Nainital, November 18
A prominent jewel of the British India, the City of Lakes, which finds a place in the list of top global tourist destinations, Nainital celebrated its 170 years of existence today. People from all walks of life turned up in large numbers to attend a small ceremony that included prayers, led by priests from various religions, and to savour a large number of cakes sent by different establishments and social organisations across the town. Blankets were distributed amongst the poor to mark the occasion.

The entire town was on a high right from morning as people sent SMSes to each other congratulating them on the town’s “birthday” and to take a vow to preserve its beauty and grandeur. One of the key organisers of the function, Maruti Sah said, “The purpose of holding the celebrations is to develop a sense of belonging amidst the population of the place and to promote the need to keep the environment and beauty of the place intact”. Although the place has a mention in ancient texts, it was in 1839 that a Britisher Rosa P Barron stumbled upon a beautiful lake next to a temple of Naina Devi. Charmed by the sheer beauty of the place, he decided to develop a settlement over here.

Historians contend that it cannot be said the place was discovered in 1839 as the locals had been coming here for ages, but still it was a landmark since it was decided to set up a proper settlement over here.

An aerial view of the Nainital Lake and the town.

According to various mythological accounts, Nainital is referred to in the “Manas Khand” of the Skanda Purana as the Tri-Rishi-Sarovar, the lake of the three sages, Atri, Pulastya and Pulaha, who were reputed to have arrived here on a penitential pilgrimage, and finding no water to quench their thirst, dug a hole and siphoned water into it from the Mansarovar, the sacred lake in Tibet.

The second important mythological reference to Nainital is as one of 64 Shakti Peeths. These centres were created wherever parts of the charred body of Sati fell, when Lord Shiva was carrying around her corpse in grief. It is said the left eye (nain) of Sati fell here and this gave rise to the patron deity of town Nainital. It is said the lake is formed in the emerald eye shape. The Naina Devi temple is located at the northern end of the lake. Thus, the name of Nainital is derived from Naina and the Tal (lake).

The British occupied Kumaon and Garhwal in 1815 and E Gardiner was appointed as the Commissioner of Kumaun Division on May 8, 1815. In 1817, Second Commissioner of Kumaun GW Traill conducted the second revenue settlement of Kumaun. It is believed Traill was the first European to be aware of Nainital, but there are doubts whether he actually visited the place.

It was in 1839 that English businessman Rosa P Barron, a sugar trader, along with a hunter friend, strayed into the hills. The Nainital Gazetteer states that the locals were reluctant to lead him to Nainital fearing sacrilege of the temple of Naina Devi by the visit of an outsider. But the two stumbled upon the place.

The Gazetteer states that Nainital as a place first appeared in the pages of the Englishman that was published from Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1841. The publication had announced the discovery of a beautiful lake near Almora.

The place went on to become a popular hill resort. It was on October 3, 1850, that the Nainital Municipal Board was formally constituted. It was the second Municipal Board of North Western Provinces. To catalyze the formation of a town the administration transferred land to the wealthy Sah community of Almora, on condition that they build houses on the land.

According to information, in 1862, Nainital became the summer seat of the North Western Provinces and a remarkable expansion of the town occurred with the growth of magnificent bungalows all around and construction of facilities. It also became an important centre of education for the British who wanted to educate their children in the better air and away from the discomforts of the plains.

The town grapples with a host of problems today owing to the pressures exerted by human and vehicular population. Eminent historian and a prominent citizen Shekhar Pathak, who has been airing concerns of the local community at various platforms, says, “There is a need to preserve the beauty of the Naini Lake. Although the efforts of the Lake Development Authority (LDA) have yielded results, a lot more needs to be done at the level of the civic administration in terms of maintaining sanitation and cleanliness of drains that were built around town by the British”. He also points at the need to check the rampant construction, a large part of which is illegal in and around the town.

Another area of concern according to him is the lack of fresh vegetation in the areas around the Birla Vidyamandir that should come up along the ageing trees. Pathak also wants that people should desist from using vehicles on the Tallital-Mallital stretch unless it is urgent.

The town today needs Herculean efforts on certain fronts. The most prominent requirements today come in the form of a need of a speciality hospital as the existing BD Pande Hospital is fast gaining the reputation of being a referral centre.

The town also requires regulation of hotels in terms of proper registration and display of rational tariffs. There is also an urgent need to rationalise the taxi fares which the administration has failed to do despite tall claims. The visitors at times go back a harried lot after being fleeced by certain hoteliers and taxi owners.

