Dehradun, September 14
Uttarakhand state bird and endangered pheasant monal is all set to get a fresh lease of life. A pheasant breeding centre with focus on the monal is coming up in the Mandal valley of Kedarnath in the state.

The monal (Lopophorous impejanus) had recorded a population of 919 in 2008 in the first-ever census of this bird held in the state in the wake of reports of its dwindling numbers and fast-shrinking habitat.

The breeding centre comes at a time when there have been increasing reports of Nepali migrant labourers in the state being accused of indulging in monal killings. This colourful bird is primarily poached for its colourful feathers and meat.

Details for the first pheasant breeding centre of Uttarakhand have been prepared by Kedarnath Forest Division officials, who were given a go-ahead for the ambitious project by the Central Zoo Authority in Dehradun some months back.

Kedarnath Forest Division DFO Dheeraj Pandey said the need for the breeding centre was being felt for quite some time.

The Central Zoo Authority in its meeting with state forest officials in Dehradun four months back had given a go-ahead for the project following which Kedarnath forest authorities started working on the proposal, he added.

“The pheasant breeding centre, the first one in the state, will not only cater to the breeding aspect of pheasant, particularly state bird monal, but will also assist in the study of this endangered species,” said Pandey.

He added that very few studies had been done in Uttarakhand on the behavioural patterns of the monal while the neighbouring state of Himachal Pradesh and other Himalayan states had done a lot on the subject.

Welcoming the breeding centre, Wildlife Institute of India’s scientist K Ramesh said the breeding centre of pheasants in Uttarakhand would go a long way in the smooth conduct of studies and research works.

“Uttarakhand is rich in bird biodiversity. Many of these birds fall in the endangered category and such breeding centres will certainly help further the cause of pheasant conservation,” added Ramesh, an expert in avian studies in Uttarakhand.

The breeding centre will come up at Kanchula Kharakh in the Mandal valley of Kedarnath in an expanse of 20 hectares, which presently houses a musk deer-breeding centre.

Apart from focusing on monal, the centre will also take to breeding of “cheer” and “kalij” pheasants.

The monal in Uttarkhand is found at the height of 2,000-5,000 m as these pheasants prefer a cool climate.

They exhibit clear and fluctuating altitudinal migration moving down as low as 6,500 ft in winters and up to 16,000 ft in summers.

Their natural habitat lies in the snow-bound areas of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Nandadevi National Park, Gangotri National Park and other high reaches of the state with Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary recording the highest 367 monals.

Its other habitats in Uttarakhand like Govind Pashu Vihar and Uttarakashi Forest Division recorded 179 and 107 monals, respectively.

There have been some sporadic initiatives so far to safeguard monal. Uttarakhand’s upper reaches including Nandadevi Biosphere, Kedarnath Forest division and Pitthoragarh Forest Division have been subjected to large-scale plantation of Ringal bamboo that supports monal habitat, particularly during breeding.

This initiative that comes at the behest of the Uttarakhand Fibre and Bamboo Board entails covering 730 hectares through Ringal plantation in five years - Nanda Devi Biosphere 230 hectares, Kedarnath Forest Division 250 hectares and 250 hectares in the Pitthoragarh Forest Division.

Against the target of 120 hectares, a total of 135 hectares of ringal saplings were planted last year by the bamboo board that includes 75 hectares in Nandadevi National Park and another 60 hectares in Kedarnath Wildlife Division.

As many as 3,37,500 saplings were planted in the process. Oil giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) limited is funding the project. The financial assistance amounts to Rs 3.72 crore.

The state is one of the richest bird area in the country and harbours as many as 50 per cent of the total bird diversity.

It has more than 600 bird species and continues to be a delight for birdwatchers from across the country.

Himalayan monal has a distinct position among pheasants due to its prominent build, brilliant plumage and strong association with local folklore. One of the most beautiful birds of the world, the Himalayan monal is a large heavily built bird and yet it is very gentle.

The plumage of mature males is spectacular. It consists mainly of metallic colours including blue, green, red and purple.

With its distribution along the Himalayas from eastern Afghanistan along with north Pakistan to Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh that includes Uttarakhand, Himalayan monal’s importance in the Himalayas can be gauged from the fact that it is also the National Bird of Nepal and was also the state bird of Himachal Pradesh a few years back.

Dehradun, September 14
For the first time, three boys from Uttarakhand underwent a month-long training in adventure tourism at St Andrews Cathedral School, Australia.

The training was aimed at improving candidates’ skills as well as providing them first-hand knowledge about the needs of the western clients coming to Uttarakhand for adventure activities.

