Pitthoragarh, June 26
Nearly one-third of surplus horticulture produce is still out of market reach in the state as 5,000 villages are yet to be connected with motor roads, according to Uttarakhand Director of Horticulture BP Nautiyal. “Though we have an established private marketing network in the state which purchases grade A fruits to be marketed through various mandis (marts), our grade B and C fruits generally go waste,” said the Director.

According to the Horticulture Department, to connect every fruit and vegetable grower with the market, the department is going to form federations for every horticulture project at the village level. “On the lines of a successfully working potato federation, we are going to form federations for citrus, apple, mango and litchi growers in the state so that every village can come under the market network,” said Nautiyal.

But despite all claims of the department, the fruit and vegetable growers in the state are not satisfied with the efforts of the department to make market accessible to them. “In hill areas of the state, neither a cold store nor a mandi is available for the farmers. These villages are at such distances from the main roads that villagers have to carry the produce on their shoulders or hire a labourer, which almost finishes their profits,” said Jeevan Singh Danu, a progressive farmer in Pitthoragarh district.

The department claims that nearly four lakh tonne of fruits is produced in the state and almost 90 per cent of it requires a market. Besides, the department is planting fruits on 6,000 hectares every year.

According to department sources, citrus fruits and mango produce in valleys needs a market on a priority basis. “We have tried to link these fruit-producing areas by installing 24 ropeways in the state but only six are working,” said the Director, adding that the ropeways in the Naugaun and Purola areas of Uttarkashi had done remarkable work for the fruit growers of the area to send their produce to the market.

While Nautiyal claimed that for grade B and C fruits his department declares a support price every year for purchase or processing purpose, the nodal department for this work in the Kumaon region tells a separate story. “For the past three years the Uttarakhand government has ceased assistance to nigam for purchasing citrus fruits on support price. Therefore, we have stopped this purchasing,” said Gopal Singh Bisht, in charge of fruit purchase in Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam.

The farmers say due to unavailability of the mandi facility to hill farmers, nearly 40 per cent fruit perishes post harvest. “Even the mandis mostly opened in Terai and plain districts of the state remain full of agriculture produce brought by farmers of Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, UP and Karnataka, leaving the least space for the produce of hill farmers,” said Jeevan Danu, another progressive farmer from Pitthoragarh district.

Dehradun, June 26
Senile and old orchards with aging trees that no longer produce abundant fruits can be restored back to health by pruning in canopy style. This technique is being vigorously promoted by Dr Gorakh Singh, Commissioner, Horticulture, Government of India.

“It is lack of awareness that is preventing farmers from embracing this technique in Uttarakhand and other states, but it is being used in a big way in Maharashtra where it’s commercial use has been exploited to the hilt,” said Gorakh Singh, who took upon himself to experiment with the technique in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking with The Tribune Singh Dr Gorakh Singh said skeptics had made his task difficult, but he was confident that it’s use would go a long way in reviving the old fruit trees. “While on a visit to Israel, I was impressed by it’s wide use and thought it could be done here. Even China is doing the same. This has helped in the optimum utilisation of land. Miniature is the by word over there, and both China and Japan have mastered this art,” he added.

In fact, canopy pruning does not allow the tree to over grow. Farmers are advised to use the technique early as soon as the fruit tree is two to three years old. “For sustainable production, canopy pruning is essential. Much of the agriculture land has been swallowed by rapid urbanisation and old orchards are proving to unproductive. It is best that we promote this technique for all kinds of fruits,” he stressed.

Pruning can be undertaken in the months of January or May to get winter or summer yield. “Pruning not only aids growth, but also helps in getting rid of unwanted branches that may be stunting the growth and allow sunlight to reach the tree that aids the growth of fruits. Old litchi orchards near the Governor’s house can be revived with this technique,” he stressed.

The Horticulture Department has already given it’s consent to promote this technique in 2,000 hectares of land.

Mussoorie, June 26
Sixtyseven-year-old Major Madan Lal Baldev Raj Ghai (retd) from Rajpura, Punjab, who set an example by involving 14 of his family members to donate their eyes after death, has now embarked on an all-India tour to raise awareness among the masses towards his five-point agenda, of which removing corruption from the country is a major concern.

Major Ghai, speaking exclusively to The Tribune on reaching Mussoorie, said he had embarked on the tour with an objective to raise awareness towards better living bereft of corruption. He further said his first objective was to raise awareness towards the right to recall elected representatives. He said seeing the present attitude of most of the MLAs, MPs, ministers and Palika presidents, it had become essential that people of India should be vested with the power to withdraw votes or, better to say, the power of calling back the elected candidate and give a chance to another candidate without spending money on forced bye-elections. He was of the view that candidates before contesting in the elections assure, allure and promise the public falsely to solve all burning problems in their areas. But after being elected, most of the politicians were only interested in grinding their own axe. He further said due to the present electoral process, politicians elected were free from all worries, had completely forgotten their voters and were enjoying full liberty.Under these circumstances people should have the power to call back elected candidates so that they were duty-bound and this would help in curbing corruption.

