in Doon Valley that extract as much as 1,000 litres per minute per cubic mts of ground water while operating for as long as 10 hours a day. This assumes significance as most of Dehradun’s potable water supply is dependent on ground water. Eighty per cent supply to Doon Valley is through tubewells, which are directly dependent on ground water for recharge. Most of these tubewells are under the Jal Sansthan, while a few are under the irrigation and other departments. However, water levels in summers have fallen drastically in recent times and availability of potable water continues to be a big challenge. Albeit Dehradun has vast ground water reserves, the speedy rate of withdrawal has certainly is a matter of concern. In addition, most of the rainwater runs off to the plain areas depriving the valley of its benefit. In recent years, Doon valley has been among the top few cities in the country that have received record rainfall during monsoons. However, rampant construction has considerably shrunk the surface area meant for percolation of water into the earth. The coming up of settlements alongside seasonal rivers is another grave problem. These riverside clusters of houses have substantially reduced the potential surface area of recharge. The surface areas of seasonal rivers and nullahs that criss-cross the valley have reduced the possibility of ground water recharge to a big extent. Geologists informed that the northern area of Doon Valley was best suited for ground water recharge, as the typical geological formations facilitate easy percolation of rainwater down into the water table. But rampant construction in this part of Dehradun is proving detrimental for the same. The state’s Central Ground Water Board, which conducts an assessment every five years, has recently revealed a substantial depletion in the Dehradun aquifer, which is the main source of water here. “The main Dehradun aquifer is fast getting depleted due to speedy withdrawls,” said Dr RP Singh, director, Central Ground Water Board, Dehradun. He said there has been indiscriminate tapping of ground water resources due to lack of effective management and there is an urgent need to sensitise the masses on the issue. Dr Singh said the potential of the main aquifer in Doon valley could substantially reduce in the days to come if best management practices vis-à-vis extraction of ground water resources were not undertaken immediately. He admitted that rampant construction and encroachments at the site of seasonal rivers and nullahs are also decresing the rate of recharge. The Environment Protection Act of 1986 calls for conservation of ground water and a check on its injudicious exploitation. It is thus more important to conserve than to develop underground water sources. Fortunately, while ground water depletion is a major challenge, the two major rives that crosses the two ends of Dehradun - Ganga and Yamuna - are maintaining a steady flow as of now. “The quantity of water in both Ganga and Yamuna rivers has been consistent and there is no immediate threat as of now. But we still need to continue monitoring of these two rivers,” said NN Rai, executive engineer, Central Water Commission, Himalaya Ganga Division, Dehradun. He said a comprehensive database linked to overall water availability should be immediately put together. “While Gangotri glacier will make an interesting subject of study for many, a conclusion can only be authentic if it comes through a long-standing study amply backed by proper database,” said Rai. Recharge through water harvesting has also not picked up much in the state, and albeit there are provisions for it they are seldom made mandatory. However, the Central Water Ground Board in one of innovative measures has successfully.
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A long winding road, indeed
Mussoorie, March 6 According to old records, evolution of the Mussoorie-Dehradun road dates back to 1843 when a rich English businessmen John Mackinnon developed a “cart” road connecting Dehradun to Mussoorie via Rajpur. For over half-a-century bullock carts carrying goods used to ply on this dirt road. Historian JP Uttarakhandi informed that during the 1920s travellers to Mussoorie described the path from Dehradun as a “hilly goat pass”. Interestingly, the first car arrived in Mussoorie through this narrow road as far back as 1920. According to stories of yore, in June that year the locals were intrigued by a cloud of dust approaching from the valley and were later amazed to see a car arriving in Mussoorie. The car was one of the models of Ford and the driver was Colonel Bell, a tea estate owner from Dehradun. This event, perhaps, opened the doors for motor transport to this hill town, as in 1926, after surveys by the then “United Province” government, the Mussoorie Municipal Board was granted a loan to undertake construction of a motorable road. Work was initiated at a rapid pace and within a year a motorable road up to Bhatta village (8 kms short of Mussoorie) was constructed. A temporary bus stop was built at this place in 1927. Subsequently, by 1930, the motor road was extended by around four kms beyond Bhatta up to a place called “Sunny View” and the bus stop was relocated from Bhatta to this point. “With increasing traffic two hotels - Sunny View and Home Stead - came up at this point to cater to travellers,” informed Uttarakhandi. A little later in 1936 the road was further extended upto Kincraig (2 kms short of Mussoorie) and another bus stop was constructed here. According to Uttarakhandi, during this period a private company known as Gwalior and Northern India Transport Company used to ply buses between Mussoorie and Saharanpur. An interesting fact associated with this company is that due to the heavy traffic of bullock carts and horses, a large number of nails, horse shoes etc used to fall on the road, which caused frequent damage to the tyres of buses and caused substantial losses to the company. In order to deal with the problem, the company hired people on contract who collected these items from the road on a daily basis. According to old records, “It was considered cheaper to hire labour rather than to pay for the cost of the damaged tyres and tubes.” However, four-wheelers were able to reach right up to Mussoorie only after independence. The road from Kincraig to Library (one end of Mall road) was built by 1954 and to Picture Palace in 1957. Thus, it took as many as 114 years for cars to reach this picturesque hill town.
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MKP pupils dabble with paint
Dehradun, March 6 MKP is one of the oldest degree colleges in the city, and annual painting exhibition is one of its special features. “From several years we are organising this exhibition, and students of painting department work in advance to put up a great show for college and for art lovers as well,” said Richa Kamboj, head painting department. Students displayed oil, water and poster colour paintings depicting beautiful deities, nature and human figures. “Students from bachelors and masters programme participated and were appreciated a lot by faculty and from art lovers,” said Richa Kamboj. However, apart from showcasing their paintings, the college even provided its students an opportunity to sell their paintings. “With appreciation we even want students to earn some money so that they can take it as a profession, later. We are glad students were offered Rs. 1000 for per painting,” said Richa Kamboj. The chief guest for the day was veteran artist, Raghuveer Singh Pawaar, who appreciated the work of the students, and said that these exhibitions not only motivate students, but also helps them to make a career out of it.
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Dehradun, March 6
Mussoorie, March 6
