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Malsi to be turned into mini zoo
Amphibian wonder at Rajaji
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Doon prepares to ward off water blues
State seeks German help to overhaul projects
Towards a better future
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Malsi to be turned into mini zoo
Dehradun, March 19 The development comes as a big relief. The upgradation will finally help the park in accommoding the ever-growing inmates, which include rescued wild animals housed inside the park. Located on the Dehradun-Mussoorie highway, 8 km from the Dehradun Clock Tower, the park is known for its rich wildlife. Uttarakhand has only one high-altitude zoo at Nainital and the need for at least one mini-zoo was being felt for quite some time. In the run-up to the mini zoo status, the total area of Malsi Deer Park had been some time back extended from 25 hectares to 35 hectares, taking into account its new requirements. More importantly, Friends of Doon, a voluntary organisation working for betterment of Doon, had strongly advocated developing the Malsi Park into an interpretation centre for the student community in Dehradun. The organisation had facilitated the visit of a team of Centre for Environment Education (CEE), Ahmedabad, a year back that had, after a thorough study after spending a week at the park, submitted a report to the state forest authorities. The mini zoo status for Malsi will help identify Malsi as a centre of nature studies. The report submitted by the CEE team has come up with a slew of suggestions for making the park a state-of-the-art centre for nature studies. A comprehensive blue print was provided to the forest department for carrying forward the proceedings. Chief Forest Conservator, Planning and Finance Administration, DVS Khati, said the report had been submitted and would be of immense benefit to the park. It had suggested creation of dioramas inside the campus to ensure that visiting children got a feel of wildlife inside the park apart from improving buildings and other infrastructure facilities. H. Desai, who led the CEE team had called for an exclusive theme-based enclosures and installation of signages at the park. The CEE that played a key role in developing the Delhi zoo and the Kanha National Park as centres of nature studies suggested that a methodology be followed to conduct nature studies. To come up strictly on the Central Zoo Authority guidelines, the mini zoo would introduce more wildlife and make necessary arrangements for the same. It will also be ensured that the wild animals brought were provided natural surroundings. The Malsi Deer Park on an average attracts 300 to 350 visitors everyday. The park revenue stands at Rs 6 lakh to 7 lakh per year, but on being converted into a mini zoo, its revenue is expected to increase. Welcoming the new status for Malsi, Dr JS Rawat, Conservation Officer, WWF, said there was a need for a mini zoo in the region. The park has a leopard couple identified as Raja and Rani, 54 spotted deer three barking deer, six ginni fowl, a hill goat, two eagles, two silver pheasants and a vulture. A black buck and an owl are two recent additions. This is apart from rabbits and parrots that are in abundance at the park. The Doonites often visit the park on weekends. The Dehradun Master Plan: 2025 has underlined the importance of the park, the only wildlife hub within the city limits. The plan envisages safeguarding the park encompassing 38.86 hectares and accounting for .11 per cent area of the city as wildlife zone. Uttarakhand Chief Wild Life Warden Srikant Chandola and Divisional Forest Officer BK Gangte have taken up the case of setting up relief and rescue centres in Almora and Haridwar regions of the state for rescued maneaters.
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Amphibian wonder at Rajaji
Haridwar, March 19 This red frog can leap about 850 cm, which is approximately a metre. What’s unique is that it is found in fresh water only and has been mostly seen in terrai forests. After years of research and collective data, experts say this red frog does exist in India but can’t confirm where and how many are they. The frog seen in the Rajaji National Park is like any other frog but with a yellow streamline on its outer surface bifurcating the frog into two parts when viewed at a first glance. Wild life Institute of India’s Dr Karthikeyan has says its habitat is in fresh water. This frog was first seen in August last year in the Kharkhari forest range of Haridwar and was reported to the then park director. But with GS Pandey retiring, the process was halted. Now, this species of frog has been identified by the park authorities.There are 12 types of frogs in the park area, includin the red frog. Forest scientist Dr Ritesh Joshi, who has seen this frog, states it as a unique selling quotient for the Rajaji Park. “This is a rare breed and more study and statistical research needs to be done on this rarest of rare species,” says Joshi. Apart from India, this species is found in Nepal and Bhutan only and that makes this frog even more special. The red frog is generating interest among zoologists and forest scientists across the subcontinent.
