The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty is not perfect but represents the best that was possible in the circumstances that prevailed then. It cannot be changed till the time India-Pakistan relations improve

This is not a comment on Rohan D’Souza’s very interesting article in The Hindu (September 13, 2013), but seeks to provide a somewhat different and supplementary perspective on both the Indus Waters Treaty and on the dissatisfaction with it in Jammu & Kashmir.

The most striking feature of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 (IWT) was that it performed a drastic surgery on an integrated river system, dividing it into two segments, one for Pakistan and the other for India. There will be universal agreement that this was a bad way of dealing with a living, integral whole. The second striking characteristic of IWT is that it is overwhelmingly an engineering document: it was a treaty between two sets of engineers. It is easy enough to criticise these features or characteristics, but in doing so we have to avoid the danger of anachronistic and ahistorical judgment.

Second best course
Yes, there is hardly any doubt that the living, integral, organic whole ought to have been dealt with as a unity and not cut up into two segments. As a matter of fact, David Lilienthal of Tennessee Valley Authority fame did advocate the joint management of the total system in an integrated manner, but such a course was not found practical for obvious reasons. Given the bitterness of Partition, the horrendous bloodshed that followed, and the implacable mutual hostility in which the two new countries were locked, it would have been naïve to expect that they could jointly, constructively and harmoniously manage the Indus system as a whole. (Such a possibility might have been difficult to reconcile with the logic of Partition.) When the ideal course is not possible, we have to settle for the second best course, and that was what the treaty represented. Once the land was partitioned in 1947, a partitioning of the waters was bound to follow, and it happened in 1960. Unfortunately, that history continues to plague us. It can hardly be said that a good, constructive, friendly relationship prevails between the two countries today, and that the IWT can now be replaced by a better and more holistic treaty.

Let me turn now to the other and more difficult point. All of us agree now that water is not a matter for engineers alone, and that it is a complex, multi-dimensional substance (avoiding the economist’s language of ‘resource’) that demands an inter-disciplinary study. We stress hydrology, ecology, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, history, tradition, custom, culture, and so on. All this is familiar talk now and is almost becoming conventional wisdom, but it was quite unknown in the 1950s when the Indus Waters Treaty was being formulated and negotiated.

From the advent of modern engineering with colonial rule up to the 1950s or even later, water was indeed regarded essentially a matter for engineers. Even the constitutional entries on water (Entry 17 in the State list and 56 in the Union List) show the strong influence of engineering thinking. Water use largely meant irrigation, irrigation meant canals, canals meant dams, barrages, weirs, gates, sluices and so on. It is therefore hardly surprising that when Partition forced the two new countries to negotiate a treaty on the Indus waters, the negotiation was largely entrusted to engineers on both sides; and it must be noted that the two opposing groups of engineers shared similar orientations, lexicons and concerns. Besides, Pakistan was anxious not only to secure a share of the waters but also to protect itself against the twin dangers of denial of water and flooding. The IWT was thus not merely a water-sharing treaty but also a water-control treaty.

Certainly, the authors of the IWT wanted the waters used for development but ‘development’ then meant projects for irrigation and hydroelectric power. ‘Projects’ were taken to be wholly benign; Environmental Impact Assessments were unknown; the possible human and social impacts of projects were even less recognised. The idea of a ‘minimum’ or ‘ecological’ flow would have been incomprehensible. Naturally, IWT is silent on these matters. As for climate change, that concern emerged several decades later. We must indeed go beyond IWT today and take these matters on board, but eventually IWT needs to be replaced by a very different, holistic, wise and harmonious treaty. Unfortunately, that will have to wait for a time when the relations between the two countries have ceased to be pathological.

Let us consider now the strong resentment against the IWT in J&K. There is a widespread feeling that while negotiating the treaty with Pakistan, India failed to keep the interests of J&K in mind. At one stage, the J&K Assembly even passed a resolution demanding the scrapping of the treaty. While one must take note of the negative feeling about the treaty in J&K, it would be unfair to say that the Indian negotiators ignored J&K's interests. Water-sharing by itself is only a small part of the treaty. The bulk of the treaty — the large and dense annexures and appendices — is about Indian projects on the western rivers, both storage and run-of-the-river. All those projects will be in J&K. Therefore, the substantial part of the negotiation was about projects to be located in J&K. How then can anyone say that J&K’s interests were ignored?

True, while India proposes to build a number of hydroelectric projects on the Jhelum and the Chenab (and their tributaries) in J&K, it does not follow that J&K will necessarily benefit from those projects. J&K may well feel that the power generated in the State will be taken elsewhere for use. Other States also have similar feelings about projects in their terrain. This, however, is a matter between the J&K State and the Government of India; it has nothing to do with the Indus Treaty.

What puzzles me is the following. When J&K complains that the treaty prevents it from utilising the waters that pass through the State, it appears that it is thinking of the restrictive provisions that limit the storage that can be built and impose several stringent conditions even on run-of-the-river (RoR) projects. India has so far not built the 3.6 MAF of storage that it is allowed to build. As for RoR projects, despite all the stringent conditions, it has built or is building several projects, and is planning a total of 33 projects. Assuming that the treaty was less restrictive, or non-existent, India could perhaps have built many more projects in J&K, both storage and RoR. (I am not going into the question of whether they would have been built by Central or State agencies.) Is that what the State wants?

Impact on ecology
We are talking about pristine, mountainous, seismically active, and ecologically sensitive areas. Does the State want 50 or 60 dams and reservoirs to be built in this area? What will such a massive intervention do to the ecology of the region? Elsewhere in the country, say in Assam, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha, and so on, there are strong movements against hydroelectric projects. A study has been undertaken of the cumulative impacts of a large number of projects on the Ganga. The recent catastrophic floods in Uttarakhand have been partly attributed to mismanaged, mis-operated projects. In a recent case, the Supreme court has expressed concern about the cumulative impact of many projects on the Alaknanda, the Bhagirathi and on the Ganga as a whole, and has directed the MoEF as well as the State of Uttarakhand not to grant any further environmental clearance or forest clearance for any hydroelectric power project in Uttarakhand until further orders. Is there no similar concern in J&K? Are the people of that State quite easy in their minds about as many as 33 projects being built on the Jhelum and Chenab in their State? Undoubtedly, the energy needs of the people of the State, wisely estimated, must be met. Are massive dams the only answer? Assuming that to be the mainstream view, there must be other voices; but one does not seem to hear them.

(Ramaswamy R. Iyer is a former Secretary, Water Resources, Government of India)

The Hindu, 1st October 2013

The National Green Tribunal has stopped the construction of a garbage disposal enclosure in IP Extension following a petition alleging that the dumping site might cause adverse health impacts upon hundreds of students flocking the area daily. The under-construction garbage disposal site is located right opposite the regional office of CBSE in east Delhi.

The green tribunal's bench-headed by Justice P Jyothimani-directed the three municipal corporations (east, south and north) and the NDMC to file a report on their scheme of municipal solid waste management for the areas under their jurisdictions.

In a petition, R C Jain, president of Delhi State Public Schools Management Association had alleged that the dumping ground is located in the vicinity of schools - at least three apart from the CBSE office - and this would put the schoolchildren at the risk of contracting vector-borne diseases. Jain added that the students would not only bear the foul stench of the garbage but would also be at the risk of getting dengue and malaria.

Following these allegations, the tribunal stated, "We are of the view that balance of convenience in passing some interim order is in the interest of the public, especially the health of children who come in large numbers everyday and are more susceptible to contracting diseases." The order came following the arguments that numerous schemes launched for health benefits of schoolchildren comes to nought if disease-producing garbage dumps are preferred to be located right in front of educational institutes by municipal authorities.

"We direct respondents to maintain status quo as it exists today making it clear that no further construction shall be proceeded with till the next date of hearing," the bench further added.

Jain told the bench that he approached the NGT with the plea after complaints made to 40 different departments went unheard.

The Times of India, 1st October 2013

Can protected monuments be handed over to claimants? In Delhi, that is precisely what has been done

It is easy to inscribe secular on your constitution, it is easier to profess it and chant it ritually. But to adhere to the basics of secular conduct is no child’s play, more so in countries where the population is overwhelmingly aligned to one denominational category. Pakistan with 95-98 per cent Muslim population chose the easy way out and declared herself an Islamic republic. India, with 85 per cent of its population professing to be Hindus, chose the more difficult path and declared herself a secular democracy. Unfortunately, over the last six decades and more secularism has gradually been reduced to nothing more than a creed that is more professed than practiced.

The past is the arena of the battles being fought in the present for hegemony over the minds of the future generations. If the secularists win the battle of privileging and foregrounding the syncretic in our traditions there is hope for the idea of India as a secular and inclusive society, but if the obscurantists succeed in their efforts then we face a bleak future. A future that would mirror the goings-on in the ‘Islamic republic’ stares us in the face.

One could cite numerous examples to show how the secular is being constantly eroded in the name of secularism and harmony, but for the moment one should suffice to show how we approach our past.

The past we are talking about would perhaps fall between the late 14 to early 15 Century or a little later coinciding with the rule of the Tughlaqs, the Saiyads and the Lodis. A large baoli (step well) was constructed during this period in what is now the heart of New Delhi.

The well in this imposing structure is located to the south and steps descend from the north. The baoli measures approximately 60 metres from north to south. At the head of the steps there is a platform with a mosque on its western side, the entry to the baoli is also from an opening in the western wall, accessed through a staircase built along the western flank of the baoli. The construction is typically Sultanate period, rubble held together with a mortar of crushed bricks and slaked lime-stone with the exposed surfaces given a cladding of dressed stones. The stone used is the locally available Delhi Quartz that was mined from the Arravalis.

The Delhi Quartz could not be carved, because of the large size of its crystals and that is why all structures built during this period were given a thick layer of plaster that was later incised, while still wet, with calligraphic, floral or geometric designs known as stucco. The layers of plaster have peeled off, during the intervening centuries of neglect, revealing the bare walls that are exposed to the vagaries of the elements.

This then is the appearance of most structures built during the Sultanate period; exceptional structures like the Qutub Minar and the mausoleum of Ghyas-ud-Din Tughlaq make extensive use of sand stone and marble that must have been brought in from Rajasthan at great cost and after much effort.

For some strange reason this large baoli, marked with its typical Central Asian arches and built with rubble held together with lime stone and brick mortar -- a binding material whose extensive use is co-terminus with the Sultanate period -- has come to be associated, in popular perception, with Raja Ugrasen.

This association is despite the fact that there is no mention of a Raja Ugrasen in history text books, certainly not as a ruler or a major noble in the 15 and early 16 Century and despite the fact that monumental Indian architecture predating the arrival of the Central Asians was marked by the use of huge blocks of interlocking dressed stones with minimal use of binding material, those insisting on a Raja Ugrsen connection have persisted.

We are a democracy and we do not stop people from flying their own imaginary kites, but problems begin to crop up when popular perceptions begin to take precedence over established principles. Those who claim that this structure was built by Raja Ugrsen have been demanding that the structure be handed over to them. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has done precisely that, by signing an MOU with the claimants and entrusting them with the responsibility of looking after the monument.

The Aggarwal Samaj that claims descent from Raja Ugrasen has been handed over the monument. They have been given permission to place a guard on the premises and permitted also to keep a Porta Cabin inside the monument, a stack of chairs has been stored inside the mosque, a small room next to the mosque is now occupied by the chowkidar appointed by the Samaj. An ugly water tank has been installed near the entry to the baoli and the laundry of the chowkidar welcomes visitors to the site. All protected monuments open to public at sunrise but this baoli opens only at 9 am. Who is in-charge and who is setting the rules?

The issue was brought to the notice of the ASI and the Aggarwal Samaj was ticked off by the ASI. It wasn’t even a month ago that they had promised that these things will be discontinued, till 6 pm on Friday, Oct 3, 2013, nothing had changed When a group of worshippers had taken over six mosques in different parts of south Delhi in March April 2009, the ASI was persuaded to move and evict the encroachers. But what do we do when the ASI begins to handover its own protected monuments?

The forthcoming Banaras Utsav will focus on regional languages and invite artistes from across the country. Iknoor Kaur gets the details

There is more to Varanasi than spirituality. This is the reason Gaurav Kapoor and a few others like him decided to come up with the cultural festival, Banaras Utsav, to highlight the unknown part of the place. As the organiser secretary of the festival, he says that the event will be an amalgamation of different kinds of art, culture and languages. “The idea is to bring together the rich culture of our country keeping Banaras as the main focus. We will have people from Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad,” he informs.

The festival was conceptualised a year and a half back. Kapoor explains, “There are a lot of cultural fests in India. However, most of them are very English-oriented. We wanted to provide a platform for languages like Hindi and other regional ones. In addition to that Banaras has always been culturally connected.”

Pt Rajan Mishra who belongs to the Banaras gharana will be one of the artistes performing at the event. He said that no other gharana in India had such a vast canvas of art and he is privileged to be a part of it. “In my life every festival has been important and in India so many festivals are celebrated. However, in Banaras, which is the cultural hub of our country, there is no cultural fest that takes place. This will be the first and through this fest I want to give one message to the country that every state must have a festival like this to preserve their heritage,” he adds.

Organiser of the festival, Ashok Kumar Gupta said that the event is also an attempt to revive Banarasi artifacts. “Banaras is home to over 40 per cent Bharat Ratna awardees in our country. There is art and culture in every single thing of the city. The city is famous for its saris, carving on elephant tusks and silver etchings. We want to showcase the richness of these arts through the fest,” he shares.

Upendra Kumar Gupta who is the co-organiser of the event stresses on the motivational factors of the festival. “We keep hearing of literature fests. So we thought of having a literature festival in Banaras which developed into becoming an art and culture festival. The main objective behind this was to promote reading habit among the youth. We also wanted to bring to forefront the music and musicians who have kept the Indian culture alive. We will highlight paintings and artefacts of Banaras and revive Hindi and Urdu poetry  to encourage authors and those interested in literature. Our aim is also to attract tourists and show people what all Banaras has apart from spirituality.”

Since the idea behind the festival is to add to the goodwill of Banaras, Kapoor says that most of the artistes participating in the event waved off their fee. “We had a clear picture in our head as to what we wanted to do. So we went to Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad and spoke to people. Our idea was just to showcase the best in culture and help revive it. People liked this approach,” he shares.

It's a step that could go a long way in reducing the load of pollution in the Yamuna. Organisers of a Durga Puja in Chittaranjan Park have decided against immersing the idols in the river this year. And, significantly, they have ensured that this is done with religious sanction.

Dakshinpalli Durga Puja Samiti (Pocket 52) will not give the goddess a send-off in the filthy river water. Instead, they have installed huge steel tanks at the pandal to avoid polluting the river further. This, they believe, will "highlight the toxic pollution" caused by immersion of idols every year and can be a local, practical solution for hundreds of other pandals in the city. At the pandal site some people are seen working on three huge box-like structures. After five days of puja fervour, beginning October 10, the committee will immerse six idols -Durga and Mahishashura; Ganesh and Lakshmi; and Kartik and Saraswati in these 12ft long tanks. "Last year when we went to the Yamuna ghat to immerse the goddess, we realized how badly it's impacting the river. Toxic paint from thousands of pandals dissolves in the water and many solid elements like metal accessories and thermocol float in the water. When crores are being spent on rejuvenating the river, we should also do our bit," said Ashoke Bose, president of the Samiti. "We have been using non-toxic paint for our idols for a long time. This time we want to make sure her send-off is done in an environment-friendly manner," Bose added.

The committee also consulted priests from the area's Kali Mandir Society to make sure this kind of an immersion doesn't deviate from the traditional rituals. "We make the idol of Durga with clay and our rituals say this clay has to go back to the earth it has come from," explained the much revered Muktipada Chakraborty, head priest of the Shiv Mandir temple complex, run by the Society. "That is the idea behind immersing her in the river-the clay goes back to the river bed. I think it will be great if we can do the immersion respectfully and properly inside the pandal premises. It is not a violation of the rituals. In fact, it makes the process more beautiful."

Environmentalists say if replicated in large numbers, this can help control in controlling river pollution during the festive season. But the pandals need to ensure that untreated water is not discharged into sewers. "It's better if they discharge the water after treatment, if they have used toxic paint. It's good step that pandals are taking responsibility," said Ravi Agarwal of environmental NGO Toxics Link. Heavy metals like lead in idols have a serious impact on water quality and metal decorations also choke the river.

Relentless erosion of farmland and habitations by several rivers in Uttar Pradesh, topped with government indifference, has left villagers refugees in their own lands

Prem Nath Gupta, from Semra village of Uttar Pradesh’s Gazipur district, is a desperate man. He has run from pillar to post in search of help for saving what remains of his village but at the end of this entire effort, he sees very little hope.

Semra is just one of about 50 villages affected by serious river erosion in Gazipur. As the Ganga river continues relentlessly to erode larger parts of the cultivation land and even habitations of these villages, many of them got together to launch the Gaon Bachao Andolan.

Mr. Gupta is the convenor of this movement. He says, “Our efforts to save villages like Sherpur Semra, Shivraikepura, Bachalpur and others using democratic methods, including prolonged fasts, have continued for nearly 25 years. This area is officially listed as a danger zone. But the government has not given the due attention to our survival threat. Many families have been deprived of not just their farmland, but also their living place. Their identity has become unclear, their survival is threatened.”

This problem is by no means unique to Gazipur district. Mr. Gupta asserts that this problem has become serious in about 19 districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Bahraich district, in particular, is very badly affected by river erosion. Jwalaprasad was a middle-level farmer of Kaharanpurwa hamlet, Golganj panchayat (Fakharpur block of Bahraich district). Now due to relentless erosion of his farmland by Ghaghra river, he has been reduced to a small farmer with a very precarious existence. Earlier, he had 19 bighas. Nearly 14 bighas of this land has been lost to the river.

Ramjanki is a widow who had about 11 bighas in Atodar panchayat (Fakharpur block of Bahraich district). However, the Ghaghra turned destructive and washed away her land. She and her family members fled to save their lives leaving behind most of their belongings. Now, like most other villagers, they are forced to live in difficult conditions on an embankment.

Ramchabile is a farmer who lived originally in Munsari village of Mehsi block (Bahraich district) but he now lives in Korva panchayat of the same block. He had to move away from his village when the land here was badly eroded by the Ghaghra river. First he settled some distance away but the river eroded this land as well. Then he moved to Korva panchayat and now his farm here is also threatened.