Major Ghai also reiterated the fact that there must be Indian Nigran-Jan Ayog with complete powers to punish corrupt officials and representatives. The representatives and bureaucrats, including district collectors, were public servants, but lived like feudal lords. He was on the India tour to bring a change in that attitude precisely.

The second objective was to invoke the women power from saying no to illegal money in the household. Ghai opined that if women, be it mother, wife or sister, refused men from bringing illegally earned money, corruption would decrease drastically. Women presently remained silent.

The third objective was to make people keep nature free from pollution and useless waste. The fourth was to convert tillage to gold. He said instead of disposing of the dead body and eyes, people should donate these for medical research. Body donation would not only help medical students, but also provide eyes to the sightless.

The fifth objective was to raise the self-esteem of individuals by informing them that they were not alone and more than 69 powers consisting of physical and metaphysical elements were present in the body and by their support an individual could move mountains. He opined that instead of running after easy money people should try to live an honest life without corruption.

Major Ghai is a ’71 war veteran, who fought bravely in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and left the Army in 1972 filled with disgust due to inefficient politicians who could have gained occupied Kashmir back from Pakistan in the Indo-Pak war as India was in the driving seat. He says few politicians then, due to vested interests and in a grred for the Nobel Peace Prize lost the golden opportunity for which India is paying till date.

After returning to Punjab, he would again embark on a journey to the North-East and only rest till the whole country was covered.

Mussoorie, June 26
Mussoorie-based historian Gopal Bhardwaj fed up with the apathy shown by the state government, which has declared Sanskrit as the second language, is planning to burn the two Sanskrit manuscripts, namely “Panchang” and “Bhagwat Puran Tika”, dated 1590-95 and 1806 AD, respectively, soon.

The 60-year-old historian, who has a room full of exhibits, artifacts and pictures, memorabilia of the bygone glorious era, be it Indian or British, is unhappy at the treatment meted out by the government at the Centre as well as the state. Bhardwaj opines that bureaucrats and politicians in the state as well as the country are only interested in filling their coffers and not paying heed to preserving the glorious past of the country.

Bhardwaj states that he is running from the pillar to post to get the rare Sanskrit manuscripts dated 16th and 19th centuries preserved, but to no avail. He also contacted the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for the preservation, who have consented to do the work, but have demanded around Rs 90,000 as for the restoration work.

Badly torn edges, stains on the pages of the manuscript

Bhardwaj says that the Sanskrit manuscript is in loose form on both sides.The manuscripts are in rectangular (L.35.8 cm X B.18.5 cm) numbering around 2,500 pages. It was presented to his father RGR Bhardwaj, famous astrologer, in 1940-45 on the occasion of a puja ceremony at Maharaja Palace. One manuscript was written by Vishwanath in 1595 and the other in 1806 AD. Divakar Panchang is publishing annually from Jalandhar in the memory of Divakar Devagya. The two manuscripts have been preserved by the Bhardwaj family ever since.

ASI officials in Dehradun have had a close look at the manuscripts and submitted their report that the manuscript is in a bad condition having various problems due to bad storage, ageing, negligence and effect of physical, chemical and biological environmental factors. The report goes on to say that thick black ink was used for the writing. The text portion is surrounded by a border which is golden in colour and lined by blue and red ink. Writing is on both sides of the folio. A gloss coating is over the central text portion. The brownish colour of the central text portion is lighter than the border colour of the paper. The ink impression is visible on the back side of the paper due to the use of thick black ink and thin nature of paper. Therefore, it is essential to restore and preserve this “valuable national cultural heritage as early as possible” to prevent further deteriorations. The conservation report further says that it will require fumigation, general cleaning of sheets by soft brushes to remove superficial dust and dirt deposition, chemical cleaning, consolidation of ink, stains removal, deacidification, tissue paper lining on both sides, mending and reintegration by paper pulp methods and trimming of treated sheets in original size. The tools required for this arduous job are flat PH meter, humidity chamber, suction table, single pan digital balance, microscope, steel knife, spatula, etc.

According to the Archeological Department, the restoration and preservation of two valuable Sanskrit manuscripts will cost around Rs 92,327 which the poor historian will never be able to garner in his life.

Bhardwaj further says that he wrote a request letter dated on February 25, 2010, to the Secretary of the Cultural Department, Uttarakhand, and sent it once again a few months back via email, but the government has not responded yet.

The manuscript is also registered with the Government of India (registration No. 3/DC/ASI/2006 Dated 25.09.2006).

Dehradun, June 26
First convention of the Uttarakhand Forest Rangers Association took place in Dehradun today.

Chief guest Pindar MLA Govind Lal Shah called upon forest rangers to work for restoring greenery of the state. He said forest officials had a big responsibility keeping in view Uttarakhand’s being a forest-predominant state.

