Residents of Haridwar protest against the closure of the Ganga by Uttar Pradesh authorities

Haridwar, October 18
The closure of the Gang Canal has hit potable water supply to Uttar Pradesh and the national capital region (NCR) as well as religious activities associated with the canal, particularly in Haridwar, and the flow of tourists in the pilgrim city.

About 45 lakh people living in the NCR will be facing the repercussions of the canal closure as several colonies in the area depend on it for potable water needs. In the coming days the water woes of these areas will aggravate as the canal closure is to last 19 days.

As per the annual norm, the water flow in the holy Ganga has been stopped at Har-ki-Pauri for upgrade and cleaning of ghats. Owing to recent floods in the Ganga, heavy silt has accumulated at various barrages, so the cleaning process will be more extensive this time compared to previous years.

Pilgrims take a bath in knee-deep water in Haridwar on Monday. Tribune photographs

Water will be only released in the canal on the eve of Diwali. The canal stretches from Haridwar in Uttarakhand till Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and provides not only potable water to various areas but also irrigates fields of lakhs of farmers.

Though the Uttarakhand government has opposed the ill-timed closure of the canal, the UP Irrigation Department has gone ahead with its decision.

Speaking to The Tribune, Uttarakhand Irrigation Minister Matbar Singh Kandari lashed out at UP’s alleged dictatorship on this matter.

Suggesting alternative month for the Gang Canal closure, Kandari said the canal closure should be enforced during December when the festive season ends and pilgrims and tourists came to the city in fewer numbers.

Meanwhile, reports of protests are pouring in against the closure of the canal at the time of the festive season. Due to the stoppage of the flow at Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats, the religious-pilgrim tourism has also been affected.

While on the one hand due to unavailability of adequate water at the Ganga ghats, devotees are not able to take holy dip and perform other rituals, on the other tourists are feeling betrayed on seeing the Ganga ghats bereft of water.

This is seriously hampering the religious faith of devotees. Traders too are quite angry over the canal closure during the festive season at its peak. Traders point out that for years the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department has been behaving in a tyrannical manner, as just when the Dasehra festival and Bengali tourist season are in full swing, and Diwali nears, the department carries out the Gang Canal closure.

A protest was held by the Teerth Maryada Samiti and local traders’ organisations against the UP Irrigation Department’s decision, which they consider inappropriate during the festive season. Teerth Maryada Samiti convener Sanjay Chopra, while protesting at Birla Ghat along with other activists, remarked that people’s faith was suffering due to this canal closure while traders too were incurring losses. Pilgrims and tourists are refraining from visiting Haridwar uring the canal closure tenure.

Refuting claims that Har-ki-Pauri has dried up, SDO, Head Works, Gang Canal, UP, KP Singh said at least 1,000 cusecs of water would be released for Har-ki-Pauri so that devotees could perform rituals. On the question of the NCR region facing a water scarcity, the SDO said at the Muradnagar canal regulator water was stored from which the supply would be resumed to that region.

A hapless Uttarakhand Irrigation Department is keeping mum on the issue. Uttarakhand executive engineer DD Dalakoti has said, “We can’t do anything as the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department controls most of the canals in the district falling in our state territory”.

Notably, in 1916, under the British rule there was a written agreement between the Ganga Mahasabha, which operates the affairs at Har-ki-Pauri, and the British government in which it was agreed to that during the Ganga closure the Har-ki-Pauri would not be left dried up so that religious works and rituals didn’t get affected. Para-1&2 of Section 32 of this agreement clearly states that there will be no disruption in the natural flow of the Ganga at religiously important Har-ki-Pauri and if need arises then the Hindu organisations consent will be taken.

Meanwhile, slum dwellers and poor people, looking for coins and other valuable items, are thronging the ghats, particularly at Braham Kund at Har-ki-Pauri, Malviya Deep, Birla Ghat, Alaknanda Ghat and Prem Nagar Ashram. One can see children and women too digging the canal silt for coins and other items.

The quarrying mafia has also started its illegal operations to make full use of this closure tenure. Workers filling tractor-trailer with sand can be seen on the canal embankment in large numbers.

Dehradun, October 18
The Home in the Himalayas (HITH), a community-based social venture, has been formed to fill the lacunae in a sustainable eco-tourism drive in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. It works in tandem with the village communities, social entrepreneurs, NGOs and other partner organisations to ensure that the panorama and diversity of the region are brought on the tourist map and to provide outstanding trips a traveller deserves. The initiative also aims at sensitising travellers, tourists and trekkers on the issues that concern the local community and biodiversity by giving them a chance to live in a closer and more harmonious environs.

Organisation’s social agenda outlines conserving and preserving natural and cultural assets of the region by garnering support from the community members and making these resources an option of economic viability. The organisation has taken upon itself the onus of organising and promoting such trends in the region.

In addition to the six village communities of the Dayara area in the Gangotri region, the HITH at present works with the Institute for Development Support (IDSI), NABARD, in Pauri, Shri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram, NABARD, in Uttarkashi and the village community of Pujargaon (Saklana) in Tehri Garhwal.

