Dehradun, July 23
While climate change is taking a toll on Himalayan glaciers, scanty rain this year has substantially decreased the water volume in the Ganga, Yamuna, Sharda and Tons rivers, which is alarming.

Rivers Kumaon and Sharda leave the hills at Tanakpur to enter the plains. An alarming decrease in the volume of water was recorded in these rivers on July 19 with Sharda’s discharge touching 333 cusecs at Banbasa while its volume had been 1,821 cusecs on the same day last year, which is five time more that what it is today.

The maximum discharge at the Sharda recorded on July 15 this year was just 936 cusecs.

Similarly, the Yamuna at Dakhpathar last year recorded a volume of 85 cusecs on July 19 while only 30 cusecs was recorded on the same day this year. The water content in the Yamuna this July has been poor and has not surpassed 10-11 cusecs of water so far.

The Tons recorded 303 cusecs of discharge at Echari on July 19 last year but it fell to 171 cusecs this year. In the Ganga too the water discharge has gone done substantially, with the river recording a considerable fall at Pashulok.

The discharge at Pashulok on July 19 last year was 1822 cusecs. It went down to 850 cusecs the same day this year. While the monsoon in Uttarakhand is expected after June 15 every year, the delayed rains in the region has affected the volume of water in the rivers.

According to NN Rai, XEN, Himalayan Ganga Division, rains certainly affected the volume of water in June but with rains picking up in the Uttarakhand hills, the situation was bound to improve in days to come.

“With irregular rains this year despite the onset of monsoon, the water discharge at rivers across the country is bound to get reduced,” Rai observed.

A comprehensive study by Rupa Kumar in 1992 using the monthly rainfall data for 306 stations across the country had indicated a decreasing trend in monsoon rainfall in the north-west peninsula. However, the weatherman is hopeful of good rains in rest of the July and August.

The Met Office at Dehradun has recrded a 65 per cent rainfall deficiency between June 1 to July 7 and some improvement in subsequent days. On July 14, the deficiency was at 58 per cent while it was just 49 per cent on July 20. “We are hopeful that there will be more rain from Sunday onwards and things may improve,” said Dr Anand Sharma, director, Met Office.

The decreasing volume of water in the rivers is bound to affect both drinking water and irrigation supply. Just before the start of the monsoon, there was a fear of the Kosi going dry in Kumaon.

Kosi is an important source of potable water for cities like Ramnagar and a major source of water for the rich wildlife in the region.

River basins prove to be of much help in recharging ground water. The falling levels of river waters could lead to less of ground water recharge and consequently a fall in ground water levels.

A Central Ground Water Board’s recent findings reveals a drastic fall of water level in the main aquifer due to lack of adequate recharge. Any fall in the volume of water in the Himalayan rivers will have disastrous consequences. Only a good monsoon can help Uttarakhand overcome this challenge.

Pitthoragarh, July 23
The state animal of Uttarakhand - Musk Deer - is set to face exile from its home state!

If reports are to be believed, the Musk Deer Breeding Farm would be shifted to Darjeeling in West Bengal from Kanchula Khark in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on the grounds that conditions for breeding the animal are not conducive in the state.

However, amid all this, there is a success story regarding the breeding of the musk deer at Mehrori in Bageswar District of Uttarakhand.

“Our farm began operations in 1979 under the Ministry of Health, Department of Ayush, Government of India, to extract genuine musk without sacrificing the animal,” said GC Joshi, research officer in charge of the project, which was run by Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha.

“Before this experiment, extracting musk from male deer through surgery was done at Kufri in Himachal Pradesh in 1970, but that method was found violating anti-cruelty laws,” added Joshi.

He informed that the four-acre farm was established on land given by villagers, but as they refused to part with more area the farm could not bextended. Joshi added that subsequently the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha decided to hand over this Centre to the forest department, process for which began three years ago.

“Under our experiment we successfully extracted musk from the glands of living animals, through surgery, from 1984 onwards and declared the experiment successful in 1988,” said Dr Gaindani, project officer stationed at New Delhi. “One male musk deer, after attaining the age of three years, can provide 7 to 10 grams of musk every year up to the age of 21,” informed Gaindani.