These examples reveal how people affected by river erosion have to move desperately from one place to another without getting any longer-term assurance or relief. Devoid of their farmland as well as original houses, many of these persons have taken shelter on embankments, erecting thatch structures that can provide little protection from the cold wave. They are the rural homeless, neglected victims of disasters who are often denied even the relief to which they are entitled under the Calamity Relief Fund and related provisions.

Kaharanpurwa village has lost 75 per cent of its farmland to erosion. Most of the residents were small farmers and have nothing to left to subsist on except daily wage labour.

Munsari village was devastated by erosion. Its families started settling some distance away, but the changing river course attacked the new settlement as well and they had to leave a second time. Now they have settled on some land of Korva panchayat. Unfortunately now the river has reached even this land and the land of about 50 farmers from Munsari has been eroded.

People of all these erosion-ravaged villages are badly exposed to hunger and malnutrition as well as denial of other basic needs (including sanitation and healthcare). Women suffer due to lack of toilets and bathing places with some privacy.

Clearly people affected by river erosion suffer from extreme distress. They deserve priority attention and their problems of meeting basic needs as well as protective works should be tackled on a priority basis.

The Hindu, 6th October 2013

The architects and craftsmen who helped revive the glory of Humayun's Tomb.

At first sight, the kitchen equipment at Humayun's Tomb belies the scale and complexity of the restoration of the Unesco World Heritage Site. But when you see the glory of the restored Mughal monument, which was thrown open to the public on September 18, you realise that a pateela, thaali, hamaam-dasta, sil-batta, chakki and dosa batter grinder can be used for purposes other than just culinary.

These utensils were used to give a fresh lease of life to the mausoleum of Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. A lot of the equipment used was quite primitive. Like the lime wheel — a huge churn (operated by camels or oxen back in the day) that mixes lime with sand to make lime mortar, used as a binding agent by the Mughal school of architecture instead of the cement that is used today. "This is exactly how the Mughals constructed and beautified their buildings. They used chakkis and sil-battas and lime wheels," says Ratish Nanda, project director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) which undertook the restoration of Humayun's Tomb with the help of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The work which was done in two stages — first undoing the 20th century damage, then doing the restoration — took six years, from 2007 to 2013. "We added nothing from our imagination. Conservation ends where imagination begins," says Nanda.

If the Taj Mahal is poetry in white marble, its prototype, the Humayun's Tomb is no less than poetry in red sandstone offset by white marble. Two features set this monument apart from the Taj, its younger but more famous cousin. First, the contrast in colour and second, the detailing in the plasterwork of the recessed arches on the facade that can be noticed from a distance. This plasterwork is a craft lost to modern-day India. They call it "incised plaster".

The Indian Express, 6th October 2013

The barren landscape of Kutch is enlivened by tunes from ingenious musical instruments, which are at times just kitchen utensils, writes Ashis Dutta, after a trip to the musically-rich but inhospitable terrain

“How do you play two flutes at the same time?” I asked Musa Ghulam Jat. He had just finished playing a folk tune on his twin-flutes, the refrain of which was still reverberating in the arid nothingness of the Great Rann of Kutch.

“This is called jodiya pawa,” he said, holding up his flutes. I nudged him again on how he manages to do the seemingly impossible feat. He only smiled, shyly. I should have known better. For, this simple-looking musician, who has enthralled audiences not just across India but in Germany, France and England as well, has shun the glare of public adulation and has chosen to live in a remote pastoral village in the north-western part of Kutch. I was plain lucky to catch him performing near my tent in Dhordo, a village at the edge of Rann.

To get into the skin of the rich musical ethos of Kutch, vibes of which flutter in the air to counter-balance the harsh barren salt flats, Musa Jat’s reclusiveness was my first lesson. The dancing notes of his twin-flutes have that solidity, that rectitude amid simplicity, which reflect the life and character of the people of that inhospitable terrain.

Wide variety
I turned my attention to the instrument lazing on Musa Jat’s lap. The two flutes of jodiya pawa are made of rosewood of same length, ornately coloured and in parts wound around in copper wire, which adds both to its beauty and protectiveness. Musa Jat suddenly took up his flutes and showed how in one, the nar — the male aspect, he keeps scale like a drone, and in the other, the madi or mali — the female, he weaves the tune.

Interestingly, I found this male-female confluence in another wind instrument of Kutch — murli. Is this a musical expression underlining the tradition of a deeper acceptance of social complementarity?

Murli looks much like what we associate with snake-charming. It has the traditional hollow shell of gourd and two reed pipes, each a per, meaning foot, one representing the male aspect, another the female, one for melody and the other to improvise a supporting tune. 

Musicians like Surat Nath have broken the confines of snake-charming and have taken Kutchi murli to the musical durbars of Europe and South East Asia as a versatile folk instrument. The Vagdi community of Kutch still gathers around a fire and plays its murlis together, a tradition that has helped the community remain stitched against the centrifugal strains of modernity.

Among the other wind instruments in the folk culture of Kutch, narr, nagfani and borrindo are still popular, though each is fighting its own battle against extinction.

To strum
Among string instruments, surando has been around in the wilderness of Kutch for as long as anyone can remember. Much like sarangi or violin, it is played with a bow called gaz or gazi in the local dialect. But unlike violin, it stands erect, vertical to the ground with stem and tuning pegs on the upper part while being played. The frame, made of Lahirro wood, is painted with bright shining colours prepared from mercury or zinc. In the hand of the masters, surando exudes a yearning that hits straight in the heart.

Dakul, or dak as it is also called, is similar to damru that we see in Lord Shiva’s hand. The Bhuva community still uses it for occasions as varied as juggling, tantric rights or even while eliminating ghosts.

Duff and nal are two types of percussions played with folk dances. Other instruments like khanjari, manjira and morchang are still being played. Morchang resembles the Jewish harp with a melancholic twang. Kutch is home to a spectrum of amazing musical instruments that seem to have evolved, like magic, from its thirsty air and parched soil. But what amazed me most was when I met Dana Bharmal.

Everyone knows Bharmal, and everyone loves him in the vast expanse of Kutch. He takes common utensils used by the women of Kutch and makes music out of them. He has taken gadu, earthen pot and tagaaru, a shallow iron bucket, out of the Kutchi kitchen setting and onto international musical arenas. I was skeptical till I heard him play. He would accompany vocalists and instrumentalists and would occasionally sing himself while playing his gadu-tagaaru combine.

Serenity
That evening, Dana Bharmal chose to sing a Sufi composition of Bulleh Shah in the tradition of Sindhi kafi. His voice soared effortlessly to tar-saptak, the high octave, as the stroke of his hands brought rhythmic music out of his gadu-tagaaru. I sat motionless along with others. Mesmerised.

But, was Bharmal playing to us? Or, was he performing to the sun that had just set beyond the horizon, painting the Great Rann of Kutch in its departing colours?

The Deccan herald, 6th October 2013

When your introduction to a country is a stunning platinum blonde immigration agent, you know it's the start of a great holiday. The agent in question at Athens International Airport wasn't just a head turner, she was polite and efficient to boot—a great way to welcome us after a long flight. Despite severe personnel cuts due to a persistent economic slowdown, the agents welcome you warmly to the country — in sharp contrast to the scowls on display at Mumbai International Airport on our return. Greece, a country of some nine million people (to put that in perspective, Mumbai alone has 18 million), is battling a debilitating economic crisis, but it puts its best foot forward for tourists. Not the most predictable of destinations, Greece is attracting a large number of tourists — despite, or perhaps because of, a precarious economy. The country drew in around 20 million tourists in 2012; the UK attracted 10 million more in that year.

Greece is a relatively difficult destination to reach from India compared to the UK, since it usually involves a layover in either a West Asian hub such as Dubai or Doha or in Europe (Frankfurt or Brussels). As a tourist destination, Greece is a country for people looking beyond the hordes of tourists on the 12-countries-ina-fortnight packaged tours.

You're unlikely to meet an Indian at every street corner (we met only a handful on our holiday) and those you do are happy rather than weary for your company. It helped immeasurably that we dodged peak tourist season ( June to August) and instead went in early to mid-September, when the crowds had thinned. Perhaps as a result of the endemic slowdown — or maybe they're just friendly — Indian tourists are welcomed and courted.

Across our 10-day tour of Athens, Mykonos and Santorini, hotel owners and managers weren't just courteous as expected, they whipped out maps, pointed out Metro stations and tourist attractions and routes to reach them. While we opted for three-star hotels (clean bathrooms, sheets changed daily), tourists staying at cheaper digs too can expect a helping hand from staff.

For veggie Indian tourists to Greece, trying the local food remains a bit difficult. Dishes such as the gyros (meat with tomatoes, onion and the local tzatziki sauce, wrapped in pita bread), or moussaka (a dish of eggplant and lamb) contain meat. Cafe owners will go to great lengths to explain these and other dishes to curious tourists.. Salt and pepper are only lightly used and cheese is often added to dishes.
However, as more Indian tourists have arrived, cafe owners have become more aware of peculiar needs — a couple of restaurants asked us if garlic and onion were permissible and another offered us a bottle of chilli flakes, admitting that Greek food was rather bland. Most restaurants offer free Wi-Fi, a boon if you're not connected on a global roaming number or Matrix SIM card, since you can use whatsapp to coordinate with friends and family. The Greek tourism industry is going out of its way to appease difficult-to-please visitors. For the keepers of Indian tourism, there may be many lessons to be learnt.

From the time you step out of your hotel and take a metro, cab, quad bike or even donkey ride around, the sheer range of merchandising is noteworthy. Greece doesn't just sell usual tourist curios at stores, every aspect of the country is mercilessly merchandised. Owls, donkeys, cats, horseshoes, windmills and even condoms are branded and hawked to tourists. What's more, store owners are happy letting you browse endlessly and serve you with a smile, even if you depart with a one euro pencil.

In Athens, a city full of history and monuments, we decided to take the Metro. It helps if you know where you want to go — the flea market of Monistriaki Square is a great place to hunt for bargains, and Ermou Street is the central shopping district with all the big ticket brands. The Metro can take you there quickly, cleanly and for a fraction of the taxi. In Santorini, an island famed for its beautiful sunsets (head to Oia and jostle with tourists for a great view), everyone takes a local bus — fares beginning from 1.60 — and they are frequent and clean.

As a smaller island, Mykonos has just 38 tourist taxis, so you need to book a cab in advance. But like in Goa, everyone is zipping across the island on quad bikes, bikes or in cars. And the hotel owner is happy finding you a ride of choice. Once you reach your destination, especially if you're a packaged tour junkie, the quality of Greek guides stands out. Our guide at Athens, Mikela, told us that she had to complete a twoyear course before she could be accredited.

The Economic Times, 6h September 2013

The Hauz Khas heritage, in the midst of an urbanized village with high-end boutiques, restaurants and an upscale residential colony, is slowly turning into a hub of illegal construction and occupation.

The monuments, which have a medieval history tracing back to the 13th century of Delhi Sultanate reign, have fallen prey to encroachers over the past few years. Despite complaints by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), along with several notices, the violations only seem to grow.

Just a few feet from the monument's main entrance, construction is in full swing on the ground floor of a building that houses several boutiques and eateries. Another few feet away, a floor has been added to a building with a polished look.

In the residential colonies, which are 10 feet away from the monument's boundary wall, the process of getting permission from the competent authority has been allegedly bypassed in favour of unauthorized construction.

Numerous notices, accompanied by action in some instances, have not shown results; officials admit that keeping tabs on all the illegal constructions around the monument is very difficult.

"We have made several complaints about unauthorized construction in the past few years but we are not empowered to take action and are dependent on the local authorities,'' said a senior ASI official.

A number of restaurants in Hauz Khas Village recently came under the National Green Tribunal scanner for discharging untreated sewage into sewers. The group, which filed the PIL in the tribunal, now plans to seek intervention for safeguarding the sanctity of the heritage sites.

"Massive illegal constructions and ongoing encroachment of the forest belt and public spaces has been seen within 100m of the periphery of Hauz-E-Elahi. The forest belt not only has residences but has seen unbridled commercial activities. Most of the buildings housing famed restaurants have come up in the past three years and within 100m of the monument.

"All of this has been in connivance with ASI officials and other government bodies that have wilfully neglected their duties. It is important to preserve this 700-year-old monument and the eco-sensitive zone of southern ridge, failing which India will lose yet another important chapter of its glorious history to corruption, government and public apathy,'' said Pankaj Sharma, environment and heritage activist.

Sharma claimed that attention was being paid mainly to the frontier of the monuments, but not to the settlements at the rear occupying forest land.

The locals said these shanties, which have been around since 2010, have been slowing growing. "We tried to free up the land two years ago but the villagers have now turned hostile. Our jurisdiction is till the monument's boundary and the land occupied by villagers is with DDA,'' said the official.

The Times of India, 6th October 2013

Delhi's 174 heritage monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have only 125 attendants to look after them. That comes to less than one attendant per monument — an appalling statistic for a city which sells itself as a heritage and cultural attraction to tourists from India and abroad and is also vying for UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Out of the 125 caretakers, a significant number will retire in the coming days. In September alone, five attendants retired.

In August, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its annual report to Parliament, gave a negative appraisal of the country's topmost heritage conservation agency. In the 500-plus page report, among other remarks that reflected poorly on the ASI, the CAG said 92 ASI-protected monuments had gone missing, inspection notes of all ASI-protected monuments were not made available for its perusal and that there were discrepancies in the expenditure logs.

Of the 92 missing monuments, 15 are reported to be in the ASI's Delhi Circle, headquartered at Safdarjung's Tomb. One reason that can be attributed to the miserable condition of Delhi's heritage monuments under the ASI is the extreme shortage of attendants. In its response to the CAG report, the ASI also highlighted the shortage of attendants.

The work required from attendants makes for a long list: ticket sales; operating the cloak rooms; toilets and water supply; frisking, cleaning and maintenance; weeding out unwanted vegetation inside the monument; manning the publication cell and tourist control. The monuments must be inspected daily by the attendants and reports sent to the higher authorities.

A senior official in ASI's Delhi Circle told Newsline that the Red Fort alone needs at least 50 attendants, considering its expanse and visitor footfall.

An employee in ASI's Delhi Circle said, "Recruitment is the subject matter of the head office. Whenever we send a requisition for attendants, they bluntly ask us to outsource the services required of them. So, recruitment has been put off for a long time."

- The Indian Express, 7th October 2013

Udhwa lake bird sanctuary of Sahebganj, the only avian habitat of otherwise green Jharkhand, has attracted the attention of the Central Government.

Till now the bird sanctuary, spreading in 5.65 square kilometers comprising two backwater lakes over river Ganga, has been low profile in the want of fund and attention and has not been able to get the tourist attention it deserves.

Information coming in suggests that the Forest and Environment Department is in the process of revisiting the management plan prepared for the sanctuary way back in 2004-05 that is also set to expire in 2015. “We are taking a relook at the plan as presently the sanctuary is given just 10-12 lakh annually for expenditures like maintenance of motor boat and patrolling etc. Apart from keeping an eye on poaching there is not much activity going on,” said a senior official.     

About 50 km away from Sahebganj, the entire sanctuary area comprises two water bodies namely Pathaura Lake of 1.55 sq km and Barhel Lake of 4.10 sq km. The backwater lakes near Farakka barrage get filled during monsoon when the Ganga’s distributory Hubli swells. The wet land gets large number of migratory birds like Pratincole, Egret, Wagtail, Plover, Lapwing, Stork, Ibis, Heron, Wader during the dry spells.

“The Estimate Committee during its tour wanted to know about works being executed there and expenses being incurred. They would submit their report to Parliament and it is expected that specific recommendations would be made for Udhwa bird sanctuary,” said a top official. He also admitted that the potentially much richer wildlife spot of the State require higher attention and not the neglect the lone wetland is living with.

The Estimate committee of Parliament reports what economies, improvements in organisation, efficiency or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates may be effected with a step. It also suggests alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration and examine whether the money is well laid out within the limits of the policy implied in the estimates before its report being presented to Parliament.

The Pioneer, 7th October 2013

Ahead of launching a comprehensive conservation programme for the protection of endangered species — black-necked Crane and Bar-headed Geese — the Department of Wildlife protection (J&K) in technical collaboration with Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun has embarked on a second phase of an ambitious research project in Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife Sanctuary to study the migration and habitat utilisation pattern of these species in J&K using satellite transmitters.

This is for the first time a Black-necked Crane, the State bird of J&K has been fitted with satellite transmitters in Ladakh region. In India, eastern Ladakh is the only known breeding ground for Black-necked Crane outside China.

The estimated population of Black-necked Crane in Ladakh region is between 80-100 while the global population is estimated to be around 6,000.

In the first phase of the research project, the satellite transmitters were placed on two Bar-headed Geese in the Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve in Jammu in March 2012. A detailed report on this study titled ‘Tracking Movement Pattern of Bar-headed Goose in J&K’ has been brought out by the WII, Dehradun in April 2013.

According to Tahir Shawl, a trained senior wildlife biologist who had actually conceived the project during his posting as Wildlife Warden in Leh told The Pioneer, “The high altitude wetlands in trans-Himalayan region of India are breeding grounds of many species of migratory water fowl and play host to species like Black-necked Crane and Bar-headed Geese during summer.”

He said through this study the wildlife experts are looking forward to study the migration routes, habitat utilisation pattern and above all establishment of link, if any, between Jammu and Ladakh population of Bar-headed Geese.

Shawl said the exercise to fit the satellite transmitters on two Black-necked Cranes was accomplished by the Leh Wildlife Division of the department in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and  the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai between September 15-22.

Expert bird catcher, associated with Bombay Natural History Society, Ali Hussain, Dr Asad Rafi Rahmani, Director BNHS, Dr Bilal Habib, Scientist WII, were present in Changthang to carry out the elaborate procedure along with senior officials of the State Wildlife Department.

Shawl said the study would be carried out in the wetlands of Changthang area including Chushul, Hanle, Tsokar, Loma, Saato and Ronga in collaboration with the WII, Dehradun.

Apart from this, he said, two more Bar-headed Geese were fitted with rings and neck bands to carry out further research work. Shawl said, “We have already started receiving the satellite data from the birds and closely tracking their movement to trace their migration route.”