Twentyfour-year-old Kapil Singh of Jaspur (Uttarkashi), Satbeer Singh Tomar of Angoda village (Uttarkashi) and Dehradun’s Vivek Badola attended the training programme in Sydney, Australia.

Addressing a press conference, Kapil said: “It was Ric Van Wachem, Director of Outdoor Education, Australia, who had selected us for the training course. Ric had come to Uttarakhand with his team of students to undergo an adventure expedition at Nanda Devi.

“After completing the Nanda Devi expedition, he decided to select students for a basic mountaineering course and camp management course in Sydney, in order aware us about the requirements of western tourists”.

Sharing his Australian experience, Kapil said it was a totally different experience in Australia where they had to manage a larger group of tourists at a camp than what they did in Uttarakhand.

All three students are employed with Mountain Shepherds, a private company. The company was established in 1996 with the view to building a systematic network of professionally trained people who could look after the needs of foreigners coming to the state for adventure activities.

Sunil Kainthola, Director of the Mountain Shepherds Company, said: “This is the first time that three of our boys got first-hand experience of working in a foreign country, in a very different atmosphere than that of Uttarakhand. The experience would go a long way in taking care of the need of the foreigners visiting the state. These students share their experience with others as well”.

The company had facilitated their training in various mountaineering courses at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, before employing them for adventure tourism in the state.

Dehradun, September 14
In the coming weeks, the successful River Bank Filtration (RBF) model developed at Dweep Island, Haridwar, as a result of Indo-German collaboration, will be developed in Srinagar and other towns of Uttarakhand that are in the throes of a water crisis and have to make do with even poor water quality.

The University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, and Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan will begin feasibility studies in Srinagar soon so that the delineation of the area around wells where human activity will be completely prohibited and area where limited activity will be allowed can be undertaken.

“We have already established a cooperation centre at Dweep Island in Haridwar for the River Bank Filtration (RBF). We are taking the project to other towns that are suitable for the RBF,” said HP Uniyal, Chief General Manager, Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan.

He said hydrological conditions existed at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar and Nainital where river banks were suitable for RBF technology.

“The nature of the soil and other material that is present in the riverbeds is conducive for this technique. In fact, 90,000 km of river courses of major rivers can be taken up for the RBF,” said Uniyal.

The Dweep Island RBF site in Haridwar has also received recognition from UNESCO. The University of Dresden and Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan will also set up groundwater a monitoring network in Dehradun to keep an eye on the status of water resources in the state.

The pioneer of the technique Prof Thomas Grischek, Head of University of Applied Sciences, Germany, who was in Dehradun said there were several similarities between the Ganga in Srinagar and the Rhine river in the German town of Dusseldorf.

“The similarities in topography of the region and the river cannot be missed. In Varanasi, abstraction of water is being carried out directly through the rivers which leaves a lot of room for contamination and entry of bacteria whereas RBF taps the underground surface water. This reduces the presence of pathogens to the bare minimum,” said Grischek.

He said even the seasonal use of RBF could reduce groundwater depletion in large rivers and it could even be used for irrigation purposes.

Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan and the University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, will also undertake lake bank filtration at Nainital. If successful, it will open up the possibility of harnessing several lakes in the state.

The RBF site in Haridwar is now being used to supply drinking water to Haridwar town that faces high variation in water demand due to Kumbh and Ardh-Kumbh melas.

The annual monsoon does not adversely affect the RBF site in Haridwar and even maintains the quality of water.

Dehradun, September 14
The Government Drivers Federation recently submitted a memorandum to Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harbans Kapoor demanding the implementation of the government order related to pay band and pay grade.

State president of the federation Mahipal Singh Negi said drivers, who are posted in various government departments, were suffering afinancial loss for the past three years on this count. The Finance Department had issued the order on July 3, 2006, but it was yet to be implemented.

The other demands included compulsory insurance of drivers and vehicles, regularisation of services of drivers working on ad hoc and contractual basis and increase in election duty allowance.

Roorkee, September 14
A total of 525 units of blood was collected in the blood donation camp, organised by the NSS and the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, in association with the IMA, Himalayan Institute Hospital and the government hospital, here last evening.

Director of the institute SC Saxena inaugurated the event. Appreciating the huge participation in the camp, he said, “Blood donation, a supreme and noble service to mankind, gives great satisfaction. Young people should donate blood regularly.”

Other dignitaries, including Dr Sarje, Dr NK Goel and Dr DK Nauriyal, were also present on the occasion.