Manali, April 3
In view of a rise in the number of incidents of cloudbursts, flash floods and avalanches in the Himalayan region, scientists are now pinning their hopes on Doppler radars to track the movement of clouds and predict heavy rain in three hours’ time.

The Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), a wing of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) have tied up to set up Doppler radars at key locations in the Himalayan region.

The need for predicting extreme weather events is understandable as cloudbursts have killed more than 2,100 persons in over 40 incidents of cloudbursts during the past 20 years in Himachal alone.

The loss to infrastructure and property has been estimated between Rs 300 and Rs 500 crore, say sources.

Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of an international symposium on climate change and cryosphere here, Director, SASE, Ashvaghosh Ganju said, “We are setting up two Doppler radars at Pithoragarh and at Banihal top in Jammu and Kashmir.

The radar covers an area of 100 km and can help predict sudden change in weather in three hours’ time, which is not possible through weather stations and observatories.”

He said SASE had 22 surface observatories and 44 automatic weather stations in the Himalayas for tracking snowfall and rainfall.

However, there was not even a single Doppler radar, which helped predict cloudbursts and flash floods, he added.

Dr Naresh Kumar, a meteorologist from the IMD, New Delhi, said the department had a Rs 600-crore integrated project for the Himalayan region. “We are setting up Doppler radars at Shimla, Mussoorie and Jammu and Kashmir, and will share data with SASE and other agencies,” he added.

Scientists say they have no means to predict cloudbursts or flash floods. There is no mechanism in the entire Himalayan region right from Sikkim to Siachin to predict cloudbursts and flash floods.

The scientists say predicting cloudbursts is a challenge for them. “Once we have data, we can predict extreme weather, which will help us save possible loss to human life and infrastructure in the region,” says Dr Ganju.

“Extreme weather conditions like avalanches, cloudbursts and flash floods can be tracked through a Doppler radar that costs around Rs 18 crore,” he added.

Shimla, April 3
With a state-of-the-art global positioning system (GPS)-based monitoring network in place, the Forest Department will not have to send teams of officials to the field for physical verification of new plantations, check dams and other works being undertaken under the World Bank-funded Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project.

The project authorities have developed a monitoring tool using a GPS-enabled camera, Google maps and computer software which will not only provide information but also pictures of works in progress. For the monitoring of plantations, which are of irregular dimensions and raised on undulating terrains, the whole boundaries will be traversed to obtain a GPS polygon which will prove basis for all monitoring. Different snapshots of the plantations will be taken from fixed points, the GPS coordinates of which will be used for subsequent monitoring.

Besides the area and date of plantation, details like total number of saplings planted, number of surviving plants, details of tree species, the height and the number of diseased and dead plants will also be incorporated along the snapshots, says project director RK Kapoor.

It will not only ensure speedy and effective monitoring, but also prevent scope for malpractices like showing one plantation under different schemes. Signboard displaying details will be put up at each plantation.

Similarly, basic information about the check dams like the height, storage capacity, surface area and date of construction will be available at a click of the mouse. So far afforestation has been carried out over 13,000 hectares, including 3,600 hectares under the bio-carbon sub-project and over 600 check dams for water harvesting and 1,477 ponds have been constructed.

A pilot research project has been started to develop scientific tools to evaluate the impact of these specific interventions in the catchment area under which silt data is being collected. Three high-tech electronic silt observatory posts have been set up in three different ecological zones to gather varied data.

Shimla, April 3
The government is considering a policy to regularise all unauthorised houses which have not been provided with water and electricity connections for having violated constructions norms.

In reply to a query raised by Khushi Ram Balnahata (BJP) during question hour in the Assembly today, Transport and Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Mohinder Singh made this announcement. “The problem of such structures is not just restricted to Rohru but to the entire state and we are in the process of finding a way out to settle their status,” he said.

The minister said the TCP Department would prepare a policy by giving relaxations and place it before the Cabinet for approval. Balnahata had sought a reply on the stand being adopted by the government on the 333 buildings in Rohru which had been denied water and power connections.

To a question about road-construction cases pending under various schemes due to forest clearance, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi said 400 roads in the state had been affected due to delay in getting forest clearance from the Centre. Inder Singh and Kishori Lal (BJP) and Kuldeep Singh Pathania (Congress) had sought details of roads held up due to forest clearance.

He said cases involving transfer of land for roads were being taken up on priority and officers of the Forest Department and the PWD were holding regular meetings. He added that a sum of Rs 68.07 crore for 381 roads had so far been provided by the state government for net present value (NPV) payment to the Forest Department.

To a query by Kaul Singh Thakur (Congress) about resuming of mining work by Hindustan Salt Ltd at Gumma and Darang in Mandi district, Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor informed that the company had applied for grant of lease in December last year. “An inspection team will visit the site and grant the lease in case all formalities have been competed,” he said.

Kapoor said salt mining had been stopped at Gumma in January 2011 as all formalities had not been completed. The company had been extracting 1,500 metric tonnes of salt annually.

Shimla, April 3
The issue of illegal mining and the auction policy for river beds today led to heated exchanges between the Treasury Benches and opposition members with Independent MLA from Nurpur Rakesh Pathania accusing the Industries Department of completely failing to check the mining mafia.

The issue was raised through a resolution moved by Pathania under Rule 130 in the Assembly today. Pathania was supported by Congress legislators Sujan Singh Pathania, GS Bali, Mukesh Agnihotri and Yog Raj.

Rakesh Pathania not only raised a question mark over the auction price of the lease, but also said the areas had not been demarcated. “There are many crushers in Kangra whose mining lease period is over but are still operating with the Industries Department failing to take any action against them,” he said.

He said though the government claims that the revenue from the auction of khads has helped increase the revenue, the fact was that unemployed youth owning tractors were being harassed and several water sources had dried up. “It will not be surprising if the youth pick up guns to fight the mining mafia which the Industries Department has failed to check,” he said. Citing the example of Khaniyara in Dharamshala, he said debris was being dumped on slopes by a hydro-power project, causing immense environmental damage.

Sujan Singh demanded that the mining area must be demarcated properly. Bali too spoke of the muscle power the mining mafia wielded and said it is because of illegal mining that many bridges had been damaged. Agnihotri said the stone crushers that had closed in Haryana had shifted to Himachal despite a ban on their setting up in border areas.

Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor termed all these allegations as baseless and said 2,539 persons had been challaned for illegal mining.

Shimla, April 3
The Horticulture Department has decided to introduce standard universal carton packaging instead of the telescopic carton boxes for apple from this apple season only in view of its advantages over the other.

Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta made a statement in this regard in the Assembly today.

“We have already consulted the Law Department and it is felt that growers must be made aware about the advantages that standard universal carton has over other packaging material and we are confident that they will voluntarily make the switch over,” Bragta said.

He said the department had been directed to seek the assistance of Indian Institute of Packaging to fix quality and norms of the universal carton.

“We have already directed the HPMC and HIMFED to introduce universal carton packaging from this year only so that it can replace telescopic cartons in a phased manner,” he said.

He said even private carton suppliers had been asked to ensure this switch over.

The minister added that the fruit production in the state had gone up from merely 1,200 metric tonnes in 1950 to 10.23 lakh metric tonnes now.