Austrian family performs rituals in Haridwar
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 9
Tourists and locals of Haridwar were taken by surprise today when they saw a family from Austria performing rituals at Sati Ghat of the Ganga for the peace of their forefathers’ soul.

Hailing from Potterfield, Austria, these foreigners came to know of last rites from a fellow citizen of the country who had observed similar rituals during her visit to India.

They came into contact with a local pundit who apprised them about the significance of performing rituals so that the departed soul of their forefathers got peace.

So Marlies Bourgar and Susainna along with their family members and friends came to Haridwar and prayed for their grandfathers Leo Port and Joseph Bourgar.

Everyone was surprised seeing foreign citizens performing rituals with concentration and faith amid chanting of hymns adjacent to the Ganga.

Claudina said this was an unforgettable moment for them as they never had done such a thing but got immense spiritual solace while performing rites as per the directions of the pundit.

Claudina also pointed out that a large number of people visited India regularly for taking a bath in the Ganga, performing yoga and knowing spirituality and Hindu philosophy.

While Dr Prateek Mishrapuri, who performed the rituals, said a number of Europeans were in touch with him as they realised the effects of these rituals.

Local people too were surprised to see foreigners following Hindu customs. 

Kumaon reels under power crisis
Tribune News Service

Nainital, February 9
Major towns of the Kumaon region are reeling under power crises these days. People are facing problem on account of the power cut of two to four hours on daily basis. The condition is worse in the rural areas.

The people are agitated over the fact that most of these power cuts are unscheduled, which has thrown the routine life of the people here out of gear. In the prevailing cold-weather conditions, the people are facing a lot of inconvenience in the absence of power.

The residents of the region point out that with a view to secure votes in its favour, the government had been providing round-the-clock power supply till January 30. But everything changed from the very next day after the polls.

It is learnt that the Power Corporation has considerably curtailed its purchase of power from February 1. The residents state that while they have to suffer long hours without power in summers, the situation is no better in the winters. They say that the tall claims made by the government from time to time with regard to improving the production and distribution of power have all proved to be hogwash.

Apart from this, there are a series of other factors that have resulted in heavy disruption of power supply in several parts of the region.

These factors are primarily related to the improper maintenance of distribution infrastructure. There are several transformers that are temporarily functional after having finished their life. These led to frequent breakdowns and laxity on the part of the officials to repair the faults. This lead to further resentment among the consumers.

Champawat town went without power for as long as 20 hours till Wednesday afternoon. The Nan Kanyalikot area of Bageshwar has been staying without power for the past seven months as the small power plant in the area has been non-functional. Similarly, a large number of villages in the Jainti area of Almora are facing a power crisis for the past 15 days on account of infrastructural issues.

Apart from the power supply being hit, there is also the problem of low-voltage in several areas of the region.

Amid such scenario, there are reports of the Power Corporation planning to set up nine power stations across Kumaon that will help wade over the problem of low-voltage.

Atrocities on Elephants
PFA seeks action against offenders
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
A delegation of the People For Animals today met Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttarakhand, SS Sharma and demanded immediate action against those responsible for committing atrocities on captive elephants at Corbett.

The delegation demanded the registration of cases against the owners of the elephants.

It also sought the seizure of elephants, the owners of which did not have valid documents, besides a probe into the elephants going missing in Ramanagar.

The Chief Wildlife Warden was urged to ensure medical facilities for the captive elephants in the Corbett region.

Meanwhile, Sharma said they were making arrangements to keep the elephants seized from the Jhirna range of Corbett. Cases would be registered against the offenders, he added.

Guari Maulekhi, member secretary of the PFA, led the delegation.

Support price for malta fixed at Rs 7 
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
The single initiative of the Horticulture Department to announce support price for malta fruit has turned the tide in favour of the farmers who can now hope to get good price even for their weather-ravaged fruit crop.

Under the market intervention scheme, the Horticulture Department came to the rescue of the farmer by announcing the support price for C-grade malta. If last year the support price was fixed at Rs 6 per kg, the department followed it up this year by fixing it at Rs 7 per kg.

“The Horticulture Department directly buys these fruit from the farmers at the support price. These are sold to the juice and canning industry,” said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary Horticulture.

The citrus fruit thrives in moderate climate and is grown mainly in the mid-Himalayan areas comprising Almora, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh, Champawat, Chamoli and Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand.

While red blood variety is the preferred one in Uttarakhand, other varieties comprising sackry, mussamy and hamlin are also eaten for their taste and quality.

The total citrus production in 2010-11 in the state was 1.34 lakh metric tonne. While the area under the citrus fruit is 26,826 hectare. The total area under fruit crops is 1,90,460 hectare and total production is 7,39,015 metric tonne.

However, after announcing the support price for malta, the Horticulture Department failed to include other varieties of citrus fruits, including kinnow, orange and lemon.

“It would have helped the farmers immensely, if the Horticulture Department had announced the support price for other varieties of citrus fruits. Our basket would have been then complete and we could have concentrated solely on citrus fruits and even get a good price,” said Shoban Singh, a farmer.

Horticulture Department officials said the citrus fruit required adequate rainfall, especially the winter rain. In the last couple of years due to the absence of winter rain, the size and the quality of juice was affected.

Though the state government had adopted a cluster approach by distributing different parts of the state in three commodity-specific clusters for different fruits and vegetables, the main focus continues to be in the area of fruits and vegetables in the state. 

Temperature below normal in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Dehradun experienced yet another cold day today with minimum temperature plummeting below normal.