Manoj Bhatt, Director of the HITH, said: “Ours is a people-centered eco-tourism model which seeks to first and foremost involve the local rural communities in understanding the value (both anthropological and economical) of their natural resources and the ancestral preservation of the same. Other facets such as reviving the dying folk culture and arts, innovating hospitality initiatives through a synthesis of new tourism tools and adapting the old warmth and charm of a pastoral life forms part of our holistic outlook and modus operandi.”

To elucidate, the natural assets of a region like the trekking paths through the hinterlands, springs and waterfalls, community-owned land and forest areas are continuously taken care of through plantation drives and awareness campaigns, festivals and fairs involving ancient folklore, dances and culinary delights. This not only brings a sense of pride among the local community but goes a long way in the preservation of the biodiversity.

Bhatt said: “We try our best by synthesising their needs, limiting the outsiders’ wants and thus selling this in the domestic and international market without disturbing the balance of the fragile ecosystem of which we are proud part. Our preferred modes are mail and web-based direct marketing to reach our customers in the tech era. A world-class design company based in Chicago, the US, has provided us with support to design and develop the website. Our partner NGO, RACHNA, has built partnership with social ventures like Rural Torusim Network Enterprise for an effective marketing competencies. We are also in the thick and in some places well beyond that, in forming relations with eco-tourism based organisations, corporations, universities and citizen associations globally,”

In so far as accomplishments are concerned, he said they had satisfactorily completed the execution of the idea of local community managing tourists at a pilot site. The response from the tourists had been positive, which prompted the team to chart out the annual calendar for tours and related activities in the region.

The NGO partners of HITH, like the RACHNA society, IDS Pauri and SBMA, Uttarkashi, have been enhancing the capacity of the local communities through skill building in cooking, guiding and bird watching. The locals have been involved in collating facts on the available resources of the region. Helping them are volunteers from premier educational and technical institutions of India and the rest of the world.

Haridwar, October 18
With wedding season on the cards the musical bands are all set to put people on their dancing feet.Instead of contemporary orchestra or DJs rocking the wedding parties, people once again move to the retro style of the music. The shehnai instrumental music not only gives a traditional feel, but also adds a classical-imperial touch to the occasion.

Wedding organisers as well as people in the city seem to be inclining towards this musical form for weddings and other occasions. Attired in a traditional suit, cap and musical instrument of shehnai in their hands, these shehnai pipers surely become cynosure of all eyes in the wedding functions of the city.

Jwalapur-based shehnai player Shahjat says, “We can play all the classical melodies as well as bring in a local touch by playing some popular hilly folk music if its hilly wedding, while some Bhojpuri pieces if people belong to Uttar Pradesh or Bihar”.

But still, Rajashtan-based shehnai players are more in demand due to their experience and dexterity in this form of music. So, people are paying from Rs 50,000 to Ra 80,000 to get these outsourced artists make their wedding a special one, while local ones are available at lower affordable rates.

What’s so unique in shehnai which is attracting people to opt for this form of music band at weddings and grand parties? Noted Garhwali singer-musician and director of several Garhwali albums points out that people are fed up with ear-bursting DJ systems, churning out non-stop western, Bollywood, Punjabi and even folk music.

“Shehnai is a soul-refreshing and ear-soothing which provides an elegant touch as well as lends the ambience a different proposition altogether,” remarks the singer. While in the Indian culture, shehnai is considered quite auspicious, “mangal vadya”, believed to be creating an environment of sanctity and piousness, he adds.

Meanwhile, gauging the trend many wedding music bands are also having special shehnai artists, so that they don’t lose on this aspect, while simultaneously remaining at notch from their competitors, as there is an intense competition in the business.

“People like this trend, though not at the cost of our musical bands. We are also trying to have special shehnai players, even though we have to arrange them only for high-end weddings,” said Master Dilshad, manager of the Panjab Band.

Wedding hosts too are including shehnai as a must have which can be seen in many wedding parties these days in the city. “I opted for shehnai instead of a DJ at my daughters wedding as I wanted to avoid the chaos that DJs play these days in the wedding ceremonies,” said N Dimri who married his daughter off in last wedding season.

Notably, the western countries, too, is in awe of this conical instrument as was witnessed in numerous world shows done by Bharat Ratna awardee late Ustad Bismillah Khan Sahib and the famous rock-and-roll band Rolling Stones using shehnai in its 1968 chart-buster track “Street Fighter Man” played by Dave Mason.

Dehradun, October 18
With the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) giving its final nod today on the organising dates of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Winter Games to be held in Uttarakhand, the event will start from January 7, 2011.

The organising committee told The Tribune that they had proposed the dates of the games to the IOA, which gave its confirmation on it. As per the committee, skiing will be held from January 7 to 12 at Auli in Chamoli district and ice-skating and ice hockey will be organised from January 14 to 19 in Dehradun.

“This is final now that the games will commence from January 7. Today, I received communication from IOA secretary Randhir Singh who gave his confirmation on the dates,” SS Patwal, said president of the SAF games.

Patwal said all preparations were almost completed and only the technical work was left and by the fixed dates it would be ready. The much-delayed winter games have been delaying since February 2008, when it was first decided to be held.

It missed several deadlines owing to the incompletion of the construction work at the games site. Later these were rescheduled for February 2009, then December 2009, January 2010, and are now to begin on January 7.