The Pioneer, 7th October 2013

With some major festivals round the corner, the author looks at the journeys of Ramlila and Durga Puja celebrations in the Capital

Ramlila began to be celebrated in the Walled City some 350 years ago when Shahjahanabad came into being though Mehrauli and the Purana Quila area may have been the earliest venues. While moving his court to Delhi from Agra, Shah Jahan took care to see that merchants, intellectuals, artisans, including craftsmen of various kinds, also followed his court into the new Capital. Among them were Sheikhs, Mirzas, Chaudhuris, Jain, Kayastha , Khatri and Baniya businessmen, but not Punjabi merchants, who came only in the reign of Shah Alam in the 18th Century. However in their place were Kashmiri Pandits, mostly constituting the intelligentsia. The result of this exodus was that Phulhatti, Seo-ka-Bazar, Kinari Bazar, Kashmiri Bazar, Johri Bazar and Rawatpara (that predates Khari Baoli spice market) almost became a shadow of their former self. It was through these bazaars that the Ramlila procession used to wend its way from Belanganj, on the riverfront facing the Taj Mahal.

Some of these bazaars found their incarnation in Delhi and their names are still there as a reminder. For that matter even Chandni Chowk was originally in the Agra Fort, until Jahanara Begum built a more magnificent and spacious version of it in Delhi. However to maintain communal harmony the Ramlila processions, which passed through these areas, were later taken out from near the northern wall of Delhi. In Agra the main celebration of Dussehra, in which the effigies were burnt, took place at the Ramlila Grounds facing the Agra Fort (as they do even now). But in Delhi the celebration was behind the fort until it was moved to the present site opposite Asaf Ali Road. The change came about in the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar but after 1857 there was a break as the talab or lake covering the area had begun to stink with rotting corpses.

It is recorded that there were communal clashes in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the worst one in 1947 during or before the Ramlila. In 1886 the festival coincided with the Tazia processions, leading to great strife. Katra Neel was attacked and the maximum damage was suffered by the havelis of the rich Lalas. Side by side with Hindu-Muslim rivalry, which led to the discontinuance of the Id mela in the garden of Maldhar Khan for some years, Hindu-Jain rivalry also came to the surface. In 1877 siding with Lala Rammi Mal, Lieutenant-Governor Egerton allowed the Jain rath yatra to pass through the thoroughfares. . This was objected to by the Hindus who were sour that similar permission had not been given to the Ramlila procession. It was only much later, well into the 20th Century, that the Ramlila as we see it now began to be celebrated at the sites associated with it. Before that there was no Ramlila ground as such, save for Shahji-ka-Talab. Parade Ground, where once stood the mahals of the Mughal nobles, had become desolate after these were demolished post-1857. It was only in 1920, according to Narayani Gupta, that the place was grassed over and much later that it became a Ramlila venue.

One thing worth noting is that Gali Batashan acquired great prominence during yesteryear Ramlila because sugar toys were made there and supplied to the various markets. Crackers were made by Muslim “aatishbaaz” behind the Jama Masjid since Mughal times and you can still find some shops there. The effigies were also made mainly by Muslim artisans who came from as far as Bareilly, Rampur, Saharanpur and Meerut. The effigies of Ravana and his kinsmen began to be made in Titarpur much later. Incidentally, Titarpur, Todapur, Naraina and Nangal Raya were among the 12 prominent village mandis during the time of the Pandavas, with Naraina having the largest grain market (hence probably the expression “Barah Mandi ka Mamu”). The Dussehra bonhomie even in the medieval era continued up to Diwali, celebrated also by the Mughals, who had a special department for aatishbaaz (cracker makers).

Now Ramlila processions do not excite the same command passions as they did in former times and so are quite peaceful, despite the lurking threat of terrorist attacks. Durga Puja, which coincides with Dussehra, came to Delhi only in the second decade of the 20th Century, with Kashmiri Gate and Timarpur as the main centres. Some think that even in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries it was a small-scale celebration by the Bengalis then residing in Delhi, who immersed small idols of Durga in the Yamuna without much fanfare. It was Akbar’s general, Raja Mansingh who is said to have given an impetus to Durga Puja in Agra and Jaipur after his return with a famous idol of the Devi from the 16th Century Bengal campaign. That idol is still installed in Amber fort. But in Delhi his descendant Sawai Jai Singh II, the builder of Jantar Mantar, could be said to be among the pioneer patrons of Delhi’s Durga Puja. Later Dr B.C. Sen, H.C.Sen, S.N. Bose and A.C.Sen took over. However the history of the Ramlila processions that start from Dauji-ka-Mandir in Esplanade Road, stretches to the beginning of the 20th Century after the arrival of the seths of Mathura, for whom Dauji (Lord-Krishna’s elder brother) is a much venerated deity. But the mandir in Delhi came up much earlier, some say at the end of the 18th Century. The Hindu, 7th October 2013

World Wildlife Week is celebrated in the first week of October. It is an annual event to make us stop awhile and think about wildlife and how we can conserve it.

Do you take time off school work and watching television to think about the future of India’s wildlife? Living and growing up in cities can really alienate one from the problems of the forest. Most of us haven’t even noticed that the sparrow that used to perch on our balconies does not come anymore. Or that butterflies no longer visit our gardens. So, how can one possibly know that the population of snow leopards in India is less than 600, making it a critically endangered species whose future is threatened?

Bridge the gap
Or is it easy for us to keep a tab on the number of one-horned rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park, Assam, where 20 were killed for their horns this year alone?

The country’s diverse landscapes are home to numerous threatened and critically endangered species, including the Asiatic lion, Asian elephant, tiger, white-rumped vulture, Asian one-horned rhinoceros, and water buffalo. There are many species of deer, antelopes, wild dogs, cats, monkeys and bears in India whose habitats are constantly shrinking. Besides mammals, there is a vast array of reptiles, birds and amphibians that are slowly disappearing too.

But you can make a difference this Wildlife Week by taking some time out to actively engage in conservation and awareness projects that give several animals a chance at survival.

Celebrated in the first week of October, typically from October 2 to 8, Wildlife Week is an annual event that aims to raise awareness about the conservation of wildlife. “Wildlife Week aims to bridge the gap between wildlife and wildlife conservation in a bid to encourage more citizens to take up the cause,” says Gerry Martin, popular herpetologist.

Becoming a part of this great legacy of wildlife protection is easy and can start at home.

Becoming a part of this great legacy of wildlife protection is easy and can start at home. You could try a few of these at home in groups or with your parents:

“Do something that will last an entire year,” says Gerry Martin. Backyard conservation projects could be the right place to start for long term conservation projects that are inexpensive and fairly easy. Take a look at the birds in your backyard. How many visitors do you get in a day? For how long do they stay? Why do they come back? If the birds have been giving your backyard a miss, bring back their eco system. Build a bird bath and install a bird feeder that will keep your visitors from getting hungry. The plants in your garden also play a vital role in attracting our winged friends. Continue to replenish the source of water and food for the birds and pretty soon, you’re sure to have brought back a varied species of birds into your backyard.

Form groups and organise a tour or walk of parks and gardens in your city. Spot and identify the different birds and animals you encounter. Consolidate the information you gather about local birds and animals and share it with your friends and family. You might also want to look into what animal and bird species originally lived in the area and were displaced because of urban growth.

Map and track
If you plan to learn more about a particular endangered species, pay it a visit in its natural habitat. India has over 442 animal or wildlife sanctuaries and with your family for company you can make a trip to one of these really easily. Head to Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal to track the fearsome tiger. The park is part of the government’s efforts to protect the tiger. Bandipur National Park in Karnataka is also home to tigers and the Asian elephant. Gir National Park and the Sisan Gir Sanctuary in Gujarat are the only habitats of the Asiatic lion.

The Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, is a haven for birds and the country’s bird sanctuary that houses a number of indigenous and migratory birds. Study your subjects closely when you visit them. Learn of their habits and understand the threats they face. Slowly, try to determine how you can help.

At school, find ways in which you can engage with wildlife issues. Form clubs that work to spread awareness about particular wildlife topics. Debate, quiz, drama and art clubs are some of the forums to address wildlife issues. Form an Eco Task Force that takes up wildlife conservation seriously and works hard to spread the message.

India has a long history of conservation with national parks and protected areas springing up as early as 1935. In fact, the Indian Constitution specifies ‘it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife’. In 1952, the Government of India set up the Indian Board of Wildlife to prevent the extinction of animal and bird species. Today, the country has more than 600 protected areas with the Ministry of Environment and Forest working with the objective of protecting wildlife, controlling poaching, smuggling and illegal trade in wildlife through the landmark Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

The Hindu, 8th October 2013

The National Green Tribunal on Monday issued notices to various departments of the Centre and the Delhi government in connection with rampant covering of stormwater drains in the city.

The drains are being covered to build parking lots and commercial complexes across the Capital.

The tribunal was hearing a petition filed by Manoj Misra of the NGO Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan and former Indian Foreign Service official Madhu Bhaduri.

The petition has asked for a stay on all ongoing work on stormwater drains, their restitution and removal of encroachments.

On October 11, government agencies will explain the current state of affairs and seek instructions from the tribunal on how to set things right.

The petition mentions concretisation of the Kushak Drain to build a parking lot in south Delhi and a plan to build a Dilli Haat on the Shahdara link drain in east Delhi.
HT has been reporting how concretisation of these drains are causing threats of floods and other environmental hazards.

Despite clear guidelines from apex planning bodies UTTIPEC and the Delhi Urban Art Commission, concretisation keep happening.

Kushak Drain is a natural waterway of the city and a major tributary of the famous Barapulla drainage system that feeds the Yamuna.

The link drain is helpful in carrying the run-off during the monsoon and helps in preventing flooding of the area during excessive rains.

“Delhi is a flood-prone city because over time many such drains that acted as natural tributaries of the Yamuna have been turned into stormcum-waste water drains. Later, many of them were covered and obstructed from playing their natural role,” the petition reads.

“This has reduced the easy and efficient drainage and compromised biodiversity in and along these drains and their ability to recharge groundwater, carry clean water and keep the ambient air clean,” the petition says.

In addition, such conversion increases the flood-prone nature of the city where roads and streets become water-logged, traffic comes to a standstill (increasing manifold the air pollution) and people undergo unimaginable hardships during rains.

The standing water also raises the risk of fatal diseases like dengue.

The Hindustan Times, October 08, 2013

India is considered a world leader in conservation. We have pulled the Great Indian rhino and the Asiatic lion from almost certain extinction. We are the committed custodians of the tiger. Yet, we remain locked in the ‘development versus environment’ debate

“So, are we writing the epilogue of India’s wildlife ?” It’s a question I was asked at a talk on the National Wildlife Week, celebrated every year in the first week of October. Given the gloom and doom scenario, and the dismal news from the world of wildlife pouring in, it’s a valid fear, and one that I will attempt to answer through this column.

First the good news: India has an unparalleled wildlife conservation history. Globally, large mammals, particularly predators, have taken the worst beating, declining with the first impacts of humans on their habitats. India continues to harbour large predators like the snow leopard, common leopard, clouded leopard, wolf, wild dogs and, of course, the tiger. India is home to more than 50 per cent wild tigers and also the  Asiatic elephant. It’s the repository of a fair number of species once almost on the brink, notably the Great Indian rhinoceros, Asiatic lion, Asiatic wild ass and lion-tailed macaque. We have gaur, the largest wild bovines, wild buffalo, at least three species of bear, three species of large crocodilians.

The only mega fauna we have tragically lost in the last century has been the cheetah. This, given our country’s demographics at over 1.2 billion and the fact we are the second-most populated country in the world, is remarkable, and a credit to us. It’s  especially so when we view it in context of the developed Western world, which has all but wiped off its predators. For example, wolves, bears and lynx once roamed the UK as top predators. They have all been eradicated.

Let’s focus on India’s national animal and Project Tiger, the biggest conservation initiative of its time. There are detractors, and I have been a severe critic as well, given the fortunes and otherwise of the tiger in the turbulent four decades since the project’s inception. We saw the poaching carnage of the 1990s, the mockery of inflated numbers and misplaced complacency, the shame of tigers going extinct in Sariska and Panna, the persisting threats to tiger habitat and the intensifying human-tiger conflict. Tragically, the killing continues, and has, in fact, peaked in the past two years.

Yet, there is little doubt that the project has served its purpose. Even if, as it is pointed out, we have about the same number of tigers we started at the inception of the project in 1973 — if we can make that comparison at all given different estimation methods. It must be pointed out that the pressures on the tiger and its habitat have increased exponentially in these four decades. That tiger habitats remain, that tiger populations have stabilised (although still very vulnerable) and that some reserves — one example being Nagarahole — saw a resurgence of tigers, thanks to the protectionist legal and policy framework provided in the 1970s, reinforce this fact.

Significantly, with protection, the forests under the umbrella of Project Tiger have thrived. This, despite a booming human population and the consequent pressure on resources, expanding agriculture, the intensive and extensive demands for infrastructural and industrial growth, sagging political will and a frayed sincerity of purpose.

Despite the cheery note, all is not rosy. When faced with multitude of crises and gravity of threats that continue to plague the tiger and tiger habitats — using them, as one often does, as a metaphor for all of India’s biodiversity — it is hard to retain hope, especially in a climate with little support to wildlife. In India’s aspiring economy and divided polity, the legal environment framework that is the basis of conservation, is being viewed as a ‘hurdle’.

This was elucidated by none other than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who decreed green laws as the “new licence raj”, stating that “saving the environment cannot be at the cost of development.” That this perception is faulty and not based on fact, has been well explained in my earlier columns.   Suffice it to say that we have given away vast chunks of even pristine forests and wildlife habitats for mining, power projects etc, even as the current capacities lie unutilised and far-exceeding the targets of the current plan. 

Such wilful destruction, and flawed planning, fail to weigh the consequences of long-term sustainability, of the health of the people, and its economy. The policy lacks the vision that it is nature — free flowing rivers, forests, wetlands, grasslands — that provide us ecosystem services that sustain us.

Another key concern is that some of our lesser known mega fauna is on the brink of extinction.I have highlighted repeatedly the plight of the Great Indian Bustard, of which only about a 100 survive in the wild. Almost as endangered are other members of the bustard family — the Bengal florican, and the lesser florican, both down to mere hundreds — and creatures of the fast vanishing grasslands. No less imperiled is the hangul, the magnificent barasingha and the only sub-species of the red deer in India. Fewer than 200 remain, concentrated in Dachigam National Park in Srinagar. A small portion of their habitat was denotified to make way for a golf course and luxury hotels. Currently, Dachigam is overrun by nomadic shepherds and their livestock. There is a state-owned sheep breeding park within the premises of the national park, and although there is a Cabinet decision to move the farm out, eight years on, the farm continues to occupy prime meadows. In fact, there is a campaign to declare the area it occupies as non-forestland.

We are whittling away the last remaining habitats of even our critically-endangered species. The gharial is another such ill-fated species. Only about 200 breeding adults of this longest and the most ancient of crocodilians remain. The Hirakud dam on the Mahanadi — the gharial’s southernmost range — sealed their fate in that river, which today may at best have about five. Their current stronghold, the Chambal river, is dammed, with no less than 150 projects operating in its basin with an equal number in the pipeline.

There are other species that stare extinction in the face: Jerdon’s courser, wild buffalo, sangai or Manipuri dancing deer, the once ubiquitous vultures to name just a few. While most of the species are covered under a ‘Species Recovery Programme’ of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the programme suffers from an acute lack of funds and is managed by a poorly-staffed wildlife department and is, therefore, unable to deliver the focus such a programme demands. What is also missing is the will of steel, and the sense of urgency of the gravity of the situation, both on part of the State and Union Governments required to pull back these species from the brink.  

Unless we deem their last remaining habitats sacrosanct, these species are doomed forever. The tiger survived not just because we devoted a project and infused it with funds, but because it had a strong foundation, with a handpicked, committed team and backed by strong political will and increasing public support.

India is considered a world leader in conservation — we have pulled the Great Indian rhino and the Asiatic lion from almost certain extinction. We are the committed custodians of the tiger. Then why such apathy? Are we willing to lose forever a precious part of our natural heritage? I think not. Till the last tiger remains, there is hope.

(The columnist is senior consultant, WCS India, and founder-director of ‘Bagh’. She is a former member of the National Board for Wildlife)

The Pioneer, 9th October 2013

East Central Railway (ECR) organised a photo exhibition at Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir to mark 160 years of Indian Railways and 11 years of ECR. The photo exhibition attracted a huge turnout from all over the country. It was a rare of its kind exhibition with each of the 250 photographs telling a tale of rich tradition of the Indian Railways.

Over 20,000 people visited the exhibition which concluded on Monday. The photographs from the year 1853 to the present day, including ECR’s 11 years of achievement and of important of projects undertaken by the zonal section were displayed.

The photographs displayed that the Indian Railways had enrolled elephants to use them in place of locomotives to push the coach or to take it in the yard for shunting purposes. One of the rare photographs shows the first ever journey of Indian Railways from Bori Bandar in Mumbai to Thane.

Besides, the photographs, depicting the Refugee Special Train of partition era in 1947, drew special attention. And, for the children a Circular Train’s photograph was the centre of attraction.

The other rare photographs which attracted the visitors towards the gallery were — various models of locomotives, coaches of passengers train upto the modern LHB Coaches Patna-Sonepur rail cum road bridge, Harnaut coach maintenance workshop, Chakra wheel factory. A tunnel of the year 1906 of Maharashtra, Saloon of Darbhanga Maharaj, steam engine bearing national anthem and many others.

“We’ve tried out best to hold an enriching photo exhibition of Indian Railways right from the beginning and the responses of the visitors have been more than satisfying. For the first time the visitors of the State and outsiders get an opportunity to know Indian Railways through photographs”, said Chief Public Relation Officer, ECR, Amitabh Prabhakar.

The unusual photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Nizam of Hyderabad, Babu Jagjivan Ram Lord Linlithgow, Satyajit Ray, Rajiv Gandhi and many others on their journey with train also engrossed visitors to the exhibition till the last day.

“It was a thrilling and educative experience of its own kind. I’d never seen such a photo exhibition of Indian Railways earlier and such exhibitions must be held regularly by the Railways”, said Phankhudi Singh. People from Munger, Jamui, Bhaglapur, Kolkata and even from Kanpur visited the photo exhibition. On last day it was huge rush of the visitors which gives us immense satisfaction, said PRO, U K Jha.

The Pioneer, 9th October 2013

They are majestic. With their giant girth and towering stature, these old trees are the reason for Jor Bagh's scenic beauty. A tree census just concluded by the residents and the Green Circle of Delhi has found trees with a girth of 5.5m and a height exceeding 60 feet. The exercise, which involved marking every tree and documenting a number of parameters, took about six weeks.

About 10 residents, along with New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) staff, covered the area between II Avenue leading to Khanna Market on one side and Aurobindo Road on the other. They have marked 1,720 trees inside the colony, including those inside schools, post offices as well as on the premises of a government office. Additionally, some 200 trees were found inside houses and 500 trees with a diameter less than 30cm, which were not part of the census.