However, the Government of India has signed an international agreement under which musk cannot be extracted from living animals for commercial purposes.

“But in China, Mongolia and some Asian countries where musk deer is found, the governments have allowed farm-owners to rear musk deers. The musk is later collected from them,” said Gaindani.

He claimed that the Council has successfully completed the only experiment of extracting genuine and natural musk from living animals in India.

“But now, the Council wants the breeding work to be taken over by the Forest Department and our scientists will extract natural musk without harming the animal,” he said.

Notably, four varieties of musk deer are found in the world - The Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster) that is found in India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China, Korea, Burma, Vietnam and Siberia; The Siberian (Moschus moschiferus) musk deer; Dwarf (Moschus berezovskii) musk deer; and the Black musk deer (Mochus fuscus), all three of which are found in various parts of the world.

In India, the musk deer is found in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Darjeeling. In Uttarakhand, it is found in Kedar Nath Valley, Valley of Flowers, Harsil Valley, Askot Sanctuary and Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, which lie between heights of 2,200 to 4,300 metres.

The musk deer is an endangered species and has been put under red data book of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), which implies that to poach, domesticate or to trade organs of this species is punishable under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

“Natural musk has been used in ayurvedic, Unani and allopathic medical systems as a power supplement and an aphrodisiac. Almost 50 ayurvedic and 150 Unani medicines cannot be made without a tinge of pure musk,” informed Joshi.

Mussoorie, July 23
The omnipresent coriander (dhaniya) is an integral ingredient of the Indian cuisine. Both in the form of fresh green leaves and dried seeds, it has an important place in the Indian kitchen because of its distinctive aroma and flavour.

The essential oil within the plant and the seeds gives it that tempting scent. In India, the fresh criander leaves are used for garnishing and for making chutney mixed with other ingredients.

The dried seeds are used in curry and in the form of a fine smelling powder. The coriander grows widely in the country and is often given free along with vegetables in the market. Apart from its mouth-watering taste, the coriander is also of great medicinal use.

The aromatic leaves work as an antiseptic and are known to aid digestion. The oil in the seeds has anti-bacterial and an anti-fungal properties and is helpful in gastric flushing. The oil is known for correcting digestive problems and diarrhoea caused by various infections in the intestine and the bowel. Coriander seed oil is available in the market under various labels. However, crushed seeds can be taken raw with water to attain benefits. The coriander plant can be grown with the seed during the months of April and May

The seeds break into tiny white flowers during the month of August.

The seeds, dark green granules, eventually turn yellowish brown with the wonder oil maturing inside. 

Dehradun, July 23
In the absence of referral systems and trained human resources, the Early Childhood Disability Detection Programme may encounter hurdles.

A view among experts in the disability sector is gaining ground that in order to make the programme successful, referral services powered by trained staff have to be created at the panchayat and block levels.

Expressing these views at a nurses workshop on early identification of disability among children organised by the Latika Roy Foundation, Vandana Bedi, consultant trainer in the field of disability and development, said that referral services should be made accessible to the economically weak.

“Polio, autism, cerebral palsy, facial palsy, spinal bifida and other childhood diseases need to be detected early in childhood so that proper treatment can be given to the child,” said Vandana.

Lack of awareness and poor economic conditions are some of the reasons that may lead to delayed or complete inaction on part of parents and family members.

To arrest the problem, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been identified for taking forward the government’s policy of early detection of disability among children. To this end, ‘aanganwaris’ will be made the centre of the programme for identifying disability in early childhood.

During the course of the workshop, the participating ‘aanganwari’ workers said they were overstretched with the polio drops and family planning programmes.

Shouldering the responsibility of another programme would be an uphill task, they opined. Nevertheless, all agreed that better time management would be required to carry forward the programme.

The one-day workshop was organised to sensitise nurses about disability and the important role they could play in early identification of disabilities.

The participants at the workshop included nurses from ONGC Hospital, Doon Hospital, Military Hospital, Nisha Nursing Home, Vohra Nursing home, Luthra Nursing Home and other hospitals from the city.

Auxiliary nurses and mid wives (ANMS) and health workers also participated in the workshop.