Despite it being a sunny day, cold wave continued to prevail in many parts of the state.

According to the Director, Meteorological Centre, Dehradun, Dr Anand Sharma, “The condition of cold wave would prevail for another one or two days while frost is possible to effect few regions on the outskirts of Dehradun.”

Dr Sharma said people should remain in-door as patients with cardiac problem can get affected due to this. 

150-year-old Sonali bridge may fall
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 9
While on one hand magisterial probe is on to find the exact reason of the caving in of the steel suspension bridge on the Ganga canal, which claimed three lives, on the other there are many such bridges in Roorkee where traffic flow is going on unhindered despite the dilapidated condition of these age-old bridges.

One such sensitive bridge is the Sonali bridge build on the Sonali river more than 150 years ago during the British era. This bridge holds tremendous importance for local people, as it is located on the Roorkee-Dhanauri road on the east Ganga canal, connecting a number of villages with the Roorkee city.

After standing tall and strong for about a century, the bridge is now fragile and the chances of it collapsing any moment are looming large.

Though seeing the dilapidated condition of the Sonali bridge, the operating nodal agency of the Northern Division Ganga Canal had prohibited plying of four wheelers on this bridge, but heavy vehicles still ply on it unabated.

When contacted, NDGC officials said they had send a reminder to the district police office umpteenth number of times in this regard, but to no avail.

NDGC officials also said during holy Piran Kaliyar Urs, special directives were given to pilgrims and kanwariyas to not to tread on the bridge.

Shiv Raj Singh, sub-divisional officer of the NDGC, said on many occasions when NDGC employees tried to stop the vehicles, they were manhandled by the vehicle pliers, particularly those ferrying commercial passengers and goods.

Local residents too have, on numerous occasions, brought this issue to the notice of the local legislator and officials concerned.

Vikas Saini, a resident, said heavy commercial vehicles were plying on the bridge daily, which could cave in anytime.

If any such incident takes place, the nearby settlements will submerge due to the blocking of canal water, which will pose many problems others than disconnecting the region with Roorkee.

Female voters to decide fate of candidates
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
When the state went to polls on January 30, in at least nine districts out of a total of 13 districts, the female-voter turnout surpassed those of males. Not only women voters came out in large numbers in these districts, but they also hold the key in at least eight Assembly seats and are expected to decide the fate of the candidates by their sheer number.

According to the Election Commission, the high turnout of female voters was recorded in Uttarkashi (75.74 per cent), Chamoli (64.45 per cent) Rudraprayag (69.24 per cent), Tehri Garhwal (65.04 per cent), Dehradun (62.8 per cent), Pauri Garhwal (62.39 per cent), Pithoragarh (63.60 per cent), Bageshwar (66.10 per cent) and Almora (60.85 per cent).

Significantly, the eight Assembly seats where the number of female voters outnumbered their male counterparts include Rudraprayag, Ghansali (SC), Devprayag, Pauri (SC), Srinagar, Chaubattakhal, Pithoragarh and Kapkot.

“The women voters have been registering their presence in large numbers ever since the state was created and the 2012 assembly election has once again proved that the women voters want to be equal partners in the democratic process,” said Radha Raturi, chief electoral officer.

But women activists say despite the number of female voters, the politicians have never addressed their problems and they continue to be marginalised in the state.

“No attempt was made in these elections to specifically woo the female voters by any political party. Theirs concerns found only a cursory mention in the manifesto that the politicos are adept at. Till date, the Uttarakhand government has failed to come up with a policy for women,” said Geeta Gairola, project director, Mahila Samakhya.

In the districts of Champawat, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, female voter turnout was less in comparison to male voters.

Champawat farmers take to potato farming
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, February 10
Farmers of Champawat have demanded more potato seeds this year as they are taking to the cultivation of the crop extensively. “More and more farmers in the district are now taking to cultivation of vegetables, including potato cultivation, and this has resulted in a sudden increase in the demand of potato seeds,” said SS Dhapola, District Horticultural Officer, Champawat.

Dhapola said 654 quintals of potato seed was sown by the farmers last year, but this year they had demanded more than 1,000 quintals of potato seed as the acreage under potato cultivation was increasing in the district. “The Kufri Jyoti variety of potato, grown in Champawat, Lohaghat, Barakot and Pati blocks of the district, are in high demand in Terai districts of the state. Also, farmers are now cultivating potato more in the district,” said the Dhapola.

He said the new generation of farmers this year had also installed 400 new poly-houses to cultivate off season vegetables, which showed their increasing interest in vegetable cultivation. “We have witnessed increase in demand of potato seeds and poly-houses since last year when 70 poly-houses were installed in a month,” said Dhapola.

The district produced 42,340 metric tonnes of potato last year and the output was likely to increase this year. “To fulfil the demand for potato seeds, we have constituted a Potato Seed Growers Federation in the Munsiyari area of Pithoragarh district involving 5,000 farmers who produce only potato seeds for the farmers of Pithoragarh, Champawat, Almora and Bageshwar districts,” he said.

The District Horticultural Officer added that till date 350 quintals of potato seed had been distributed among the farmers and the remaining quantity was likely to be distributed till last week of February as the most of the farmers sow the crop in the first week of March

According to agriculture scientists involved in potato cultivation, the increase in potato production and more interest shown by farmers in horticulture had been possible because of efforts made under the Horticulture Technology Mission being run by the Government of India. “Under this mission, the farmers involved in horticulture are being provided advance quality pesticides, cultivation methods, nurseries and training,” said Dr MP Singh, in-charge of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Champawat.