Residents used a tree census protocol developed by the Green Circle of Delhi where they filled in details on the tree's location; its type (flowering, timber, fruiting, medicinal or others); health, whether it is dry, infected, or choking on concrete; condition of soil; the extent of loose earth around the tree, and the spread of branches or canopy.

Two of the huge trees are inside the Sarvodaya Vidyalaya. "The sprawling canopies can offer shade to an entire class. We were really happy to see such greenery inside the school," said Lalit Agarwal, a Jor Bagh resident.

The tallest tree is on the post office premises; a temple has been built around it in a few months and is choking its roots.

The Semal tree seems to touch the sky, eclipsing the other trees about half its size. While some of the trees are diseased—Green Circle of Delhi plans to tend them—rods from the iron fences pierce through others. "The concrete around the trees has to be removed and we have to do something about the rods that are almost embedded into the trees. The census has helped us identify trees that need help," said a founder member of Green Circle of Delhi, Suhas Borker.

Residents also planted some saplings to compensate for a dead tree they found in the colony.

"I think the tree census can be easily replicated. We want to urge other colonies to follow suit. The census helped us realize how fertile the land is in Jor Bagh. After the metro came up a lot of rainwater harvesting pits were dug and the proximity to Lodi Garden brings the area good rain," added Borker.

- The Times of India, 9th October 2013

The Allahabad high court has banned with immediate effect the immersion of idols in the Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad. While the order is applicable to Vijaya Dashmi on October 14 this year, the court has directed the state government to ensure its implementation across UP from next year.

The court directed the Allahabad district administration to identify and develop other places for immersions. It also asked the state to direct district administrations of areas through which the Ganga and Yamuna passed through to ensure that alternative immersion sites come up next year.

The directives on Monday came on a PIL seeking on pollution of the two rivers. A division bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Arun Tandon said it had recorded in its order on November 6, 2012 the stand of district administrations that alternative site would be found after Durga Puja. Therefore, the court had directed the state to find out suitable alternative place for immersion of idols before the next Durga Puja festival so that immersion of idols is avoided in the river Ganga and Yamuna.

However, the court said, after examining the affidavit of the Allahabad district magistrate it found that hardly any effective steps had been in the past one year to arrange for suitable alternative places for immersion. The date of immersion is fixed well in advance but the administration failed to make any alternative arrangement, it said

"We are of the view that the administration must find out alternative appropriate places with sufficient water and provide necessary facilities including the route, road lights etc for immersion of the idols," the court directed.

The Times of India, 9th October 2013

The oil spill on the Uran coast close to Mumbai is larger than what was estimated, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has said. The admission came two days after the leak of crude oil from an ONGC pipeline. It took 12 hours to cap.

Initially the MPCB estimated that 1,000 litres of oil had washed into the sea. On Wednesday, it said the figure could be thrice more. “The leakage started at 8.30 p.m. on Sunday and it was arrested around 11 a.m. the following day. This means that a lot of oil has seeped into the sea. It is definitely more than thrice the amount the ONGC estimated,” said Dr. Y.B. Sontakke, MPCB’s regional officer for Navi Mumbai.
The MPCB has sought a report from the Directorate of Industrial Health and Safety which has gathered samples from Uran to study the concentration of oil in the water and soil.

ONGC spokesperson S.K. Pathak, however, maintained that the slick was minor.“The leakage was contained in the channel itself. A minor amount went into the sea,” he said.

When The Hindu visited the area on Tuesday, several fishermen said they would not be able to go to sea for a few weeks because the fish would be either dead or unfit for consumption. Deepak Apte from the Bombay Natural History Society said whether the slick was big or small, the impact on marine life is always there.“This spot, especially, is where oil spills have occurred earlier. It will definitely have some impact on mangroves. This is also the period soon after seeding, so the impact will be greater,” he said.

In the recent past, major oil spills have caused major damage to the ecology.In August 2010, the collision of merchant ships MSC Chitra and MV Khalija 3 off Mumbai’s coast spilled over 800 tons of oil into the sea. Over 8.57 lakh mangroves along the coastlines of Mumbai, Thane and Raigad districts were severely affected.
In January 2011, ONGC’s Mumbai-Uran trunk pipeline burst spilling oil across four sq.km. off the Mumbai coast.

Two hundred villages around a proposed international varsity at Nalanda will be developed in Bihar.

A day after the Bihar assembly unanimously approved the University of Nalanda Bill for setting up an international university, the villages around the proposed site are hopeful that the university will establish linkages with them that will result in their economic development.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, in an assembly speech earlier, said the government planned to develop 200 villages around the Nalanda University - the famous Buddhist centre of learning - like in the days of yore.

"At least 200 villages used to be attached to the ancient Nalanda University. We plan the same for the proposed university, to create a near-original ambience and to benefit the local population," he said.

The chief minister had requested the Patna-based KP Jaiswal Institute to start identifying villages that used to be attached to the ancient university. All the basic amenities, including, schools, roads, safe drinking water and electricity, will be provided in these villages and job opportunities will also be created for the villagers.
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and British businessman Meghnad Desai have agreed to be part of an international group of consultants for setting up the university. The state government will also rope in experts from Singapore and Japan for the university.

Japan and Singapore have shown interest in investing about Rs.4.5 billion ($100 million) in the university. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has offered to donate Buddhist artefacts to the proposed university.

Nitish Kumar described the bill approved by the state assembly early this month as a great opportunity. The University of Nalanda Bill, 2007, states that the international university would strive to create a world free of war, terror and violence.

"This (bill), which is not only for Bihar or even India, will act as a facilitator for what will emerge as a centre for renaissance of the east. I strongly feel that the university will become a reference point for international relations and a centre for peace and resolution of disputes," he said.

Last month a detailed project report was submitted to the state government. The report states that in its first phase, the university will offer only post-graduate, research, doctoral and post-doctoral degrees. However, the report - prepared by the Educational Consultants of India, a consulting company under the union ministry of human resource development - is also in favour of offering undergraduate courses in specific areas.

The university will impart courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with other subjects. An internationally known scholar will be the chancellor of the university and 1,137 students from both India and abroad will be enrolled in the first year. By the fifth year, the number will go up to 4,530 and in the second phase, student enrolment will increase to 5,812.

The university, spread over a 500 acres, will have a 1:10 faculty-student ratio. The 46 international faculty members will receive an estimated $36,000 per annum as salaries.

Bihar Human Resources Development Commissioner M Jha said the idea of the university was first suggested in the late 1990s, but it was President APJ Abdul Kalam's initiative in early 2006 that gave shape to the project.

The excavated remains at Nalanda are protected as a site of national importance. The university, a fifth century architectural marvel, was home to over 10,000 students and 2,000 teachers.

Nalanda is the Sanskrit name for "giver of knowledge". The Nalanda University, which existed until 1,197 AD, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey, besides being a pedestal of higher education in India.

Though it was devoted to Buddhist studies, the varsity also trained students in subjects like fine arts, medicine and mathematics.

- The Indian Express, 10th October 2013

Despite promises in court, there seems little hope for the restoration of Delhi’s water body, Neela Hauz, to its pristine glory

From October 3 to 14, 2010 Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games. Monday will mark the completion of three years since the games concluded, and yet there is no end in sight for the environmental devastation that was visited upon Aruna Asif Ali Marg in the name of the general sprucing up of Delhi that accompanied the preparations for the games.

We have had occasion to draw the attention of those who hold the reigns in this city to the wanton destruction of a natural water body known as the Neela Hauz. The Neela Hauz Citizens’ Group that had taken the matter to court in the wake of the project to build a bridge across the natural lake and to broaden Aruna Asif Ali Marg, had been promised in the court that no damage would be allowed to be caused to the lake and that once the construction work is complete all the rubble would be removed and the “pristine glory of the lake restored”.

One has grown rather sceptical of promises made and pointed out in an earlier piece on Neela Hauz, three years is a long time. The government had declared that once the games are over the entire area would be spruced up, the water hyacinth choking the lake would be removed and a bio diversity park would come up on the land that was earlier occupied by the old road.

The report about the health of Neela Hauz is not good at all. The accompanying photographs show that the lake is more choked with water hyacinth today than it has ever been before. There is only one patch where water is visible and this patch is filled with dirty pieces of thermocol floating in it. A fairly large car park and a clearly demarcated footpath cover the land freed by the diversion of traffic from the old road on to the new bridge. The car park awaits visitors to the bio-diversity park that shows no sign of coming up. Meanwhile, trucks have been sneaking up at night and dumping their cargo of construction rubble on the banks of the shrivelled up Hauz.

This age old practice of dumping rubble on the edges of water bodies and the refusal to remove the ever spreading water hyacinth has ensured the obliteration of or reduction in the size of a large number of natural water bodies in Delhi and despite official protestations to the contrary, there seems little hope for the Neela Hauz.

Before the expansion of the road and the erection of the four-lane bridge, the lake had a resident bird population. There were between 8 to 10 ducks that one had seen hovering over or swimming in the open patches before water hyacinth took over totally. There were also lap wings with their trade mark high pitched calls and some water hens. The lake was full of fish and both anglers and kingfishers were not an uncommon sight. From the time when construction began to now, slowly the birds have all gone, the ducks were the last to go and have not been seen over the last six to eight months.

In all probability, the newly built sewer line that runs from Kishangarh down the slope towards the Neela Hauz is disgorging its filth in the lake. This probably explains the sudden explosion of herons that have of late begun to gather at rubbish dumps and on pools of dirty water.

One does not wish to sound like a prophet of doom, but the callousness with which we continue to treat our scarce resources of water and the impunity with which those in power manage to manipulate things leaves one with little hope. Will future generations be able to ever see a river, a lake, a stream, a waterfall? What will we leave behind for them?

- The Deccan Herald, 12th October 2013

With thousands of migratory Amur Falcons arriving in Pangti village near Doyang reservoir in Wokha district, wildlife NGOs and village councils have stepped up their drives to stop hunting of the migratory birds that arrive in the hilly North-eastern State every year.

These birds travel one of the longest migration routes of 22,000 km in a year and they arrive in North-eastern State of Nagaland, particularly in Doyang Reservoir, its largest roosting site in the country from Siberia en route to their final destination to Somalia, Kenya and South Africa.

However, according to reports, thousands of these birds were being hunted by locals till last year for consumption, forcing the Nagaland forest department and some NGOs like the Natural Nagas and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to launch massive awareness drives to stop hunting of the birds. The NGOs launched a Rapid Action Project (RAP) and convinced at least three village councils — Ashaa, Pangti and Sungro — to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to stop hunting of Amur Falcons.

The falcons (Falco amurensis) travelling from Siberia are expected to roost in Nagaland for over a month, before carrying onwards journey to the African sub-continent.

“The Amur Falcons have arrived and were sighted first on October 1. Initially, around 50-60 birds were sighted but the numbers have gone up to a couple of thousands now. More are expected to arrive. No hunting or trapping has been reported so far, indicating that our efforts are making an impact,” said Steve Oduyo, secretary of Natural Nagas.

“We have been preparing for the conservation for long, and the falcons have finally started arriving here. Talking to villagers and council members, I feel positive that this year the falcons will be safe as there is sufficient awareness in and around these three villages,” said Yuri Pator of the WTI.

The NGOs have also been holding series of meetings with local bodies to prevent hunting of the winged guests. Awareness campaigns have also been held in schools to make children aware about these birds. They have also put up signs and posters to save the falcons and an Amur Falcon Protection Squad has also been formed.

Over the past month, the Forest Department assisted by Natural Nagas and WTI have been conducting various activities in and around these three villages to spread awareness on the plight of the falcons.

The Pioneer, 12th October 2013

In the 18th century, a courtesan named Nur Bai vied with courtesan-turned-empress Qudsia Begum for the heart of Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah Rangila. The empress had the last laugh, though, and in 1748 she laid out a garden in the heart of Shahjahanabad where the royals and the nobles enjoyed many a debauch. The Qudsia Bagh may have symbolized a victory in harem politics.

Cut to 2013 and politics is back in the garden, only this time it is about redevelopment of this 20-acre swathe of greens. After a TOI story in March, the residents of Civil Lines floated a society for the conservation and redevelopment of the garden. To bolster the effort, they sought help from BJP's state president Vijay Goel and the local Congress councillor, Harsh 'Chintu' Sharma. "Egos had to be massaged, and it had to be made clear that it was not a BJP or a Congress project, but one by the people, for the people and of the people," says a society member.

Guided by the society, the North corporation began work on the garden with a multi-layered approach: ugly grilles were removed; 910 trees and 14,200 plants and shrubs were planted; the porous boundary facing ISBT Kashmere Gate was walled up; a water fountain was made functional again; and a new 1.1km jogging track was laid. When this correspondent visited the garden two weeks ago, the changes were visible.

On September 30, when the jogging track was inaugurated, Goel and Sharma displayed bonhomie and credited the society for initiating the project. By evening, though, Goel had claimed credit for the bagh's revival on the state BJP's blog. Sources say he has continued to take credit for it on different platforms and rallies since then, upsetting the Congress camp as well as the residents.

Anirudh Goswami, founder-secretary of the Qudsia Bagh Welfare Society, says Goel deserves credit for fast-tracking the work. "He got the corporation to act faster than it would have under normal circumstances. But things could not have happened without Harsh Sharma's active cooperation either. Also, the former Congress councillor of Chandni Chowk, Brijmohan Sharma, introduced us to the standing committee chairman of North corporation and insisted that the civic body get involved to renovate and restore the garden," Goswami said.

Brijmohan Sharma said, "It was clear right from the beginning that it was a civil society project and political parties should stay out of it". Harsh Sharma said, "I don't think Vijay Goel has put up the information on the state BJP blog; it must be some mischief-monger in that party who wants to create mistrust among us". However, the Congress councillor has put up signboards inside the park and also written his name on the benches there.

Goel justified the blog post and also admitted to mentioning his "good work" in Qudsia Bagh at BJP rallies. "If we have done something good, then obviously we will publicize it. The Congress would do the same about the projects where it has been involved. I spearheaded the renovation work as a morning walker. And it was easier to get work done since the corporation is ours (BJP's). I am not bothered about the signboards the Congress councillor has put up there. I am not doing anything like that as I believe only your work should speak for you," Goel said.

The Times of India, 13th October 2013

It's a war between Delhi and Mumbai. After months of speculation, the apex world heritage expert committee established by the culture ministry has green-lighted the final dossiers for Mumbai and Delhi earlier this week. Both cities are pitching for Unesco's world heritage status. The dossiers have been sent to Unesco headquarters for a completion check and are expected back in the next few weeks. Once they get the clearance, the ministry will decide which should be India's official nomination in cultural category to be submitted by January 2014

Both cities have launched an extensive campaign to push for the coveted status. Mumbai's nomination — the Victorian and Art Deco ensemble along with the Oval Maidan precinct — comprises buildings belonging to two centuries and architectural styles — the 19th century Victorian Neo Gothic architecture and 20th century's Art Deco. Delhi's nomination — Shahjanabad and Lutyens Building zone — on the other hand, highlights the contrasting lifestyles of two different regimes. Experts say that both dossiers have equal chances of making the final cut.

"Delhi's dossier was presented on July 29 and the expert committee recommended few changes through a detailed appraisal note on August 17 which were given to Intach for revisions. The updated dossier was submitted on September 17 and incorporates few of the recommendations ," said a source.

"In Mumbai's dossier, the proposed precinct extends from the Bombay gothic buildings lining one side of the ground to the other side that stretches till Marine Drive, in between which lies the largest conglomeration of Art Deco buildings in the world after Miami. Delhi's 'imperial cities' dossier shows difference in architecture, lifestyle and nature of two contradictory time periods in Delhi, one which was under the Mughal empire and the second under British colonial rule," said an official.

Ahmedabad, which was also in the race, hit a roadblock. The expert committee did not clear Ahmedabad's dossier as it was incomplete in some sections though the documentation work was termed excellent, said sources. The committee said Ahmedabad's proposal could be submitted to Unesco after finishing the incomplete sections as a third priority, if a third dossier is accepted. "The final call will be taken by the ministry by January 31, 2014 based on recommendations by the expert committee," said Dr BR Mani, additional director general, ASI.

AGK Menon, convener of Intach Delhi Chapter which prepared Delhi's dossier said Delhi had a fairly good chance of making the final cut.

India can nominate one entry both in cultural and natural sites for world heritage status. In the natural category, Little Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is being considered for nomination, while in the cultural category either Delhi or Mumbai will be nominated. However, if no nomination is made in the natural category then dossiers for both the cities can be sent in the cultural category, said Mani.

- The Times of India, 13th October 2013

The grand city of victory that Emperor Akbar built is still a place of grandeur and peace, finds Chitra Swaminathan

The unrelenting sun fails to cast a shadow on our plan to travel back in time. As we step out of the hotel’s air-conditioned comfort with shades, caps and many bottles of chilled water, our amused Haryanvi driver smiles, “Shaherwale ho na, dhup nahi bhayega,” (you city-dwellers cannot tolerate the sun). With that, we head out on the road to Fatehpur Sikri at 2:00 in the afternoon.

The 37 km drive from Agra is marked by the sights and sounds of a place grudgingly coming to terms with the present without losing its hold on a royal past. We pass through narrow, bustling gullies and messy markets and suddenly find ourselves in front of the menacing red walls of Agra Fort. After a brief halt at the colossal structure, we resume our journey to the City of Victory (fateh means victory), the capital of the Mughals during Akbar’s reign.

Our nap is rudely broken by wild knocks on the windows of the car. A bunch of fly-by-day tourist guides are insisting that we will be able to appreciate the beauty of the place only with their assistance. A little boy emerges from nowhere shouting, “They are asking for 100 rupees, I will ask for 40”. It’s not easy being a tourist.

We are Internet-informed and pay no heed to their demands. But when we alight to get into the bus that will take us to the tomb of Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti, we find that one of the guides has followed us all the way on a bike. We give in and Sarfaraz walks us around the breathtaking monument with his rehearsed commentary. Petty issues cease to matter when you are at the mighty 40m high Buland Darwaza, built by Akbar to mark his conquest over Gujarat. Eyes widen, jaws drop and pages of school history books rapidly flip through the mind as you look up at the semi-octagonal and magnificent red sandstone gateway embellished with intricate marble inlay work.

