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Women’s poor status telling on their health
Climate Change: Himalayas worst hit
No permission yet to put two tubewells to use |
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Women’s poor status telling on their health Dehradun, September 6
The worst-affected in the state are pockets of Mori in Uttarkashi, Ghat area in Chamoli district, Chakrata and Kalsi in Dehradun and Okhal Kanda in Nainital district. “The purchasing power of women is negligible. Even if they work hard, they do not get adequate remuneration for their labour, which becomes problematic,” said Sujata Singh, programme officer, ICDS.
Studies undertaken by NGOs point out that the percentage is much higher. A study by Sri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA) indicates that 77per cent of women are anaemic, 55 per cent suffer from gynaecological disorders and 89 per cent of births take place at home without the assistance of trained midwives, nurses Most women in the state experience serious gynaecological disorders, arthritis and stomach ailments. Another study undertaken by the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) in 2002 in three districts of Tehri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli( six blocks) on the status of nutrition of women during anti-natal and post ante-natal periods showed at least 67 per cent women were anaemic and 48.2 per cent deficient in proteins. “As society is in a transitional phase, the change in nutritional habits have impacted the health of women. Earlier their diet comprised of meat and pulses but these have lowly been replaced by other food items with poor nutritional value. “Besides, the villages are selling everything in the market leaving little for domestic consumption. Even the number of cattlehead have been reduced,” said Dr Rajiv Bijalwan. Various studies point out that the workload on women is immense and they do not get time to pay attention to their health. Patriarchal practices of women eating the leftover food persist which gets entrenched with young girls following in the footsteps of their mothers. Even the availability of toilets is a major issue with only 12.5 per cent of women having access to this basic necessity. “As though hard work was not enough, the women have very little time to recuperate after pregnancy. Even the condition of lactating women is poor. Poor health services are a cause of concern,” said Shashi B Uniyal, project coordinator, mahila ashram. “We are concerned that the ration provided to expectant mothers is not reaching them. Several ICDS centres in Uttarkashi and Gairsain have been shut down. The move has come after cooked meals began to be served to children. Now, mothers and teenage girls are being deprived of the ration,” said Gopal Dimri of the mahila ashram. Iron deficiency is the most prevalent deficiency in older adolescent girls and lower socio-economic groups. While iron deficiency is more common during the peak growth in boys, it is more common in teenage girls due to menstruation and decreased dietary intake. “The requirement for vitamins and minerals increases during adolescence due to rapid skeletal growth,” opined Dr Bijalwan. The NFHS-III, Uttarakhand, says the prevalence of anaemia in the 15-19 age group is 59.3 per cent and in children 69.6 per cent. “Iron deficiency causes loss of immunity and hosts of other problems that have to be tackled in childhood. Children report loss of mental concentration and weak eyesight. It is a social and economic problem,” said Dr Nidhi Chaudhury, Consultant Futures Group. The focus should be on nutritional counselling, supply of supplements and incorporation of double-fortified salts. “ The government policy is targeting only the poor whereas iron deficiency is prevalent among large sections.
“To begin with, the double-fortified salts distributed in anganwadis is an excellent supplement to get rid of anaemia and it should be made available to all, through mid-day meals as it is a dietary supplement,” suggested Dr Bijalwan.
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Climate Change: Himalayas worst hit Dehradun, September 6 Navdanya, an NGO, has been working for the ecologically sustainable development of the Himalayas for the past two decades. Navdanya that has hosted a seminar on climate change today through participatory research with the local communities have come with its study of the impacts of climate change in Garhwal Himalayas. Vandana Shiva, of Navdanya said that a survey carried out in 165 villages in Garhwal Himalayas revealed that an average of 34.60 per cent perennial springs, 29.9 per cent seasonal springs and 38.56 per cent perennial streams have dried up completely. Average water yield of perennial springs is reduced by 64 per cent. The rate of drying up was found higher (44.56 per cent) in Bhagirathi watershed and lowest 20.79 per cent in Mandakini watershed. More than 90 per cent of these springs and streams dried off during 2001, 2006-07 and 2009. Besides, about 50 to 60 per cent villages depending on the tap water supply have also been adversely affected due to reduction in the sources of the water supply. In Saterakhal-Chopata area of Rudraprayuag, in more than 45 villages, drinking water is being supplied through water tankers and in Bikhol goan and Deoli villages in Uttarkashi, drinking water is being supplied on mules. The study also found that broad leave forests are fast changing into chir pine forest due to frequent forest fires. Prolonged drought like conditions reduces the moisture content in the dried leaves on the ground making it vulnerable to fires. It was noticed that phenology of the plant species is changing mainly due to the effects of drastic variation in temperature and long drought periods. For example, Rhododendron was found to be flowering during January to July in 2009 instead of its normal flowering from February to June. Many of the fruit crops in the Himalayas such as apple, pear, peach and apricot failed miserably as flowers could not reach fruiting stage due to sudden rise in temperature. During the year 2007 and 2008, 50 to 60 per cent, rabi crops failed in the middle and lower mountains region (600 to 1500 meters) while they survived in temperate and alpine area coupled with irrigated plain areas. But in the year 2009, failure rate increased to 90 per cent in rainfed subtropical areas and 40 per cent in temperate areas. In many areas of Partapnagar block of Tehri garhwal district, farmers are not having seeds for plantation next year. Similarly some of the kharif crops like potato, vegetables, amaranth and pulses failed up to 80 per cent due to excessive rainfall during May to July 2008 in every part of the state. But the situation is bad in 2009. In tropical and subtropical mountain areas about 35 per cent irrigated land is left barren due to unavailability of water. Condition of paddy crop is also not good. Most of the paddy fields are on the brink of failure due to insufficient rains, the study revealed. The villagers are also having a lot of trouble in collecting fodder for their animals as oak forest are the only fodder left for the hill folks. Many of the villagers have been forced to sell their animals due to the unavailability of fodder. Interestingly, the study found that the most climate resilient crops were ragi, jhangora, til, tor, jakhya, jowar, bajara and local rajma varieties.
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No permission yet to put two tubewells to use
Pauri, September 6 The Uttarakhand Peyjal Sansthan, a state government enterprise, had completed the construction of two mini tubewells at Dandapuri and Kotdwar road at an estimated cost of Rs 60 lakh. But these tubewells, which can supply one million litres of drinking water to the town, have been non-operational for the past two years as the government has not given its nod in the wake of strong opposition by a section of politicians. These politicians want the government to go ahead with the Nanghat project that can supply 5.18 million litres of drinking water per day to Pauri town. A 70-km-long pipeline is being laid for the project which is being built at a revised cost of Rs 65 crore. The government has completed 40 per cent work on the Nanghat project under which water is being brought to Pauri town from the nearby Nanghat spring. As it may take an year or more for the completion of the project, the officials here are demanding that the government should give its permission to start the two tubewells. They have even approached Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal in this regard. "We are just waiting for the final nod from the Chief Minister," said an official here. — PTI
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