Additional Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar termed forest rangers as an important link between the forest officers and other ranks. He said the forest officials in Uttarakhand were directly linked to environment and had an important task at hand.

Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of forests Dr RBS Rawat on his part assured favourable consideration of pay and perks linked to the demand of the forest rangers. He also asked them to work with greater responsibility as forestry was a closely knit with the people of the state.

There are a total of 90 Forest Rangers in the Uttarakhand Forest Department. It is for the first time that the Rangers have decided to have their full-fledged union. 

Dehradun, June 26
Vinay Raj Bhatt got the better of Jagta in the first round match on the inaugural day of the third Uttarakhand Open Chess Championship at DAV (PG) College, Karanpur, here today.

In another first round match, former Delhi champion DK Chopra beat Ankit Singh Payal. While Narender Singh defeated Alok Singh. Mohan Nathani and Kuldeep Acharya played a draw match.

The championship is being organised by two chess enthusiasts - Rajan Sood and Suryaprakash Pokhriyal. “Twentysix players from different districts of Uttarakhand and Delhi are taking part in this open competition, including a former Delhi chess champion,” Sood informed.

“The first round was played today and in total seven rounds will be played during the championship. Three rounds each will be played in next two days of the competition. The winners will be decided on the basis of the total points in the total seven rounds,” he added.

Dehradun, June 26
A fine hat-trick by Suraj Bisht helped Cantt Blue rout the Nagar Nigam 4-0 during the District Football League at the Police Lines here today.

Suraj scored in the 26th, 62nd and 65th minutes to keep the scoreboard busy. Ravinder had opened the account of the team. Nagar Nigam was no match for spirited Cantt Blue that didn’t give it even a single chance to score a goal.

In another match, the Doon Valley faced 2-0 defeat at the hands of Vijay Cantt. Nitin Chetri (seventh) and Nitin Gurung (53rd) scored a goal each for Vijay Cantt.

The Shivalik Club and Sports Hostel will face each other in the first encounter tomorrow. While Garhwal Boys and the Gypsy Club will play the second match at the Police Lines.

Dehradun, June 26
Young guns of the Adhoiwala Boys Club gave good a competition to Doon Star, but lost by 1-0 in the ongoing Lala Nemi Dass Dehradun Football League underway on the Pavilion Ground here today.

Though Adhoiwala players were comparatively younger to their rival team, yet showed no such signs on the field. They didn’t let its rival team put pressure and displayed a good football.

However, Rajesh Chauhan of Doon Star managed to find target in the 25th minute. There was no man to cover him and he made the most of the opportunity.

The comparatively less inexperienced lot of the Adhoiwala Club lacked good coordination among them. On some occasions, more than one player of Adhoiwala was around the football confusing one another on who will take the shot.

Though lack of experience was witnessed during the match, they didn’t let its rival side netting the next goal. The second half went barren. 

Dehradun, June 26
Once traditional rights of villages, Hak Hakook are fast turning into a means to further illegal felling in forest-predominant Uttarakhand. Numerous felling cases have been revealed in recent years that have been carried out on pretext of Hak Hakook by the timber mafia and in connivance with forest officials.

Himalayan Chipko Foundation’s JP Dabral, who has been at the forefront in bringing this illegal felling in the garb of Hak Hakook in Uttarakhand into the knowledge of the Supreme Court, has expressed concern over the growing timber mafia-Forest Department nexus. He in particular has appealed to villagers to take to the Right to Information as a means to ensure that their Hak Hakook rights are not being put to use by the timber mafia for making commercial gains.

Hak Hakooks are traditional rights given to people in hilly villages of the state since British days, as these communities have been dependent on forests for their day-to-day needs. But while these rights have been curtailed, the Himalayan Chipko Foundation has for the first time exposed a blatant misuse of Hak Hakook rights.

In a particular reference to Jolidanda in Dwarikhal Block, Pauri Garhwal where a total of 5,000 trees were merciless cut in lieu of permission for 150 trees, Dabral said the Jolidanda had been the biggest expose as the forest record revealed permission for the felling of 150 trees as Hak Hakook rights, but on ground as many as 5,000 trees were cut down, all at the behest of the timber mafia.

Dabral, who filed the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Apex Court over the issue, had himself investigated the matter.

The Uttarakhand Forest Department that initially tried to refute the misuse of Hak Hakook tried to cover the matter, but had to later admit to its mistake particular after the Darbal expose led to the department being cornered. Even the Ministry of Environment and Forests has confirmed that the nexus exists and the illegal felling of trees does take place in connivance with Forest Department officials.

Dabral also emphasises on fixing accountability even with forest officials in case of illegal felling linked to Hak Hakook. “Even forest officials at all levels must be chargesheeted whenever a case of illegal felling in the name of Hak Hakook takes place,” Dabral observes pledging to continue with its struggle to save the forest wealth of Uttarakhand.