Amid the bead sellers, alms-seekers and petty traders, you can still find calm when the soulful strains of the singers kneeling in front of Chishti’s mazar resonate inside. The high-pitched voices remind you of A.R. Rahman’s heart-rending ‘Khwaja mere khwaja’ from Jodhaa Akbar that so beautifully captured the drama of the era. The naqqashi and jaali work, the pillars holding up the chajja (sunshade) of the pristine white marble mausoleum — they all define the grandeur of Mughal architecture.

Sarfaraz tells us Akbar came to Sikri to seek the saint’s blessings for an heir to the throne and soon three sons were born to him. In the saint’s honour, he named his first son Salim, who later assumed the throne as Emperor Jahangir. Though originally built in red sandstone , the dargah was converted to marble later. Akbar was extremely fond of Fatehpur Sikri and he took special interest in its construction that took 15 years. But water scarcity and disturbances in the North-West frontier forced Akbar to relocate after a few years.

The graves of the male members of Salim Chishti’s family are on one side of the tomb and behind it, in a small, dark room. And then suddenly you step on to the seamless pavilions, the regal corridors of power, that surround the mazar. Sarfaraz stops to show us the secret tunnel that led to the Lal Qila in Agra. The pavilions, he tells us, also served as madrasas (schools). One side leads to an open area, like a modern-day balcony, from where one could see the tiny village of Sikri and also the ground where Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty, fought and won the famous battle against Rana Sanga of Mewar. Fatehpur, surrounded on three sides by walls six kilometers long, also played host to the nine gems of Akbar’s court, the proof of which is Birbal Bhawan, the residence of Akbar’s favourite minister, known for his wit and wisdom. Tiny houses dot the arid landscape, among whose residents are also Saint Chishti’s descendants.

As I leave through the Badshahi darwaza, a young man thrusts some beaded chains in front of my face, “Haar lelo,” he says. I refuse sternly to take the proffered beads. Where’s the possibility of a haar (haar means necklace and also failure in Hindi) in a place that celebrates Abu'l-Fath Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar’s buland jeet (mighty victory)?

Jodha Bai’s Palace
It is quiet, strong and magnificent. Like the queen after whom it’s named. The Jodha Bai Palace with its amalgam of architectural styles, open spaces, well-defined areas and green gardens is a beautiful and well-maintained monument. Adjacent to the Buland Darwaza, the palace, although named after Akbar’s Rajput wife, was said to be the residence of various of his queens . The large courtyard is surrounded by quarters in red sandstone that are striking with their semi-circular domes, chhatris, carved pillars, slanting roofs and intricate motifs on the walls. A rectangular room with floral, geometric patterns and jhumkas carved on the walls is supposed to have been the kitchen. Another fascinating feature of the palace is the Panch Mahal. As the name suggests it has five storeys, each smaller than the one below it, and the topmost one stands on four slender pillars. A place of recreation, the Panch Mahal with its 176 intricately designed columns was accessed by the queens through a screened passage connecting the third storey to the kitchen. These structures are not just reminders of a long gone era, their designs reflect the sensibilities and persona of Emperor Akbar. - The Hindu, 14th October 2013

Tour guides will soon be passé, at least for smartphone users in India. The Archaeological Survey of India wants to introduce quick response (QR) codes at historical monuments to help visitors get information on their smartphones while taking a tour.

“The plan is to introduce the technique gradually to all the monuments. The discussions are on with various agencies for installing the QR codes. Once an agency is finalised, the work will start soon,” Pravin Srivastava, director-general, Archaeological Survey of India, said.

Originally from Japan, the QR codes are like barcodes used for consumer products. Smartphone users scan these codes, which then direct them to a web page with information on the monument, in this case. These codes will be fixed at different points of a monument and will help visitors’ access information on their smartphones for the entire site.

The ASI is keen to make information on the monuments available in languages like Mandarin, Japanese German, Italian, and Korean due to lack of tourists guides fluent in these languages despite heavy presence of visitors speaking these languages.

The Khajuraho complex of temples in Madhya Pradesh is expected to become the first historical monument in India to get QR codes for information as the Madhya Pradesh Tourism has already started putting installing QR codes in the complex.

The Union tourism ministry wants to introduce the QR codes first for popular protected monuments, which attract most visitors. These codes will be extended to the other monuments gradually.

The ASI plans to soon start identifying the monuments. Union tourism ministry officials are also keen to use QR codes at all the Buddhist sites, which attracts most visitors from Japan, Vietnam and South Korea.

The use of QR codes, officials believe, will help the tourism authorities phase out the use of paper brochures. “This will put an end to paper brochures, which the tourists have to carry for information,” they said.

- The Asian Age, 14th October 2013

Spurt in summer temperatures due to climate change, concerns of safety and lack of basic amenities are perhaps taking away the charm of Kerala’s prime tourism centre Munnar, known often as the Kashmir of the South in the tourism circles, if the steady fall in tourist arrivals since the start of the current decade is any indication.

Munnar, Kerala’s most popular hill resort known for its vast stretches of tea plantations, used to be one of the rare destinations in the South that lured tourists from the domestic as well as foreign sectors in the peak of summer but last summer was a disappointment due to the inhospitable heat.

The Tourism Department’s programmes for monsoon tourism this year also met with considerable failure as heavy rains that lashed the State in the first week of August wreaked havoc in Munnar town as well as on the access routes to the destination which left many tourists stranded in the hill resort for days.

However, the most important factor that is affecting Munnar’s tourism operations negatively is perhaps the law and order problems, a new trend in the region. Over 30 cases of attacks by local people on both domestic and foreign tourists in Munnar and around have been reported during the past one year alone.

“All this is affecting tourism in Kerala’s tea country,” said Joseph, a hotel manager in Munnar town. “Rains this year have been a big factor but that was unstoppable and accidental. Even otherwise, there is a perceptible tendency among the travelers to exempt Munnar from their itinerary. That is what our business associates in other destinations say,” he said.

As many as 4,26,61 travelers including 8,972foreign tourists had visited Munnar during the season of 2010-11, according to official statistics. This number fell to just over 3,84,000 in the 2011-12 season. The arrivals dropped to 1,49,425 in the first quarter of the current year, suggesting that the fall in arrivals is not just accidental.

Munnar used to see over 2,000 tourists flowing in per day in the peak of summer but this dropped to less than 800 last summer. The overall fall in arrivals during the summer months was 40 percent, according to tourism circles. The main reason for this was reportedly the extraordinarily high temperatures witnessed at the otherwise cool hill resort.

“There is no escaping the fact that the numbers are coming down every passing year. There has been a 20 percent fall in arrivals in the past three years and there is no sign of the business picking up though the season has begun. In financial terms, the drop could be as big as 40 percent,” Joseph opined.

However, the biggest threat to tourism business in Munnar presently is the frequent attacks on travelers from the part of the local residents. Police officials secretly admit this fact but express inability to stop such incidents totally in the absence of sufficient personnel. A minimum of 30 such incidents have been reported in Munnar in the past one year.

“It is a fact that tourism has led to a huge rise in prices. Most restaurants are now off limits for the ordinary Munnar natives, subsisting mainly on tea plantation jobs. This could be creating an anti-tourist sentiment in the people. But the problem is that they would be worse off if tourism business collapses,” said a Department of Tourism official. Police officials say that they do not have enough personnel to engage on tourism duty, especially in places like Mattupetty and Kundala, outside Munnar town, which see heavy tourist presence in the season. Most of the attacks against tourists are being reported from places like this.

The other factors that create an aversion among travelers to Munnar are the ever-increasing room rent, lack of clean budget restaurants that serve hygienic food, problems of vehicle parking and lack of good public comfort stations. “It is up to the Government to take care of such things but there is no such effort,” said an hotelier.

- The Pioneer, 15th October 2013

The construction of Rashtrapati Bhavan's new ceremonial hall is set to begin by the end of this year, with tenders for the project already floated.

According to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the new hall meant to receive national and foreign dignitaries, will accommodate approximately 1,200 guests — a number that the Ashoka Hall and Durbar Hall cannot hold. The new hall will also act as a buffer during adverse weather conditions.

"The ceremonial hall will be built adjoining the auditorium. The single-storeyed building will be used to formally welcome heads of states and national-level dignitaries during home functions, besides foreign dignitaries. This hall will especially come into use during rains since Durbar Hall and Ashoka Hall cannot accommodate guests in such a large scale,'' a CPWD official said.

CPWD said construction would be completed eight months after work is begun. "We have already floated the tenders. The project includes building the hall and carrying out electrical works, besides securing it against fire,'' a CPWD official said.

The project is likely to cost around Rs 25 crore and is expected to be ready for use by next year. "The last date for receiving bids is October 28, after which the contract will be awarded in a month's time,'' the official said.

CPWD, which has been entrusted with upkeep of the President Estate, said the project had been approved by local bodies and conforms to the conservation Master Plan prepared recently by Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) for Rastrapati Bhawan. The Master Plan would serve as a blueprint for all future restoration to the original plan outlined by Sir Edwin Lutyens — the architect of the viceroy's residence that is now the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"The plan has been approved by Delhi Urban Art Commission, Delhi Fire Service, New Delhi Municipal Corporation. A plan to construct a museum, which will tell people about the history of all the Presidents of India,is also underway '' an official said.

-The Hindu, 15th October 2013

The area will turn into a ‘no-go zone’ for mining and thermal power plants

The Environment Ministry has decided to turn approximately 60,000 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six States into an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), banning mining, quarrying, thermal power plants and polluting industries over the entire range. All other projects would be allowed only with the prior consent of gram sabhas (village councils) in the zone.

The decision has been taken by the Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan as a follow-up on the two reports on the Ghats, one headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil and the other by Planning Commission member K. Kasturirangan. The decision, once formally notified, would make the identified region of the Western Ghats complex the largest protected forests in India ranging over 1,500 km linear distance from the Tapti river in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Going with the recommendations of the high-level panel that was headed by Mr. Kasturirangan, the Ministry has decided to declare the ESA over 37% of the Western Ghats under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

The Ministry has drafted the notification and it will be put out soon for comments. Ms. Natarajan has approved the use of three criteria that the panel had recommended — biodiversity richness, fragmentation of forests and human population density to demarcate these forest patches that would turn into a no-go zone for mining, thermal power plants and other dirty industries.

The type of industries banned would be those included in the ‘red list’ issued by the government under the Environment Protection Act. These are usually considered to be the most polluting of the lot. Going against the recommendation of the Environment Secretary, the Minister retained the criteria to leave areas with high-density of population out of this regulated zone’s ambit. The panel had recommended that the hill tracts with high population densities be kept out of the ESA ambit. The report had said, “Close to 60 per cent of the Western Ghats region is under cultural landscape — human dominated land use of settlements, agriculture and plantations.” It had advised against using the legal force that the ESA would provide to alter the economic practices in these areas, instead suggesting economic and other tools to incentivise more ecologically sustainable activities.

Within the ESA prior consent from the gram sabhas and strict adherence to the Forest Rights Act would be made mandatory for any of the projects that are not on the negative list. This too would be done after studying cumulative impacts of the projects in the region.

Townships and buildings over 20,000 square metres in the region too would not be allowed once the draft notification is published. But those already in the pipeline in different States would be allowed to go ahead. Applications for such townships would not be entertained in future.

Windmills The Ministry has decided to not go with the recommendations of the high-level panel in the case of windmills. Construction of windmills would be permitted in the ecologically sensitive area though environment regulations to review their impact may be brought in through other legal routes available to the government.

Hydro-electric projects would be permitted in the ESA but with a new set of strict regulations that the Kasturirangan-led panel has recommended, including those on maintaining ecological flows in the rivers.

The decisions on two specific hydro-electric projects that had been talked of by both the committees, the 163-MW Athirappilly in Kerala and 400-MW Gundya in Karnataka are not likely to be included in the ESA notification. Instead, the government is likely to ask the two States to send separate comments on the two cases before it takes a call.

The moratorium on mining in most parts of the two districts of Maharashtra — Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri — could soon be removed with the panel finding most of the area of the two districts falling outside the demarcated forest zone which is to be declared as the ESA.

- The Hindu, 16th October 2013

are symbols of any country’s progress but the Rs 2,000-crore Greenfield airport project at Aranmula in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district is threatening to wipe off all signs of the cultural history and heritage of a whole area apart from raising concerns about possible destruction of the agrarian region’s extremely fragile ecology.

The KGS Group, promoters of the KGS Aranmula International Airport Ltd, had claimed that the airport needed only 500 acres of land and that there would be no ‘side-effects’, but a report of the Airports Authority of India showed that the project would hit several hills, structures of temples and churches, sacred groves, and lead to reclamation of vast tracts of paddy land.

If the recommendations are to be adhered to totally, almost all hills, hillocks, high-tension electrical lines, mobile communication towers, tall structures of the several temples and churches and sacred groves within a radius of a minimum of 10 kilometres from the airport runway would be hit.

Among the structures to be removed for smooth landing and take-off flights might be the golden flagpole of the famous Parthasarathy Temple of Aranmula, which is as tall as an eight-storey building. As reports on the AAI recommendations have now been disclosed, devotees have decided to intensify their protests against the airport project.

“What kind of a democracy is this? Why is the Government so insistent that a project which the people do not want and would bring destruction to a region should be implemented? Till now we had only guesses and concerns but those fears are now becoming real,” said an office-bearer of the local council agitating against the airport project.

As per the recommendations, structures of at least three churches and two temples and seven sacred groves, which have been part of the cultural history of Aranmula, famous as India’s second Unesco-recognised heritage village, would be affected. “In short, Aranmula will have to become culturally and historically barren,” said the council office-bearer.

A minimum of seven hillocks that form the natural security walls of Aranmula will have to be razed down partially or fully if the recommendations are to be implemented, say experts. Apart from the razing of hills, which would lead to the eviction of hundreds of Dalit families, the report also recommends filling of the paddy fields near the project area.

The report also reportedly recommends reclamation of paddy fields for ensuring total stoppage of seeping of water and blocking, diversion or filling of canals running through the farmlands so that the airport runway will not be threatened by water-logging or seepage. As per the present design, the runway level is said to be lower than that of the farmlands surrounding it.

Hydrologists point out that the implementation of the recommendations would lead to severe water shortage in a 10-km area surrounding the project site. This would also lead to the decimation of the clay which is essential in the making of the Aranmula Kannadi, the metallic mirror in the name of which Aranmula is known the world over.

The Aranmula airport project has been mired in controversies since its very start with corruption alleged even in the process of the first allotment of land during the rule of the previous LDF Government. Strangely, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had announced that the airport project would materialise irrespective of the people’s protests against it.

There were also allegations to the effect that Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had considerable stake in the airport project and that con woman Saritha S Nair, main perpetrator of Kerala’s infamous solar scam, had been functioning as liaison agent among politicians and officials in the State and in the Centre for it.

-The Pioneer, 17th October 2013

The palatial estate of the man who built Delhi's oldest church, St James' at Kashmere Gate, is now lost in a cluster of old shops, a junkyard and massive unauthorized construction over the original facade.

City historians say the estate of Anglo-Indian military officer Colonel James Skinner covered almost five acres and had, besides the main building, several ancillary buildings and servant quarters. But now it is a warren of shops and godowns. Long civic neglect has weakened the old buildings, making them prone to the kind of structural collapse that left two dead on Tuesday.

After Skinner's death, the estate remained with his descendants for close to a century. Its commercialization started when they vacated it after Independence. "Like the hundreds of other old havelis, the original estate was divided and sub-divided. New constructions cropped up and now only traces of the original architecture can be seen. There is little in the haveli today to suggest that it is a nearly 200-year-old structure with such strong historical ties. Its original character has been completely destroyed,'' said an expert.

The premises have been graded 'B' in architectural value by conservation body Intach's Delhi chapter. "New additions, modifications and sub-divisions make it difficult to imagine the original character of the building,'' the listing states.

James Skinner settled at the northern edge of Shahjahanabad in the early 1800s, says Ratish Nanda, conservation architect and project director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. "His estate was vast and structures from the municipal compound opposite St James' Church to others almost 500 metres away originally stood in it. It's a pity that lack of controls and incentives has led to largescale loss and destruction.''

A cusp-arched gateway is one of the haveli's few remnants. While its roof collapsed years ago, the original doors are intact. Beyond the gateway lies a large courtyard which once had a marble platform with a water chute below it. The marble courtyard has been destroyed and the open space holds a pile of junk including construction material, old bicycles, broken furniture etc.

On either side of the courtyard, shops dealing in automobile parts rise to three storeys. Towards the back of the estate, a narrow entrance leads to clusters of shops and rooms built over the years. The building that collapsed on Tuesday stood here.

The haveli's heritage value has not escaped the notice of the civic agencies. It is mentioned in the municipal heritage list and no alterations or new constructions are allowed without the civic agency's approval.

Locals say the status is confined to paper. "It's recognized as Skinner's house but how many know who Skinner was or what his contribution is to Delhi's history?'' said Vipin Malik, who lives nearby. Intach historian Swapna Liddle said James Skinner's estate is important because of his contribution to Delhi's history. "It is a listed heritage building and has to be protected. Buildings are listed for architectural or historical reasons and there has to be some mechanism in place to preserve them,'' she said.

-The Times of India, 17th October 2013

The Ratangarh temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, currently in the news for a stampede that killed over 100 pilgrims, is a centuries-old working class shrine

The Ratangarh Mata Temple in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district, which witnessed a stampede on October 13 that has killed 115 people so far, has an intriguing history of nine centuries. Its devotees are mostly landless and marginal peasants who flock to the temple deep in the forests of Seondha. According to Ghanshyam Singh, scion of the Datia royal family, the temple was built between the late 11 Century and the early 12 Century by Ratan Sen, the son of Punya Pal Parmar — a Rajput king of the erstwhile Pawaya kingdom.

“The temple mostly attracts lower peasantry from the Chambal region in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Ratan Sen established the village of Ratangarh deep in the forest on the banks of the Sind. He built a temple and a fort around it, on a hill above Ratangarh. He was killed in a war with the Jats of Gohad and Ratangarh was deserted. The walls of the fort have fallen, but the temple has been rebuilt several times,” Mr. Singh said.

The deity that is worshipped is that of goddess Durga. A common misconception is that the deity is of Mandula Devi, Ratan Sen’s daughter who died of snake bite. Her brother Kunwar Maharaj’s shrine is also located in the temple.

“The legend is that Kunwar sucked the poison out of her snake bite. Yet both died. When devotees or their cattle are bitten by a snake, they encircle the puncture with soil and pray to Mandula Devi for recovery. They have immunity from the venom only if they visit the temple during the following Bhai Dooj [that falls after Diwali] and a priest performs jhaar by shaking branches of trees from the forest over them in front of the Kunwar’s shrine. For cattle, the rope with which the animal is tied is brought and blessed,” said Mr. Singh.