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Doon prepares to ward off water blues
Dehradun, March 19 Despite a detailed report prepared by engineers of the IIT- Roorkee, the project has been shelved for the time-being though the Asian Development Bank had showed keenness to go ahead with the project. Situated at a distance of 32 km from Dehradun at Songhna village,a 6.8 km-long and 2.1 metre-wide tunnel was to be constructed at Kumalda, the dam site. It was expected to generate 6 mw of electricity. The downside of the project was submergence of 84 hectares of forest land, affecting 19 families, 16 houses and one gharat. Asked about the future of the project, HP Uniyal, GM of Jal Sansthan, refused to comment and said as two other departments (irrigation and power corporation) were involved, the matter had to be discussed at the higher level. Meanwhile, to meet the water demands of the city in the summer months, Peyjal Nigam and Jal Sansthan, has drawn a contingency plan involving an allocation of Rs 204.16 lakh for strengthening existing potable water supply lines in the city. District Magistrate Amit Negi, who is looking into the arrangements, said: “We don’t want to take any chances and will ensure that all potable water preparations for summers are done on time.” At a meeting, officials were asked by the District Magistrate to work on a war footing for timely construction and repair of handpumps. In the city 70 handpumps (community) are out of order and 34 taps (community) have gone dry. As present, Dehradun city and the villages in its periphery need 196 mld of potable water while the supply stands at 186 mld. In summers the demand increases several times over due to the tourist rush. Officials of all three divisions of Peyjal Nigam and Jal Sansthan have been asked to speed up work for completion of construction of handpumps in time. Besides, the Jal Sansthan authorities have asked the public to cooperate in the judicious use of water and have warned of strict action if consumers are found stealing water from the main water lines.
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State seeks German help to overhaul projects
Dehradun, March 19 Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), a state government corporation involved in hydro-electric generation in the state, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lamyar International, a German company, for preparing a detailed project report and technical feasibilities of six old hydro-electric projects namely Chibbro, Khodri, Dhalipur, Dhakrani, Kulhal in the Yamuna valley and Tiloth in the Ganga valley.Yogender Parsad, chairman of UJVN, said the MoU was signed on March 5, 2009, and Lamyar International would submit report by October 2009. “We have received a loan of 3.3 million euros from KFW, a financial institution of Germany, for renovation of these projects,” he said. Parsad said the installed capacity of hydro-electric projects in Uttarakhand was nearly 1000 mw and these projects are expected to generate nearly 5000 million units of electricity. However, these projects, which are very old, are only producing 3200 million units. “With renovation and modernisation of these projects, many of which will outlive their life in the next two years, we will be able to generate another 1,000 million units,” he said. Similarly, Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, a Government of India enterprise, had agreed to finance the renovation of Mohammadpur and Pathri hydro-electric projects in the Ganga valley. The board of UJVNL had passed the detailed project report of these two old projects and the process to invite tenders for actual works invited. UJVNL would also take up modernisation of the remaining three projects, namely Chilla, Ram Ganga and Khatima projects. While, Chilla with an installed capacity of 144 mw was built in 1980, Ram Ganga with 198 mw capacity was commissioned in 1975. Khatima project, with an installed capacity of 41 mw, was one of the oldest in the state built in 1956. Parsad said the demand for power was ever- increasing and the state faced a deficit of 250 million units this year. “The situation has been better since the commissioning of the Maneri Bhali Phase-11 with a capacity of 304 mw. But by next year, the deficit in power supply will rise by 1250 million units. So there is a need to not only built new projects but also renovate old ones,” he said. On the 120 mw Vyasi project, Parsad claimed that the project had been taken over from the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) and would be completed by December 2011, in a record time of two years and nine months. About the Lakwar project in the Yamuna valley, Parsad said the central government had agreed to provide 90 per cent grant for the project that would provide water to five other states, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana
and Rajasthan.
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Towards a better future
Dehradun, March 19 Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with five foreign universities, for the past two years, DIT has being providing students an opportunity to study abroad in the field of engineering, architecture and business administration. “For the past two years we are working with five foreign universities under the MOU. At present, we have applications of 10 to 15 students who want to apply for NDSU programme under which, after completion of two years of engineering from DIT, they will get to complete rest of their studies in USA. This will help students get better job,” said Mahesh Chandra Bhandari, Dean, International Linkages, DIT. “It is for time that we are working with DIT, and it’s a big opportunity for students who want to make it big in their career. After completion of two years of engineering at our university, students will get opportunities to work for 29 months in different organisations, where they would be able earn good salaries. After fulfilling the basic criteria, students will also be provided 50 per cent scholarship. We are glad that over the years we have maintained a very good record as far as placements are concerned,” said Sudhir Mehta, associate vice-president, NDSU. Along with this, an exchange programme is also being conducted in which students and faculties get to visit different universities. “Presently, we have got nine students and three faculty member from Kansas State University and Iowa State University in USA. Two students from DIT will be going to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), USA, in July” said Bhandari.
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Dehradun, March 19
Haridwar, March 19
To meet the water demand in summer months, Peyjal Nigam and Jal Sansthan, have drawn a plan for strengthening potable water supply lines