Mussoorie, November 18
The recent building collapse in Lakshmi Nagar, New Delhi, in which more than 60 persons died due to the flawed policies of the government has instilled fear in residents of Mussoorie.

They are jittery at the mere thought of a similar incident that can occur in the town as more than 3,500 buildings have been declared unsafe by the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC), Dehradun.

Members of the forum in Mussoorie, in a meeting held at a hotel in Kulri Bazar, were of the view that due to the lackadaisical approach of the government, a disaster occurring from the collapse of declared unsafe building could be beyond comprehension if corrective measures were not adopted immediately.

Not only this, economic loss that town would have to incur could be more than Rs 238.85 crore.

Sandeep Sahni, president of the forum, Mussoorie, later speaking to the media, said that Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills, was also a popular tourist destination and had more than 3,500 houses in a dilapidated condition that had been declared unsafe by the government agency itself. No corrective action had been initiated by the authorities concerned, thus jeopardising the life of many innocent people.

Sahni further informed that the hill town of Mussoorie was established during the British Raj and most of the buildings constructed at that time had outlasted their period and posed a severe danger and risk to life.

He said the Landour Bazar from the South Road side looked like a haunted place that could collapse any moment.

He said the new survey that was done this year by the DMMC clearly revealed that 18 per cent of the buildings, including some hotels and schools, faced “high probability” of damage as the area also fell under the high seismic zone of Grade IV and V.

Of the surveyed structures, the oldest building was constructed around 1836. As many as 290 were constructed in the pre-1900 period and the rest after that.

Sahni further said that an alarming part of the study conducted by Piyoosh Rautela and others revealed that most of the buildings were vulnerable to even the mildest earthquake, and if not retrofitted, could lead to a major disaster that would be unimaginable.

He lamented that prevalent norms and conditions for reconstruction of old buildings imposed by the MDDA as applicable in the town were a major stumbling block and had forced residents to live in dilapidated buildings.

Sahni said the Delhi-building disaster was a wakeup call for the state government and if it wanted to prevent loss of life and property in the town, it should act prudently and retrofit at least the buildings that required immediate attention, especially in Landour Bazar and other such areas in the town without further delay.

Ravinder Goyal, another member of the forum, said the situation at the South Road required immediate attention as it was sinking beyond comprehension and was a ticking time bomb that could explode any moment.

Sandeep Sahni also informed that a letter in this regard had also been written to the Governor, Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Chief Justice of India informing them of an impending disaster in waiting at Mussoorie that could surpass the scale of destruction at Lakshmi Nagar in Delhi.

Capt Secretary Shalabh Garg, Pankaj Jain, Nitish Mohan, Kamal Jeet Singh, Rajat Agarwal, Anmol and others were present the occasion.

The gala celebrations began in the morning with a “prabhat pheri”. The experience of seeing the sun rising was a matter of joy for the excited children. Following it was the recitation of the Gayatri Mantra around the sacred fire. Prayers of all religions were also offered. However, with strong faith of the school, every individual presented a used empty matchbox with a coin inside as a blessing to Kiran Didi (chief promoter) signifying that members of Nanhi Duniya believed in the divine power of giving.

The highlight of the day was a cultural programme, including various activities, showcased by children. Colourful folk dances and songs performed by the students were very captivating.

Addressing all at the event, Kiran Ulfat Goyal, chief promoter of the school, said, “Our mission is to provide opportunity to each and every child for bringing out hidden talent as well as entertain the gathering. In fact, this very special activity in our school curriculum also teaches every student to take up responsibilities in organising such events”.

The grand celebration concluded with the chief promoter thanking all trustees, volunteers and co-workers for constant support and dedication in successfully carrying out the event.

Dehradun, November 18
Hosts Welham Girls’ School won the DDCSA Junior Girls Basketball Tournament defeating Carman School, Dalanwala, 19-11 in the final here today.Priyal of the winning team was the topscorer with 10 points and Smridhi of Carman scored eight points for her side.

Chief guest PS Kalra, Principal of Guru Nanak Academy, gave away prizes. He also gave tokens to the referees and the table officials of the District Basketball Association, Dehradun.

Priyanka Dizosa of Carman School was awarded the most promising player award. While Priyal Choudhary of Welham Girls School was awarded the most valuable player award of the tournament.