Snake bite victims are known to be afflicted with fits and frothing from their mouths as soon as they come within 500 metres of the hill. Locals claim that even the ropes of snake-bitten cattle begin to wriggle. Both patient and rope need to be carried by three or four able bodied men up the hill to the Kunwar’s idol.

It is also believed that Chhatrapati Shivaji’s guru Samarth Ramdas camped here to plan Shivaji’s rescue from Agra Fort in 1666. Shivaji’s cavalry commandos brought him here after the rescue as it was too dense a jungle for the Mughal army to comb.

Chambal was notorious for its dacoits. Many of the bells in the temple have been donated by dacoits who would come there dressed as peasants. Dacoits, it is said, do not loot pilgrims who trek up the forest for a darshan of the Ratangarh Mata.

- The Hindu, 18th October 2013

The decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest to declare 60,000 sq km of the Western Ghats, which covers 44 districts in six states, as ecologically sensitive area, has evoked protest from political parties and Syrian Catholic Church in Kerala.

While the government has convened an all-party meeting next week to take a stand on the MoEF decision, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front has called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal Friday in Wayanad and Idukki, two districts which would have large tracts of land as ecologically sensitive. Of the 14 Kerala districts, patches of land in 12 districts would come under the Western Ghats.

A panel headed by Planning Commission member K Kasturirangan and another headed by Prof Madhav Gadgil had submitted reports on steps to protect Western Ghats.

In Kerala, the regions under Western Ghats are home to hundreds of granite quarrying units, which according to the reports have to be closed down. "The quarry mafia is the prime source of finance for Kerala parties and politicians. Hence, all political parties are opposed to the committee reports. These parties are wrongly projecting the issue for the sake of farmers," said Congress MLA T N Pratapan.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has joined the protest. A large chunk of farmers settled in hilly regions in Western Ghats belong to Catholic Church. Spokesman Fr Paul Thelakkattu said, "What we want is to protect the farmers already settled in some areas of the specified places. We want the populated areas not be declared Ecologically Sensitive Area.''

-The Indian Express, 18th October 2013

A water body in the care of the Delhi Development Authority that was thriving last year is now going to seed. Why? Sixteen months ago, on June 16, 2012, to be exact, this column had done something it rarely does; it had commended the work being done by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in looking after a lake. The lake is located inside a park near Kishangarh. The lake was clean, it did not stink, it was not a breeding ground for mosquitoes and it was teeming with fish. All this prompted one to commend the DDA because it was a job done well, and credit must be given where it is due.

The upkeep of the lake and the fact that it was teeming with aquatic life, especially with catfish was greatly appreciated, especially since it was such a pleasant contrast to the state of the Neela Hauz and of the old pond inside Kishangarh. The former was left to perish even as a spanking new bridge was being built because Delhi was then going through the last throes of ‘spruce up the city before the Commonwealth Games syndrome’ and the latter had been destroyed thanks to the greed of builders and the connivance of those who should have stopped them. The buildings that had sprung up all around the pond had effectively blocked all channels that used to replenish the water of the kund during the monsoons.

So, out of the three water bodies in Kishangarh, one had been killed; the other was virtually counting its days, while the third one seemed to be thriving.

The article, that talked about the lake that could be approached through Kishangarh, through Vasant Kunj A block or through Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Marg that connects Aruna Asif Ali Marg to Andheria Mode, was read online many months later by a researcher working on the water bodies of Delhi. The researcher contacted me for directions and eventually visited the lake. What the researcher saw and reported to me was heart breaking. It was hard to believe, but I could not visit the lake again for a few months. Writing this string of pieces on the city’s water bodies, I remembered the lake and went to check it out. I am sorry to say that the researcher was right. Perhaps, I had been too hasty in giving good marks to the DDA.

Enquiries with the guards posted at the DDA Park revealed a strange story. The fish that I had seen on my last visit had been reared by a DDA contractor who had been allotted the lake so that he may breed fish in it, to be harvested and sold. As his contract was about to run its course, the contractor netted all the remaining fish and left. As long as the contract was in force, his staff continued to remove weeds from the lake, they also prevented local louts from throwing in plastic, thermocol, empty beer cans, bottles, potato chip wrappers and other detritus that marks our rapidly advancing consumerist civilisation.

So all the positives that I saw on my last visit had been caused not by any concern on the part of the DDA for the environment, but were prompted by a very basic human trait -- unadulterated greed! The DDA was only trying to exploit the lake for what it could yield. The fish kept the water clean by eating up all the algae. The waters being clean and mosquito free was only a by-product of DDA trying to make some more money.

The lake has, in the interregnum, gone to seed. It is filled with algae and bits of floating thermocol. There are a few ducks which leads one to believe that it might still be sustaining a few fish, but neither the surviving fish nor the ducks are up to the task of cleaning the lake.

Till a new contractor arrives and cleans the lake of its flotsam and jetsam, there seems little hope for the once beautiful water body. If DDA is not able to find a contractor who is prepared to shell out the kind of money that DDA thinks it deserves, the lake will continue to suffer, perhaps even die a slow death. Cleaning up the environs of the lake and preventing lumpens from throwing trash is obviously not part of the duty of the guards posted at the Park.

A small depression where sewage and filthy water have accumulated is playing host to countless mosquitoes and many birds that are attracted by decomposing organic material. All this can go on while people continue to suffer from and die of dengue. Is anyone answerable in this city, I often wonder. Don’t you?

-The Hindu, 19th October 2013

Residents of Baroni village woke up to a strange sight two months ago — 10 emus plodding down the Tonk-Jaipur highway. They were taken to the Jaipur zoo.

In the jungles near Pune, emus have recently been spotted by animal activists. NGOs are now trying to persuade resorts and schools to keep the emus as "attractions".

About 30 emus were abandoned in the Jambughoda forests in Gujarat's Panchmahal district in July this year. Some died, while others struggled to survive in the wild, till forest officials created temporary enclosures for them.

Near the forests of Chennimalai in Erode, Tamil Nadu, vans bearing emus Toften arrive and speed off after abandoning the birds.

hese are the lucky ones that survived. Many have gone the way of the 50 emus that died crammed into a truck on a road in Tonk. The drivers said they had been paid Rs 22,000 to simply dump the birds somewhere because their owner could no longer afford to keep them. A few dumped near the Thalavu hills in Erode last month were mauled by dogs.

Emu farming was till two years ago being peddled as an easy, get-rich-quick agri venture. All one had to apparently do was buy the chicks, feed them twice a day and wait for massive profits to roll in from the sales of wildly expensive emu meat, skin, even oil. What they conveniently forgot to mention — and the investors forgot to check on — was that the market for emu products in India is negligible. never having really caught on despite several efforts made to push it in the past.

With excess supply, the bubble soon burst and now the birds are being dumped in forests or sold for cheap meat by desperate farmers. Meat from the abandoned birds is being sold at Rs 50 a kg at government auctions held in Erode, till recently a big emu farming hub.

"Thanks to false claims, many new farmers and investors jumped into the business. The cheats were quick to understand the situation and they floated schemes, promised huge returns on investments, showed unimaginable levels of profitability," says Dr Surinder Maini, joint secretary of the Hyderabad Emu Farmers' Welfare Association.

He estimates 50% of emu businesses have shut down. In Gujarat, entrepreneurs say the far ms gone bust amount to 80% of the total business. Given that at the height of the boom , between 2007 and 2011, there were about 13-14 lakh emus being farmed, the number awaiting "disposal" must run into the thousands.

According to Nabard officials, all emu businesses in and around Pune district, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri, and Amravati have shut down. About 6,000 emus are on the verge of being abandoned. Tukaram Chikane from Satara says he bought 10 pairs, at Rs 32,000 a pair. The bait was every egg would fetch Rs 1,600. "I am now stuck with not only the bank loan I raised to purchase the emus but also the burden of their daily upkeep," he says.

Most emu farmers in Punjab too are looking to either sell the birds to other farmers or to sell their meat among friends. Indervir Kaushik, a farm consultant, says he struck a deal recently to sell some birds to a Ganganagar farmer. Sometimes, he says, he throws a party and serves emu meat. "I am spending more than Rs 30,000 per month on the farm with almost nil income." In the early years of the boom, farmers learnt on the job to manage, feed and breed the birds. "Initially, the chicks were being sold at good prices so little thought was given to processing units or end product marketing," says Maini. This turned out, in the long run, to be the undoing of the boom. And once the speculators and agri ponzi schemes moved in, there was no other way the story could have ended. PC Palanisamy, a powerloom owner who invested in an emu farm at Nammakkal, now uses his emu pen as a temporary kennel for his labrador. But he is among the lucky few to not be cheated - his investor paid up and took the emus back. Several others have said goodbye to lakhs. Maini — and other big emu farmers — believe the business can be salvaged with some patience and generous investment in planning for its future, especially the marketing of emu products. But farmers are in no mood to listen.

The government's response has been myopic too, they say. "The government was quick in providing subsidies for emu farming in the early stages but it didn't explain how to go about the business," points out Bharuch-based emu farmer Jitendra Parmar. Last year, he gave away his birds to another farmer and quietly exited the business.



-The Times of India, 20th October 2013

In a city where heritage walks are par for the course, this one is refreshingly different. Trained by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage ( Intach), students of the heritage club of Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Lodhi Estate, have designed a heritage map and walk of Lodhi Estate-the first of its kind by schoolchildren in the country.

Titled 'Walk with Me' and launched recently by Shobhita Punja, CEO of the National Culture Fund of the ministry of culture, it will be open to students and the public from November. Eminent historian Narayani Gupta and artist Anjolie Ela Menon were some of the notables present on the occasion.

Post-launch, guests embarked on a heritage tour of Lodhi Gardens and the Jewish synagogue, both located in the vicinity of the school. They were greeted at both destinations by members of the school's heritage club, Virsa. The club was awarded the Geddes Fellowship by Sanskriti Pratishthan in September 2012 under which it proposed to study the landscape and history of Lodhi Estate.

Sociology teacher Rashmi Singh, who is the coordinator of the club, said, "The idea is to open the walk to students from other schools and the public post mid-term exams. We will be ready with the schedule by October-end. The walk will be conducted by our students."

The research put in by students showed in the manner in which they explained the historicity of the 77-year-old Lodhi Gardens. With confidence and poise, students of Class XII spoke on the origins of the garden which has been given its present shape by the British, being inaugurated on April 9, 1936 as Lady Willingdon Park.

The party then proceeded to the only Jewish synagogue in Delhi, located on Humayun Road, where it was greeted by its rabbi, Ezekiel Isaac Malekar. The walk also includes a round of cemeteries and Khan Market.

-The Times of India, 20th October 2013

The forest department will open up the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary to students who want to research the biodiversity of the forest, teachers who want to get a crash course in environmental education and anyone who wants to take part in forest walks and connect with nature.

The cabinet has recently cleared the proposal for a Conservation Education Centre to be set up by the Bombay Natural History Society inside Asola Bhatti Sanctuary that would be modelled on an existing CEC in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. BNHS interns will be welcome to hit the nature trails and explore the forest.

While this outreach programme was always on cards, there was not enough funding to start it on a large scale. BNHS had a small centre inside the sanctuary which would organize walks on two nature trails and a few other activities. The cabinet approval has changed this scenario.

"We will start with some programmes that are very popular in Mumbai. The idea is to give the people a chance to experience the wilderness within the city," V Subhalaxmi, deputy director, BNHS, Conservation Education Centre in Mumbai, said.

The centre will run four online courses from Delhi—leadership course in biodiversity conservation, basic course in ornithology, basic course in herpetology and basic course in entomology. Two nature trails are currently being run in the sanctuary, and four more will be added.

"We will start a self-guided nature trail where people can take the trail on their own with help of signage. Another one likely to be added is a trail connecting Asola and Bhatti. The highlight will be special events in which we introduce people to the flora and fauna of the region. For instance, we will do a "breakfast with butterflies" session in the butterfly season," added Subhalaxmi. Another programme called "Be a scientist for a day", popular in Mumbai, will be implemented.

The CEC will be an eight-member team functioning with support from the forest department. The centre manager and education officer have been hired for the project and they will be trained in Mumbai.

BNHS will also do a three-year biodiversity survey of the Asola Bhatti sanctuary. "The activities are likely to start from January 2014. We are waiting for the funds to come in," Subhalaxmi said. The chief wildlife warden, A K Shukla, and forest staff of Asola Bhatti will be overseeing the activities of BNHS.

-The Hindu, 21st October 2013

Shadipur Depot in Delhi, the landmark Kathputli colony of puppeteers, musicians, magicians, jugglers and other folk artists and performers from Rajasthan who have participated in and represented India’s art and culture in practically every Festival of India all over the world, is in the process of being handed over by the Delhi government to real estate agents. They, in the name of development, will demolish the whole area and rebuild. Puran Bhaat, the much famous master puppeteer and puppet theatre director hailing from the Bhaat community of Shadipur Depot says that this would spell the end of their art for they earn their living out of daily tourist visits to Shadipur Depot to watch them perform.

The question then, development for whom and how rebuild? Development of the land and the area for one, since in place of an urban slum posh high-rises and apartments for sale will come up. Development of the community of artists as well, since they will be placed in flats and apartments in chawl-like spaces surrounding the posh high-rise areas, along with ownership rights where they now have none. From horizontal to vertical, from a village-like sprawling living area of one storied buildings in an area of bad sewage to flats and apartments—though still along the model of the urban poor.

This, a fall out of land greed, cannot be called development for the community of artists that live in Shadipur Depot, says Anurupa Roy, the General Secretary of the India chapter of UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionette). Real development, she says, would have been the fixing of the bad sewage and improving the sanitation of Shadipur Depot, planning education programs for the young (many of them are still illiterate) and giving them managerial training in running their own shows. The traditional or folk arts of India and much of South Asia are in a disappearing mode because of the loss of environments that can sustain the artists. Eight villages in Odisha have lost all their traditional puppeteers. Of a once thriving community of puppeteers in Tamil Nadu, now only one survives. This is the story of many other parts of India as well. Sustainable development for the artist means the sustaining of his or her environment of work and living space. Building the colony into an art village would be real development, and its very doable, says Anurupa Roy. Watching a Kathputli show in Shadipur Depot, she says, is not the same as watching a Kathputli show in a five star hotel. Shadipur Depot as a performance space is irreplaceable.

Shadipur Depot is a livelihood space for the puppeteers and other performance artists. It combines the living space and the work place. Foreign tourists come here to watch them perform on the rooftops of their one storey houses, in open spaces within Shadipur Depot and in the large workshop where they make their puppets and hold performances. When they are not touring abroad for any festival or not organising a rare show in Delhi or other part of the country, the performances they hold for foreign tourists within Shadipur Depot is their sole source of income. For them, like many surviving folk performance artists of India, government grants lacking and their value in local markets being low, foreign tourists continue to be the prime source of income. Save for Roysten Abel’s film and plays (Love, a Distant Dialogue, A Beggar’s Opera amongst others) there is not much engagement with this aspect of our folk even though it is such an overwhelming reality of their lives.

Moving into flats, apartments, high rises would thus mean for the Shadipurwallahs the death of their living space and their environment that sustains their art by drawing their audience. There are other reasons too why Puran Bhaat would not want to see himself and his fellow artists move into apartment buildings. In a June 2013 interview with art journal Marg Puran Bhaat says that not apartment buildings, but an open space like Dilli Haat conducive for living and performing is what the Shadipur Depot artists and other artists who come from villages need to survive as artists in urban areas. He too, like Anurupa Roy, supports the idea of an artist’s village which, besides living areas, performance spaces and large workspaces, eateries and restaurants for tourists as small businesses run by the youth will have an exhibition hall of photographs, stories and videos featuring the extraordinary lives of the community’s artists and their performances all over the world. The 45 five years old history of Shadipur Depot itself is unique, with gypsy artists having pitched their tents first in Delhi, followed by make-shift structures built by their own hands and years later the one storey buildings coming up.

The artist’s village is not such an impossible thing to build. In Tagore’s Shantiniketan such a place thrives, providing art markets for bauls and other arts and crafts, drawing people from all over the world. More artist’s villages would provide art markets and environments for our traditional artists or folk artists who are unable to survive in a world looking at a uniform idea of development. And if Slumdog Millionaire, the billion dollar shame India project could give rise to slum tourism or shame tourism in this country, why not give art villages as sites of great nurturing and more imaginative spaces of tourism, a chance? An art village in the middle of Delhi would be such a unique thing says Anurupa Roy. It would draw many, locals as well as foreign tourists. Besides, as in the case of Shadipur Depot, why will it not be treated as a place of history and why will its inhabitants who have through their art represented our country all over the world, not be treated as valued citizens, the survival of whose art should be especially considered?

-The Hindu, 21st October 2013

It could be a gold rush in vain. For all the brouhaha and frenzy that has been created over the reports of the presence of Gold at the Raja Ram Singh Bux Fort, the Geological Preliminary Report states that at the depth of 5-20 metres and 10-20 metres width there could be a possibility of gold, silver or other alloys.

ASI officials contend that no amount has been specified in the GSI report and that the figure of 1000 tonnes was a totally speculative figure. The ASI officials state that the frenzy was unjustified because the report does not indicate the amount present so that the recovery could be of as little as hundred grams.

The GSI preliminary report which is titled “A note on the Preliminary Investigation For unlocking The Potential of Gold Treasure of Martyr Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh at Buxar Unnoa” states “The prominent non magnetic anomalous zone which is 10-20 metres wide and is at a 5-20 metres depth is indicative of possible gold, silver or any other alloys and may be tested by excavation for further interest at the specific site”

Highly placed ASI Official said that they were not carrying out the digging to search some treasure or gold but because there was no option left as far as the circumstances were concerned. “With all the reports floating around of a one housand treasure we were apprehensive that the so called treasure hunters might destroy the archaeological mound and so we thought we would proceed scientifically to get the facts and thus protect the gold” said the Official. He categorically pointed out that it could be any metal which included silver, lead, copper or any other alloy. “The report hints at a non magnetic metal which could be any metal.

Apart from this there the GSI report does not indicate the amount which would be recovered which means it could be as low as hundred grams or one kilogram and the figure of 1,000 tonnes is totally speculative” said the official. On being asked why the ASI proceeded with the digging he said that only the Archaeological Survey of India or any agency authorized by it could perform the excavations.

