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Towards making Mussoorie polythene-free
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Mass awareness must to curtail forest fires, suggest experts
Badrinath opened for devotees
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Children of a lesser god
Dehradun, May 1
Robbed of childhood and disillusioned with the conditions at home, they went with the highest bidder in the hope of a better life.
Several years ago Badri Prasad, a young lad hailing from Bamola village in Pauri, was auctioned at the Hari Ki Pauri market. Several years later, lady luck shined on him. He went on to become the Prime Minister of Fiji. But most were not as lucky as Badri Prasad. Several of these chhokras were condemned to a life of physical labour and exploitation but the hope of finding an Eldorado continued to inspire them. The slavery market no longer exists, but little pahari boys continue to slave at tea stalls, restaurants, homes, dhabas and hotels for pithy remunerations. Despite a ban on child labour, the children continue to comprise a large section of our work force. Rampant unemployment, poverty and too few options at home continue to push hundreds of pahari children into servitude. According to a survey undertaken by the government between 2001-08, the total number of children identified as engaged in hazardous occupations are 1,670, and in non-hazardous jobs 3,363. A large number of the pahari boys do not see any virtue in staying back and continuing with their education. The charming life of a townsman and the tales they hear from those who have made it big is a constant lure for them. Also, the brutal beating received at the hands of a schoolmaster may have converted many a boy
into a rebel. Between 1997-2008, the total number of children employed in non-hazardous occupation in all 13 districts stood at 4,555 and in hazardous occupation 1,804. A total of 6,359 children were identified as child
labourers. “The state government has always been sensitive to the problems of child labour, not only comprehensive surveys are conducted but suitable and proper rehabilitation action is taken. The recovery amount as compensation is deposited in a corpus created in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court.
The government has so far rehabilitated 1,133 child labourers and the exercise is on for the remaining 3,900,” said labour commissioner Girija Shankar Joshi. The government issued 134 show-cause notices and recovery certificates were issued for an amount of Rs 6.61 lakh that was deposited in the corpus created as per the Supreme Court directives. “As far as identification of child labourers goes, the department is vigilant, we undertake impromptu checks at hotels and factories, but our biggest problem is maintaining a vigil at homes,” said Joshi. In Uttarakhand, pahari chhokras accompanying sahibs and memsahibs during their annual trips to villages in the hills is a common sight. The boys are brought to the town, many in their pre-teens, with the promise of providing for their education and possibly a job once they grow up. “The allurement of a job in a town is too much to be given a go-by though it is another matter that the boys and even young girls usually are left in the lurch. “There are few instances when these children have been well cared for,” said Cyril Raphael of Shri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram, an NGO based in Garhwal. A large number of children are being employed at construction sites and factories. No attention is paid to their emotional and health needs. “The government should undertake surprise checks at these sites to combat the practice. The problem is acute because once free, the children have no place to go with their parents also working out,” said Aditi Kaur of Mountain Forum, an NGO.
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Towards making Mussoorie polythene-free
Mussoorie, May 1
Finally, 20 educational institutions in the town have decided raise awareness about the need for solid waste management and discourage the use of polythene.