Digging upto 1.5 metres reveals pottery from the Kushana Period
The digging upto 1.5 metres at Dondiya Khera at Unnao has revealed the presence of potteries of the Kushana period. A senior ASI official while talking to “The Pioneer” said, “If we are getting the Kushana Period pottery at the level of 1.5 metres then we will be going back upto two to three thousand years in antiquity. The pots will be kept for documentation”. Earlier a hearth, a wall and a pot from which animals take water was unearthed on the third day of excavation “The hearth is indicative of human activity, the pot from animals have water dates to seventeenth or eighteenth century AD and the wall is s simple one made of bricks with no significant importance,” said the official. There were no significant development on the fourth day of the digging with the crowds getting minimal every minute. The onlookers have decreased to a great extent said the officials present.

The Pioneer, 22nd October 2013

Israel has allowed 899 Indian Jews from Manipur and Mizoram, the members of the "lost" Bnei Menashe tribe, to immigrate to the Jewish state.

The cabinet last week decided to allow the immigration of the Indian Bnei Menashe community to Israel in multiple groups with the first batch expected by the end of the year. Bnei Menashe (literally sons of Menashe), a group of indigenous people from north-Eastern border states of Manipur and Mizoram, trace their roots in one of the ten "lost tribes" of Jews exiled by the Assyrian regime over 2,700 years ago.

Hundreds of Bnei Menashe are already living in Israel, having made aliyah (immigration) with the help of an NGO, Shavei Israel, dedicated to bringing "lost Jews" around the world to Israel.

Michael Freund, the founder and chairman of the Shavei Israel organization that lobbied for their aliya, said he wishes to see the entire community come to Israel soon.

"Our goal is to bring all the remaining members of the Bnei Menashe community here to Israel as quickly as possible," he was quoted as saying by The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

Freund said the cabinet's decision will allow 200 Bnei Menashe people to be brought to Israel by the end of the year, 400 in 2014 and another 300 in 2015.

All of the immigrants will be housed in a private absorption center run by Shavei Israel and will then be settled around the country.

Their immigration to Israel was facilitated by the ruling of the former chief Sephardic Rabbi in 2005 who declared them descendants of Israel amid intense debate over their Jewish ancestry.

Some 274 members of the northeastern Indian Jews arrived in Israel earlier this year.

The Times of India, 22nd October 2013

After the Environment Ministry’s ban on the sale of peacock feathers, other birds like egrets are becoming victims of poachers for their  plumes. Its white feathers are used for decorating the Dhaki (drum) by the traditional drummers particularly during Dussehra, and on headgear during social events such as weddings. The owl trade, on the other hand, picks up for occult practices prior to Diwali.

According to Atul Sathe, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the ornamental plumes of egrets that are known in the wildlife trade as ‘aigrettes’ or ‘ospreys’ are often used as decorative materials during social and festive occasions. These feathers are largely the breeding plumage that grows between March - September, which are the breeding season for these birds.

“The Gulgulia and Bahelia tribes from Eastern India are largely involved in poaching. They sell their feathers to middlemen and retailers,” he said.While the “aigrettes” are used as ornamentation on headgear during social events such as weddings, the flying feathers or primaries of egrets are also used for embellishing the Dhaki.

“The irony is that most post-harvest festivals celebrate natural beauty and the bountiful crops. Instead, they have become occasions to target these birds for their plumes. Not only does the practice raise serious conservation issues, but also throws light upon the manner in which we have deviated from tradition,” said Sathe.
All egret species in India are protected under the Schedule-IV of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and killing them is a punishable offence.

Further, with Diwali round the corner, the poaching of owls also continues unabated, lamented Abrar Ahmad, ornithologist, who had researched on illegal owl trade. The trading of owls is a flourishing business in the national capital region and Uttar Pradesh, despite persistent efforts made by the authorities to put an end to it. The practice of sacrificing owl begins after Dussehra and peaks on Diwali. Occult practitioners say that sacrificing the bird on the night of the festival brings wealth and fortune.

The cost of each owl varies anywhere from `50 to `70,000 during the festival season. A tantric usually slits the throat of an owl, and offers prayers to appease the gods. Nearly all parts of the bird’s body including the skull, feathers, ear-tuffs, claws, heart, liver, kidney, blood, eyes, fat, beak, tears, eggshells, meat and bones are used in such practices, he said. Those with false “ear-tufts” feather extensions on the head, are specially in demand as they are considered to have greater magical properties.

The Pioneer, 23rd October 2013

The hunt for gold by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Unnao has resulted in at least 10 copycat excavations by gold diggers in the past week. The amateurs have damaged sites of historical and religious importance in the bargain, leading to resentment among locals. This has forced the ASI to write to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav asking for security at these sites.

The ASI, which preserves heritage sites, has no security force of its own and depends on state machinery for its needs. An ASI official, who did not want to be named, confirmed that a letter had indeed been sent to the CM. “This frenzy is a threat to historical sites. We are worried.”

Since the ASI started digging for gold at the Buxar fort in Unnao on October 18 following a tip-off by a seer, many incidents of digging for gold have been reported in neighbouring areas.

In Bahraich, unknown persons dug up a courtyard in the Charda fort, ostensibly looking for gold. Gold diggers also struck a sixth century temple in Udaipur village of Bhitargaon tehsil and vandalised a platform, which is believed to be the resting place of a seer.

Digging by amateurs in Adampur village of Fatehpur district has been going on for a week despite heavy deployment of police in the area. Incidents of digging were reported near a Shiv temple and Shiv chabutara in the village.

Similarly, unidentified persons dug up a place around an old well near Garima village, a site of historical importance in Fatehpur district, and damaged an idol.
An ancient Shiv temple in Pipahari village of Banda district was also dug up and the Shivling partially damaged.

Reports from Mahoba district said locals chased away people who were digging near the Charkhari fort.

SP Singh, who heads the history department in Kanpur’s Christ Church College, feared the frenzy for gold may grow. “People may just bring down houses for gold,” he said. He said he was apprehensive especially because people in rural areas, who tend to repose faith in tantriks and babas, may be encouraged to dig at their behest. "We have a situation where people will be quick to dig a place if a baba says it has gold,” he added.

In its letter, the ASI has advised the government to involve village panchayats and gram sabhas in securing sites of historical and religious importance. “Local involvement is a must to ensure there is no further damage to sites or relics,” the ASI official said.

The Hindustan Times, 23rd October 2013

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday denied relief to a restaurant owner who has been ordered to shut shop along with other eateries in heritage area of Hauz Khas Village for allegedly polluting the environment.

"For having disobeyed and violated (norms) for one month, you stop your work for five days and then we will see," the NGT bench headed by Justice P Jyothimani said, ticking off the restaurant owner after he moved the tribunal to implead him in the case. The matter has been posted for October 30.

The tribunal had earlier granted conditional approval to 26 eating joints in the upmarket Hauz Khas Village to start serving food.

Pranay Kumar, owner of Roost Bistro restaurant, moved the NGT after the SHO of Safdarjung police station issued him a notice on October 14 to close down his eatery.

"All the other restaurants in the same place had come immediately before us and showed their bonafide. But you are coming now. We will hear you on October 30," the tribunal said.

The Indian Express, 24th October 2013

Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited’s 400-MW Vishnuprayag hydro-power project that incurred much damage during the mid-June deluge is flouting environmental norms by depositing muck on the riverside, say environmentalists.

The barrage of hydro-power project, which is in Chamoli district, got filled with muck during the June 16 and 17 flash floods in the Alaknanda . Vimal Bhai, a member of Matu Jan Sangathan that works on dam related issues, said, “Post-disaster the muck being removed from the barrage is being deposited near the Alaknanda. This is against the environmental norms.”

“This would increase the level of the river bed and will result in future disasters in the area,” Mr. Vimal Bhai added.

The residents have been constantly protesting against the activities of the project authorities but no action has been taken yet.

A letter written by Mr. Vimal Bhai to Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jayanti Natrajan on October 22 reads: “Agitations are going on for the restoration of the villages and for the proper/full compensation of the losses due to the calamity that occurred between June 16 and 17, when dam gates were not opened on time. Despite heavy rain, dam gates remained closed and this led to the devastating floods (in the downstream areas).”

The flood gates of the 400-MW hydropower project got blocked during June 16 and 17 when the Alaknanda, on which the barrage exists, got flooded due to heavy rainfall.

Mr. Vimal Bhai said, “The project authorities initially kept the floodgates of the barrage closed to store water. Later when they opened the flood gates, the muck that had entered the barrage blocked the gates and water couldn’t escape.”

Eventually water escaped from the barrage site breaking much of the project infrastructure. An officer from the Vishnuprayag hydropower project said, “Along with the barrage components, the offices and equipment also got washed away in the flash floods.”

Mr. Vimal Bhai said, “The downstream villages including Lambagarh, Pandukeshwar, and Govindghat suffered from heavy losses. Many buildings, roads, shops, livestock in these areas got destroyed from the gush that entered the downstream areas.”

However, the project authorities have rubbished the allegations.

An official from the project said, “Around 1.5 kilometre of the road near the barrage has been washed out due to the flash floods. Large boulders have replaced the previously existing road. To start repairing the barrage we need to construct a road. The muck we are depositing is to flatten the surface over the boulders so that a road can be constructed for the equipment to move over it and reach the barrage.”

The Hindu, 24th October 2013

Mines had flourished without clearance from the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife: panel

Mining would not be permitted within one kilometre of national parks and sanctuaries in Goa in the future, the environment ministry has decided in an order that could take the state one step closer to re-start iron ore excavation in a regulated fashion.

The ministry passed the order to this effect on Thursday resolving one of the several issues that requiring a solution to restart regulated mining in the coastal state.

It ordered that areas ranging up to one kilometre beyond the boundaries of the national parks and sanctuaries in the state would be declared as Ecologically Sensitive Zone (ESZ) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 where mining activities would be banned.

The Justice Shah Commission had reported that mines had flourished in the heart of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state without the clearance from the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife, as mandated by the Supreme Court.

Subsequently mining was suspended in the State and a case in the matter is being heard by the Supreme Court at present. The environment ministry after ordering suspension of work had begun to re-evaluate each existing mine for its environmental clearances under various green laws.

Following up on an earlier Supreme Court order, which had so far been flouted, the Goa state government also sent proposals to the Centre for declaring ESZs around the protected wildlife areas. The Supreme Court had demanded that the centre and all states to decided the boundaries of the ESZs across all protected wildlife areas or let a 10 km periphery around them be accepted as ESZs by default.

The state government proposed that natural features around the boundaries delineating the 6 wildlife areas be used as the limit of the ESZs. The ministry set up a committee under the chairmanship of National Tiger Conservation Authority head Rajesh Gopal to study the proposals. The committee found that in many cases the natural features suggested as boundaries of the ESZ ended up within a few hundred metres of the parks. The committee instead recommended a zone of no-mining up to one kilometre from the boundary.

It also recommended that mining should be banned in these areas in future but existing mines around two of the six sanctuaries should be phased out over time to ensure there is no sudden loss of livelihood for the people. The ministry accepted the report and has ordered that in cases of Bhagwan Mahaveer and Netravali Wildlife Sanctuaries mining would be phased out based on state government’s plans.

With the case still going-on in the Supreme Court, the ministry has said that it would take out the draft notifications to the effect for each sanctuary but these would be subject to the final decision of the apex court.

The Times of India, 25th October 2013

The National Conference-Congress coalition government has identified 29 historical sites in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions for restoration work to revive their pristine glory, a minister said today.

Stress is being laid on restoration of all heritage sites of the state to their original form by adopting scientific methods and involvement of highly skilled man power, Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Culture, Raman Bhalla, said. 

"Government has taken up various restoration works to revive pristine glory of Mubarak Mandi Heritage complex," Bhalla said while addressing a gathering at the 3-day duggar festival here.

The Minister also visited the complex and took stock of condition of the building and the conservation works.

A number of such state monuments have already been restored to their pristine glory during last five years, he said.

Bhalla said the conservation works on Hari Parbat Fort at Srinagar, Chingus Fort at Rajouri besides other historical buildings, temples, monasteries, shrines have been completed besides work on damaged Bahu Fort wall is being executed on war-footing by Jammu Development Authority.

He said due attention was also being paid to preserve ancient manuscripts, paintings and artifacts.

Bhalla said that all the three regions of the state were receiving equal attention.

The Minister said that the promotion of heritage tourism provides an opportunity to the visiting yatris from various parts of the country and abroad to have a glimpse of the rich cultural heritage of Jammu and Kashmirbased on the peaceful co-existence of people of different faiths.

Bhalla lauded the efforts of Tourism Department for diverting Mata Vaishno Devi Pilgrims to different tourist destinations for the promotion of tourism industry.

Work on artificial lake, cable car project at Bahu Fort, beautification of Mubarkh Mandi Complex and expansion of the Jammu Airport are under process to attract more tourists, he said.

The Minister said that rail service to the holy town Katra would be started soon adding that with the train service will benefit the Vaishno Devi pilgrims.

The Business Standard, 26th October 2013

During the East India Company rule, a British Army officer Walter Elliot was so awestruck by the architectural heritage of ancient temples of South India that he instructed Kannada scholars to copy these inscriptions on paper.

About 500 of such valuable inscriptions were transported to London around the period. A copy of one of the inscriptions of considerable significance for students of archaeology was recently procured by historian Vasundhara Filliozat.

This senior citizen, who lives with her French husband in Mysore and Paris, has appealed to the Archaeological Survey of India to preserve the inscriptions with the help of ASI officials who are experts in epigraphy and to produce a book.

Ms. Filliozat, who met a senior official at ASI headquarters at Janpath here on Thursday, told The Hindu : “The Royal Asiatic Society of London gave me special permission to get a copy of the inscriptions. I now want the ASI to take up the responsibility of preserving them by digitally taking pictures. This is a national treasure which needs to come back to India. It is important that Indians gain knowledge from them. Most of the inscriptions have either been lost or destroyed. Only a few remain.” Ms. Filliozat, who has authored books “Kalamukha Temple of Karnataka” and “Mukteshwara Temple of Karnataka” is ready to translate these inscriptions.

The Hindu, 26th October 2013

It’s 5:55 am on October 7 at Sonprayag in Uttarakhand. The clear-skied autumn morning is filled with the chirping of birds. There’s a cool breeze blowing. But the town misses the buzz of locals and pilgrims on their way to Kedarnath, that characterised the place till a few months back. The mid-June flash floods in Uttarakhand has reduced Sonprayag, nestled at the confluence of the Basuki and Mandakini rivers, into a heap of rubble. This is the last motorable road towards Kedarnath, the revered Hindu shrine, that too wasn’t spared the wrath of the natural disaster.

Three cops at a makeshift police post wait eagerly for guests. The Kedarnath pilgrimage was resumed on October 5, after remaining closed for more than three months. For the first time, the government has made registration compulsory for pilgrims. The police records the names of pilgrims at five points — Sonprayag, Gaurikund, Bheembali, Lincholi and Kedarnath.

The HT team is the first to reach the Sonprayag police check post, followed by a group of seven pilgrims from Jind (Haryana). “Our people were stuck in Uttarakhand in June. We prayed to Lord Shiva to protect them and he obliged. We are here to thank God,” says Ritu Dev (22).

The 24-kilometer long stretch from Sonprayag to Kedarnath has to be negotiated by foot. Before the June disaster, the last motorable road was till Gaurikund, five kilometers from Sonprayag. Septuagenarian RS Chauhan, who runs an isolated shop at Sonprayag in the devastated pilgrim town, believes the pilgrimage to Kedarnath will never be the same again.  For decades, business provided by the pilgrims making their way to Kedarnath had been the lifeline for thousands of families running shops, restaurants and hotels along the route. After the June floods, hundreds face a bleak future.

The Road Ahead
The authorities had assured that two policemen, equipped with wireless sets, will accompany pilgrims. But neither we, nor the group from Jind are escorted. The road is often in very bad shape. It is also easy to get lost, with no clear signs to mark the way.

We start our trek from Sonprayag and after walking some 200 meters, notice a diversion. One broad road leads straight ahead, while another narrow lane winds its way up a steep hill. As there are no signboards, we decide to follow the broad road. A mistake. Luckily we are set right and told to take the narrow lane through the village of Mundkatia. It is believed that the Hindu elephant god Ganesha was beheaded here.  We see few pilgrims. However, many villagers who live between Sonprayag and Gaurikund frequently use the route. Umesh and Yogesh Goswami are two such. The two brothers walk almost 12 kms everyday to attend the new school at Joshi village, after  their old school in Gaurikund was washed away in June.  The stretch between Sonprayag to Gaurikund measures 8 kms. On our way, we meet a six-member group from Ajmer (Rajasthan), on its way back from Kedarnath. Gopi Chand, a tour operator, who had lost his wife in June, is finally at peace.  “I wanted to offer my last respects to my beloved wife,” shares Gopi. Twenty-six people went missing from his village in the floods.  Another pilgrim, Neeraj Saini (29) from Saharanpur, says,  “I had visited Kedarnath in the past, but the route now is entirely different.”

Beyond Gaurikund
Gaurikund, another happening spot till June, is now a sleepy town. The government-run GMVN guesthouse is partially operational. A hospital at Gaurikund has a doctor and support staff, but offers only first-aid.   The next stop, Bheembali, is at a distance of approximately seven kilometers. Tell-tale signs of the recent disaster start surfacing Gaurikund onwards. Between Gaurikund and Bheembali, ‘Jungle Chatti’ used to be a thriving business spot. Now, there’s not a single shop beyond Gaurikund. There  are, however, ruins of old shops, ragged remains of polythene sheets, plates, kettles, spoons, clothes, shoes, beddings and gas stoves, telling sad tales of pilgrims who were either trapped, or killed.  As one moves on there are other signs of destruction. A crashed chopper, milk bottles, gloves, a saree, towel and some bones, are enough to scare anyone.  “The authorities should have cleared these before reopening the road,” complains Rajkumar Dogra of New Delhi.

On the deserted road to Bheembali, langurs (grey monkeys), rule the route. Police cautions that wild bear threat is common in the stretch between Jungle Chatti and Bheembali.  There are no street lights, since electricity poles and wires had been damaged in June. Just before Bheembali one has to be cautious while crossing a water fall, as there is no clear path.

Reaching Bheembali
It takes us approximately 10 hours to reach Bheembali, named after the epic character Bhim. Thus is the first base camp where authorities have provided free boarding for pilgrims. About a dozen tents have been erected. The government has restricted the number of pilgrims going at any given time to Kedarnath to 100. One wonders, however, how the dozen tents (half of them occupied by police, medical staff and other support staff) will accommodate even 50 pilgrims at a time. Solar panels provide some light.

On to Kedarnath
Next morning, at 8 am, we start from Bheembali base camp and reach Rambara in 10 minutes. There used to be more than 100 shops and lodges at Rambara to serve the pilgrims travelling to Kedarnath. The temple destination used to be at a distance of only seven kilometers from here. Besides, Rambara was also a transit point where mules and kandi (basket to carry people) operators would ferry pilgrims. Now a skull and a pile of human bones act as an eerie reminder of the June calamity.

The road from Rambara was on the left of the Mandakini. A new road has been constructed Rambara onwards, this time on the right of the Mandakini. A bridge has also been erected to cross the river. The new route is more difficult to negotiate.

Richard (58), a German national, says, “Pilgrimage and tourism are two different things and the government should keep them separate.”  It takes us three-and-a-half hours to reach the next base camp — Lincholi. After resting for half-an-hour, we move on. Another three kilometers, and the 800-meter steep hills lead to an alpine meadow and the last base camp at Kedarnath. The base camp at Kedarnath has ample space to accommodate pilgrims and employees.

Scene at the shrine
The Kedarnath shrine is almost two kilometers from the base camp. The crumbling structures around suggests that reconstruction work is yet to happen. Till last year, pilgrims had to wait in long queues to perform puja at the temple. But serpentine queues are a thing of the past. At least, for now.

The Hindustan Times, 27th October 2013

It is said that Hindus and Muslims gathered at what is today Dhaula Kuan to take a vow to fight for the country, days before the Revolt of 1857.

When there was no Dhaula Kuan grade separator, it was only congestion, pollution and a cacophony of sounds. Today vehicles zoom past this intersection on the Sardar Patel Marg and Ring Road for most times.

But how many commuters know what this ‘dhaula’ or the ‘kuan’ is? Literally, it is a white well. Descendents of the original Malcha residents, now settled in Sonipat, Haryana, and have formed a Malcha Kalyan Samiti, tell two stories.

A sanjha chulha or sanjha roti (community meal) was organised when Hindus and Muslims gathered in the presence of Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar, days before the 1857 revolt. They took oath to fight together for India’s independence.

Second is when after shifting the capital from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, the British needed land for building a new city and announced its acquisition from scores of villages spread over what today falls under the New Delhi Municipal Council.

While most were forcibly sent away, few agreed, villagers of Malcha and Raisina decided to rebel. People gathered for a sanjha chulha and took oath to fight it out together. Whichever may be the truer version of the events but there is no confusion over taking oath with salt in hand.

“One by one they picked up a handful of salt from the pile, took oath and threw it in the well till it was full. That’s why the name Dhaula Kuan as it had turned white with salt,” said Sajjan Singh, president of the Malcha Kalyan Samiti.

The Hindustan Times, 27th October 2013

It was Mughal Prince Mirza Jahangir’s exile that led to the hoary tradition of offering floral chadars, but ironically his mausoleum in Nizamuddin is given a miss at every Phoolwalon-ki-sair, says R.V.Smith

Phoolwalon-ki-sair is over but its fragrance lingers on like a gentle breeze blowing from the perfumed garden of history. The flower sellers who enacted their annual part this year too included the great-great-great grandchildren of those who took part in the first festival 200 years ago. This is not surprising since generations in the Walled City have been continuing in the same profession as their ancestors. The silver leaf beaters of Ballimaran, the kabab sellers, the pulao, biryani and sheermal makers of Matia Mahal are some examples. However, despite all the fanfare that surrounds the festival, one thing that seems like a glaring omission is that while floral chadars are offered at the shrine of Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki and pankhas at the Yogmaya Mandir, no one makes such offerings at the grave of Mirza Jahangir, the Mughal prince whose exile started the hoary tradition. The mausoleum of the colourful prince in Nizamuddin hence stays bereft of the homage due to him and to his mother. And this is a pity. Even so the story of the festival is worth repeating.

As Phoolwalon-ki Sair has ended, the shehnai is no longer played in Chandni Chowk but the visit of the members of the Anjuman Sair-e-Gul Faroshan to the Lt. Governor (Najeeb Jung for the first time) and Chief Minister is still evident because of the pankhas presented to them and still on display. This festival, unique to Delhi, owes its origin to an incident in the Red Fort in the second decade of the 19th Century. Mirza Jahangir, favourite son of Akbar Shah II, was denied the right to be his successor in preference to his elder brother Abu Zafar (who later came to be known as Bahadur Shah Zafar).

One day when the British Resident at the court went to meet Akbar Shah, the topic of succession came up again but the Resident (Charles Seton) stated the East India Company’s known position very firmly. Angry at this Mirza Jahangir fired at Seton just as he was leaving the Red Fort but missed. Seton turned his horse back and asked the prince to apologise but he refused and taunted him instead by shouting “Lu, lu hai bey” (cranky booby fie on you). The Resident then went back and returned with a whole posse of British troops bent on avenging the insult. The prince was arrested and sent in exile to Allahabad about the year 1812. His mother pined for him and vowed that if he were to return she would offer a chadar and floral pankha at the shrine of Hazrat Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki and a canopy at the Yogmaya Mandir close by. As things turned out, Mumtaz Mahal II’s wish came true. Mirza Jahangir was sent back to Delhi after the British relented and there were grand celebrations, with drummers and shehnai players carrying floral and embroidered pankhas to the mazar and temple in Mehrauli. Since then the festival has been observed, as a symbol of communal harmony, except for brief periods —during and after the Mutiny of 1857 and then again in the 1940s right up to the partition. But Jawaharlal Nehru revived the festival at the instance of Yogeshwar Dayal in 1961 and so it continues, with many States taking part. Interestingly the first pankha made by the women of the Salatin (poor ladies’ quarters) in the Red Fort was kept in the Dewan-i-Khas as per the queen’s wishes.

Mirza Jahangir’s behaviour on his return to Delhi worsened and Akbar Shah agreed with the British (after he tried to poison his elder brother twice) that he be sent back to Allahabad. There he whiled away his time in drinking Hoffmann’s cherry brandy and making merry with dancing girls. In 1816, Col Sleeman (who suppressed the Thugs) found him in a bad state. “To obtain an interview with the Governer General, Lord Hastings he promised to limit himself to one bottle of port wine daily.” Lord Hastings described him as wearing a tartar dress, a crimson robe, blue vest, lined with fur and a high conical cap ornamented with fur and jewels, though it was the peak of summer. He had long hair, cut at the side — a handsome young man gone astray. The prince died in 1821, long before his parents, and was buried in a beautiful tomb in Delhi. His case was reminiscent of Absalom, King David’s favourite son, who died as a tragic biblical figure over 3000 years ago.

Phoolwalon-ki-sair wends its way through Mehrauli to the Jharna led by shehnai players in brocade sherwanis and then to Jahaz Mahal. This Mahal is shaped like a ship, hence its name. Bahadur Shah Zafar, who was considered gay by his father and so “not worthy to be his successor” used to preside over the festival with great aplomb till 1856.

Yogeshwar Dayal is, however, missed very much after his death some years ago but the tradition is still sustained by the example he set. In the end one cannot help wondering what course Mughal history would have taken had Mirza Jahangir become king. Probably the British would have seized control well before 1857. But even so, that’s no reason why he should not get his due!

The Hindu, 28th October 2013

Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshwadeep Islands have been named as the new "hope spots" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and oceanographer Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue, an organisation involved in the study of oceans.

A hope spot is an area of ocean that merits special protection because of its wildlife and significant underwater habitats. The two islands are the first spots in India and part of 31 new hope spots across the world added to the existing 19 spots. "What we've done here is identify a number of critical areas that represent a real hope to restore the health of our imperilled ocean," IUCN quoted Sylvia as saying.

"The pristine seas, the World Heritage areas, marine sanctuaries, marine protected areas, reserves-whatever they're called. We started with 19, now the number is 50 but for me there really is just one Hope Spot-it's the ocean," said Sylvia.

The Andaman and Nicobar have 556 islets with unique flora and fauna. There are around 270 species and sub-species of birds in these two islands of which around 106 have been declared endemic. The Andaman Wood Pigeon, Andaman Padauk and Dugong have been declared the state bird, the state tree and the state animal respectively. There are about 96 wildlife sanctuaries, nine national parks and one biosphere reserve in the islands.

"Andamans and Nicobar islands have been declared a hope spot as it has some of world's unique species of birds and plants. In the case of Lakshadweep, the coral reefs are quite sensitive to the ocean environment and that needs protection. These are the likely reasons for the IUCN to declare the spots as hope spots," chief scientist, National Institute of Oceanography, Baban Ingole told TOI.

In Lakshadweep, the institute has commenced an inventory of the coral reefs. "We plan to study the type of coral reef present in and around Lakshadweep, its health and the possible change in its status due to climate change," said Ingole.

The existing list of 19 hope spots include, the Coral Triangle in the western Pacific Ocean, the Patagonian Shelf in the South American continental shelf, Micronesian Islands in the western south Pacific Ocean and the Bahamian Reef. The new spots apart from the two Indian islands, include, The Tasman Sea in Australia, Scott Islands, Canada and The Aghulas Front in south west Indian Ocean.

The new hope spots were announced during the 3rd International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC3) in Marseille, France. Co-organised by the IUCN and the French Marine Protected Areas Agency, over 1,200 marine specialists and ministers from around the world attended the meet and proposed solutions for the conservation and sustainable development of oceans.

The Times of India, 28th October 2013

Culture minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch has categorically said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was not after finding gold at Daundiya Kheda village in Unnao district but was simply trying to explore the historical importance of the area.

“It is wrong and misleading to say that we started the excavation work after the so called dream of a hidden treasure. We got an indication by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) that there was a metallic alloy buried but so far we are yet to find a metallic surface,” she told HT adding: “I plan to visit the site after Bhai Dooj.”

Denying that she had got any letter for carrying out excavations at two more sites where the sadhu Shobhan Sarkar has dreamt of 4,000 tonnes of gold being buried she said: “I am not into any kind of dream business. If someone comes and tells me tomorrow that I had a dream that some treasure was buried at a place, why will I agree to start an excavation. If there are gold mines at a place then the mining department should be told. However, if someone has a map of that area, it can be very helpful to us.” Chandresh Kumari Katoch said that they have a planned programme for excavations every year, which starts on October 1 and continues till the monsoon.

“Daundiya Kheda was in our list for excavations because of its historical relevance. The excavation was not triggered because of some dream. In fact, we have just got a letter from a Bihar MP mentioning some historical discovery in a hamlet in Bhagalpur district. I can get this reviewed and take up the excavation there next year.”

On the restoration work being done at Kedarnath Chandresh Katoch said: “I am satisfied with the repair work. We have repaired the doors and the walls. But we have not yet started the carving since the work has to be stopped after Diwali because of weather conditions.”.

The Hindustan Times, 29th October 2013

Rampant construction taking place on the Yamuna floodplains may result in ecological disasters like the one seen in Uttarakhand, an expert committee has warned.

“Heavy monsoon in catchment areas may result in massive flooding because of the highly restricted floodway,” the committee formed by the ministry of environment and forests has said in its interim report.

The final action plan, likely in six months, will be placed before the National Green Tribunal for restoration of highly degraded Yamuna floodplains.

“Delhi has grown phenomenally at the expense of the Yamuna. Since 1947, the river has been highly altered. Construction has eaten into most of the floodplains. Practically, most of east Delhi and Noida are located on the floodplains,” it has said. “Development activities, both those in progress or planned by agencies will further increase the risk of floods. All construction on the floodplains must be stopped. There is an urgent need to conserve whatever floodway is left,” it has said and warned: “The river [still] has energy and can destroy urban settlements if it is not allowed its natural course.”

The committee has members from IIT-Delhi, JNU and University of Delhi. “The riverbed is highly sedimented due to discharge of raw sewage. Apart from three major drains, there are 18/19 others that discharge sewage into the Yamuna. Most of these drains were supposed to carry storm run-off and not sewage,” the interim report says.

The Hindustan Times, 29th October 2013

Eleven days after it rushed to dig for gold that a sadhu saw in his dreams, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) hit loose stones in one of the trenches in Daundiya Kheda, and decided to move the excavation elsewhere.

A fresh trench has been marked out nearby, and excavation will begin on Wednesday, ASI director general Pravin Srivastava said. He stressed that the project was being extended, not called off. In its bizarre hunt for buried treasure in Unnao, the ASI bypassed the established procedure of scrutiny, and employed the extraordinary powers its top official has to order an excavation.

Under the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958, and Rules 1958, the state government is expected to send a detailed proposal to the central government explicitly outlining the historical and archeological objectives of excavating any unprotected site.

In case a proposal emerges from within the ASI (as it happened in the case of Unnao ), it is submitted for shortlisting before being sent to the standing committee of the Central Advisory Board of Archeology (CABA), a body of 5-6 experts headed by the director general of the ASI. The standing committee makes a recommendation for the ASI DG to approve or reject.

The proposal to dig at Daundiya Kheda reached the ASI at the end of September 2013, nearly two months after the deadline for inviting excavation proposals for 2013-14 had passed on July 31. The CABA standing committee was not in existence then, its term having come to an end a few days earlier.

"It is true that there is a procedure for conducting excavations. But the DG has the powers to order an excavation when it is deemed fit. This particular excavation was carried out largely on the basis of the report of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) and considering the historical value of the site," Srivastava told The Indian Express.

The Indian Express, 30th October 2013

As the Red Fort conservation plan has hit several hurdles—most notable among these being the lack of clarity on conservation needs of various heritage buildings within the fort, Archaeological Survey of India held a workshop on Monday with international experts Ebba Koch and James Wescoat. In its two-day workshop, the agency unveiled its conservation management plan along with the layout for restoration of historical gardens and other structures of the fort.

ASI's superintending archeologist Vasant Kumar said that excavation within the monument's complex to find more structures will start soon. "Some paintings dating between 1790 and 1850 show that some more structures were part of the fort. But now they are beneath the ground. We are using the paintings to trace them and some gardens. The international experts were called as their expertise in Mughal architecture has helped in conserving other monuments in different parts of the country," he said.

Ebba, a professor with the University of Vienna and James, a professor with MIT School of Architecture, made their presentations and left several suggestions that will help the ASI officials to carry out the work without damaging the existing structure. "A management plan for water system and garden maintaining original ground levels, upgrade of existing museums, proper utilization of vacated buildings by the Army, conservation work on jali painting, replastering and conserving inlay work has to be formulated," Dr D Dayalan, director (monument), ASI, said.

Following a Supreme Court order in 2007, a comprehensive conservation management plan was prepared for the 17th-century citadel. But nothing more was done for seven years. ASI has now introduced a 15-point programme in CCMP that includes documentation, ASI conservation plan, establishment of a core committee to monitor the execution of the plan, revival of old water system, garden, pathways, reexamination of changes and using an auxiliary building %for museums and other purposes.

The workshop was addressed by union minister for culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch. "It's encouraging to see that ASI has developed a proposal to first examine and undertake research on the gardens and then develop their plan and layout, keeping in mind the historic plantation pattern, flower beds and use of flora as evidenced in the paintings that were destroyed during British rule," Katoch said.

The Times of India, 30th October 2013

Seer Shobhan Sarkar's dream of 1,000 tonnes of gold in Unnao's Raja Rao Ram Bux Singh fort is turning out to be a nightmare for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Digging since October 18, all that the 12-member ASI team has found in the first trench so far — after reaching the depth of 4.8 metres — are few glass bangles, iron nails, hopscotch, fragmentary miniature stone figure of lion, terracotta arecanut shaped beads, two hearths and three burnt brick walls. Sherds of black slipped ware, a sherd of northern black polished ware along with red ware sherds of early historical periods were also found, but no gold. Most of the finds range from first century BCE to 17th-18th century. Excavation in the first trench YB1 is now nearly over as archaeologists have hit gravel formation.

ASI director general Pravin Srivastava said, "Not all excavations end in finding something substantial."

Publically, ASI is maintaining that the excavation has not been stopped. Excavation is getting widened, Srivastava said on Tuesday. From Wednesday excavation will begin in a new trench, XA2, which is near to the Ganges, and if gold is not struck there also, possibly after a fortnight the digging will be abandoned.

Srivastava denied that excavation was undertaken in a hurry without due diligence, as is the case with archaeological excavations. When asked why permission of the central advisory board of archaeology (CABA) was not undertaken as is stipulated, additional DG BR Mani said, "It is not necessarily needed. CABA has a standing committee that looks at the proposals." It is another matter that CABA itself has not been reconstituted.

Srivastava also said it has nothing to do with Sarkar's infamous dream. The ASI DG said the area around Daudia Khera in Unnao district was always considered rich in archaeological remains. In the process, he said even the great Alexander Cunnigham — father of Indian archaeology and ASI's first DG — had marked this area as a site consisting of archaeological and historical evidence. However, it took more than a century and a seer's dream for the ASI to go to Daudia Khera armed with a report of the Geological Survey of India ( GSI) that talked of metallic substances in the area.

The Times of India, 30th October 2013

Rashtrapati Bhavan has launched a hunt for four rare varieties of cactus that are missing from its prized cactus garden.

The President's secretariat has issued a notice inviting individuals or organisations in possession of these plants.

"After President Pranab Mukherjee took over, we began an exercise to spruce up the grounds. A stock-taking exercise was undertaken for the gardens. Expert horticulturists were consulted to draw up a list of new varieties that could be added to the it. That is when we realised that we had actually lost the four varieties of cacti that we used to have earlier. We are looking to replenish the plants that died," a senior official looking after horticulture in Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

However, there has been no response yet to the notice that was issued some time ago in order to prepare the Mughal Gardens for its opening in February next year.

The four varieties — Oreocereus trollii, Echinopsis marsoneri, Pygmaeocereus denudatus 'cristae' and Astrophytum capricorne — are mostly of South American origin.

Oreocereus trollii, commonly known as the 'old man of the Andes' because of its appearance of being covered with white wool, is native to the mountains of South America. Echinopsis marsoneri, famous for its oversized flowers, is normally found in Bolivia and Argentina. Astrophytum capricorne, a variety of fauna from the Chihuahua desert, hails from Mexico. There is not much information available about Pygmaeocereus denudatus 'cristae'. The cactus garden became a part of the President's estate in 2003-04 during the tenure of A P J Abdul Kalam. Nearly 80 vsarieties of cacti were planted with technical assistance from the Regional Plant Resource Centre Bhubaneswar. Another 14 varieties were added since then.

Other additions made to the gardens include a herbal garden and a bonsai garden, both of which are thrown open to public in spring every year.

The Indian Express, 31th October 2013