The institutions will be organising a cleanliness drive around their campuses tomorrow. Students and local residents of the town would be encouraged to participate in the campaign. The students would organise a procession on Mall Road to raise awareness over the issue. The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) through their HOPE group (a group of IAS probationers working on solid waste management) will also be participating in this campaign). “After declaring a ban on polythene last year the local administration has failed to take any concrete steps to control the use of polythene bags. All educational institutions here have therefore decided to take matters into their own hands,” said an IAS probationer on condition of anonymity. According to members of the HOPE group, “The internationally accepted best practice for solid waste management is to segregate waste at source into ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ waste; and collect it door-to-door. Most of the dry waste can be recycled and wet waste converted to compost.” However, none of these practices are currently being taken up in the town. Notably, the town has a permanent resident population of about 40,000 persons with more than 2 million tourists visiting the town. According to research studies, based on a per-capita consumption, it is estimated that the city produces about 50-lakh kg of waste per annum. All the waste collected by Nagar Palika is dumped at a place called Garhi Khana, which is about a kilometer away from the Gandhi Chowk end of the Mall road. This is an open dumping site and sources suggest that a nearly 50-60-tractor load of waste is dumped at the site. This waste gradually finds its way down the slopes and is being washed into the nearby rivers and springs thereby polluting the water sources. The MDDA had proposed to install 84 monkey proof dustbins in the town last year. But till date about 10 bins have been placed which shows the apathy of the MDDA. These institutions are, therefore, campaigning against the current practices and raising awareness about proper disposal of waste, including reducing use of plastic bags, door-to-door collection of segregated waste, recycling ‘dry’ waste and installation dustbins along the roads. The
participating institutions are Central School for Tibetans, Convent of Jesus & Mary Waverly Convent School, Convent of Jesus and Mary Hampton Court, Divya Bharti School, Deodar Ellen Memorial School, Ghananand Govt. Inter College, Greenfield School, Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School (Shangri La), Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School (Vincent Hill), Manav Bharti School, Mussoorie Girls Inter College, Mussoorie Modern School, Mussoorie Management Institute, Mussoorie Public School, Red Rose International School, St. Clair’s School, Sanatan Dharm Inter College, Tibetan Homes Foundation, Wyneberg Allen School and Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration.
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Mass awareness must to curtail forest fires,
Haridwar, May 1
The infernos engulfing greens of the state point towards need for special emphasis and preparations to tackle the problem, which is assuming greater significance.
Thousand of hectares of forest wealth have already been burnt in the continuous fires smouldering in the forests here. From Garhwal region to Kumaon forests, fires have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest wealth apart from being dangerous to animal habitat and to the ecology. Environmentalists believe with the emission of carbon dioxide and methane due to these fires they prove to be quite dangerous to the environment. Besides humus is destroyed too which affects the fertile land composition badly. Apart from the loss of topsoil and micro-organisms, another major effect of forest fires is on the animal habitat. In the Rajaji National Park area habitat disturbance and movement of animals is noticed affecting tigers, leopards, elephants, birds. Notably, during forest fire in March 2007 about 15-hectare forest of Kharkhari range was destructed and it was assessed just after the fire that all the wild animals had left the forest for few months and returned only after the natural habitat had regained somewhat composure. Deputy ranger forest Khirshu range in Pauri Garhwal, Dhiraj Singh Rawat, said
the forest fires in Garhwal forest had destroyed several hectares of forest wealth and a mass public awareness campaign
was the need of the hour to curtail the rising number of fire incidents. “Precious natural wealth is lost and it
is an arduous task for forest department as forest area is very large compared to the forest employees,” said deputy ranger. Forest experts too point the need of mass awareness and well equipped special fire fighter task force to control the menace which occurs every year. “The period from mid-March to June is the fire prone and this fire may be of natural or of anthropogenic origin. Sometimes, burning cigarettes, biddies, matchsticks and electric fences are the causative agents of forest fire apart from natural causes,” informs Dr Ritesh Joshi, an eminent forest scientist. Since February forests of Garhwal are burning and several hectares of forests in Dehradun, Haridwar, Rishikesh have been destroyed. Everyday new forest fire incidents are reported.
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Badrinath opened for devotees
Dehradun, May 1 The hallowed portals of Badrinath shrine was re-opened amid chanting of vedic hymns under the supervision of head priest Badri Prasad Namboodri, Dharmadhikari J P Sati and the members of Dimri priest families. Thousand of pilgrims that had turned up at the shrine to witness the occasion and rented the air with Jai Badri Vishal slogans. Braving chill, large number of devotees from across the country started queuing up at the shrine from 3 am for darshan. While Garhwal scout members played the band to rejoice the occasion. The ceremony took place under elaborate security arrangements. Established by Adi Shankara in 9th century, Badrinath considered one of most pious Hindu shrines keeps a special place for Vaishnavites. Yesterday, the hallowed portals of the Central Himalayan Hindu shrine of Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand were opened for devotees.
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