eGov July 2019 Almora Issue

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SPECIAL ISSUE

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`200 / US $20 / ISSN 0973-161X | JULY 2019 | VOLUME 15 | ISSUE 7

Resurgence of BRAND ALMORA through

Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat Hon’ble Chief Minister Uttarakhand

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Organiser

Host Partners

Government of Maharashtra

Knowledge Partner

‘The Maharashtra State Coop Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd (MSCCGMF)’

Innovation in Cotton and Agro Commodity Markets CONFER E NC E

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MUMBAI, 23 July 2019

Chief Guest

SHRI DEVENDRA FADNAVIS, Hon’ble Chief Minister Maharashtra

Special Guest

SHRI SADASHIV RAMCHANDRA KHOT Hon’ble Minister of State Agriculture Government of Maharashtra

Guest of Honour

SHRI RAM SHINDE Hon’ble Minister for Marketing & Textiles Government of Maharashtra

Program Mentor

Program Chair

SHRI ANOOP KUMAR, IAS Principal Secretary, Co-operative and Marketing, Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Fisheries Government of Maharashtra

SHRI NAWIN SONA NATESAN, IAS Secretary and Managing Director, The Maharashtra State Coop Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Limited

What

‘Marketing Innovation Summit 2019: Innovation in Cotton and Agro Commodity Markets’ Maharashtra is the state with largest area under cotton and Maharashtra State Coop Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd (MSCCGMF) is a 35 year old organisation dealing with cotton across the value chain from direct procurement from farmers to processing and selling of cotton bales. It is now engaged in establishing a level playing field in the area of cotton. And the Marketing department is also keen on promoting innovations in marketing of other agro produce like cereals, pulses and horticulture produce. MSCCGMF is constantly striving for excellence to help the farmers to market their products. But there are challenges too existing in this sector. The digitization of farmer’s land records, use of technology for augmenting commodity market, effective use of technology and innovation for the agro sector, strengthening of the agro economy with conducive policies and its implementation are the need of the hour to ensure building an effective agro commodity marketing ecosystem.

Why Realising this, ‘The Maharashtra State Coop Cotton Growers Marketing Federation Ltd (MSCCGMF), Department of Marketing, Government of Maharashtra, along with ‘Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd,’ is organising one of its kind ‘Marketing Innovation Summit.’ The summit will have special focus on Innovative Promotion of Cotton and other Agro Commodities.

Where & When: Mumbai - 23 July 2019 Discussion Points  Cotton and Agro Commodities Marketing: Importance of Policy and Governance for Transparency & Accountability  Technology the Enabler: The Present, The Future  Role of Commodity Exchanges  Leveraging New Age Technologies to Bring Transformation: AI, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data & Analytics, GIS  Fintech and Digital Payments  Nurturing Innovation & Startups for the Agro Commodity Markets of the Future  Department of Telecommunications, Government of India  Directorate of Marketing, Government of Maharashtra  Ministry of Textiles, Government of India  Directorate of Marketing from Various State Governments  Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India  Commodity Exchanges  Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare,  Technology Companies Government of India  Startups active in AI, IoT, Blockchain, Big Data & Analytics, GIS  Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government  International Experts & Academic Scholars & Researchers of India

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MAGAZINE

Almora - All Set for Cultural Extravaganza

It compiles ICT-related advancements being introduced, exercised by various government organisations via eGovernance module.

Almora in Uttarakhand, the land of natural beauty, has all the potential to become a major tourist attraction. However, given its fragile ecology sustainability is not an option here but a prerequisite for any kind of development to take place. Aiming to increase the footfalls of domestic and global tourists and enhancing the visitor experience, while simultaneously taking concrete steps to conserve the invaluable natural resources, the district administration of Almora has taken several measures in recent times to boost the local economy.

NEWS

Dealing with various key developments and policy-related decisions that define Indian governance style at large, this section throws light on the most important aspects.

WEBSITE With a reach of sixty lakhs, the website is pushing the Digital India campaign of the Government of India. It highlights various dimensions of anything and everything related to the changing trends of governance in India .

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CASE STUDIES It deals with in-depth detail of various projects being implemented in any part of the country, worth inspiring others in providing solutions.

VIDEOS The youtube channel ‘EletsTv’ deals with live recorded versions of techexperts and key decision makers who participate in key debates or discussion of Elets knowledge conferences.

Following the unprecedented success of the Almora Festival of 2018, in which Elets Technomedia was a crucial partner, the district administration of Almora, under the able guidance of District Magistrate Nitin Bhadauria, is once again readying itself to welcome the visitors with the singular objective of making the festival grander.

On this occasion, the district administration, in association with eGov magazine, has come up with a special issue that not only highlights the developmental work being carried out in the Almora, but also presents the perspectives of various stakeholders who are involved in the rejuvenation of Kosi River, the lifeline of the picturesque town.

The bouquet of articles and interview in this issue of the magazine will aid our readers to develop a better insight into the challenges of hilly districts like Almora, where the relationship between the man and nature remains intricately balanced and a slight disturbance like unplanned development may result into disastrous consequences for both.

We wish Almora district administration all the best for the upcoming Alomra Festival, 2019 and hope it will bring more prosperity to the hill district.

INTERVIEWS This section highlights various stakeholders, bureaucrats and policy makers influencing governance in the country.

DR RAVI GUPTA Editor-in-Chief, eGov magazine, and Founder Publisher & CEO, Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd

CONTENTS JULY 2019 | Volume 15 | Issue 07

COVER STORY

Almora:

The Cultural Heart of Uttarakhand

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18 MAYUR DIXIT

Former Chief Development Officer, Almora

08 30

MANUJ GOYAL

Chief Development Officer, Almora

32 RAHUL CHAUBEY

VISHAL MISHRA

District Tourism Development Officer, Almora

Trainee IAS, 2018

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NITIN BHADAURIA District Magistrate Almora

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KAILASH CHANDRA BHATT Divisional Project Manager, Integrated Livelihood Support Project, Almora

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MANVINDER KAUR

Assistant Project Director ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme, Almora

40 MAJOR PRAVEEN Eco Task force Almora

KK PANT

District Development Officer, Almora

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PROFESSOR JS RAWAT

National Geospatial Chair Professor (DST Government of India) & Professor and Head, Department of Geography, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora

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48 SANCHITA VERMA

Forest Range Officer, Almora

50 RAKESH JOSHI

Chief Instructor, Disaster Mitigation & Management Centre, Almora

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DR KAPIL NAYAL

Lecturer, Government Inter College Hawalbagh, Almora

MESSAGE

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COVER STORY

Almora:

The Cultural Heart of Uttarakhand Often known as the Switzerland of India, Almora is a cantonment town in Almora district which is the cultural heart of Kumaon. It is famous for its rich cultural heritage, unique handicrafts, toothsome cuisines and wildlife. The Almora administration through its unique initiatives is leaving no stone unturned in promoting local artisans and boosting tourism in a big way, writes Elets News Network (ENN).

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COVER STORY

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n a sunny day with clear skies overhead, the breath taking view of the majestic Nanda Devi, the second highest mountain in India, together with Nanda Kot, Trishul and Panchchuli, is like striking gold. Almora, a serene town tucked away amidst the untold beauty of Shivaliks in Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, is an enchanting place. Perched above 1,600 mtrs from the sea, the town is worth the arduous journey one takes from the nearest rail head at Kathgodam.

Behind its modern looking facades, markets and shops pressing against the precarious mountains that are now part of the town’s precinct, Almora conceals layers of history.

Known as the cultural heart of Kumaon, it is said that the Kumaon’s King, Raja Kalyan Chand, chanced upon the beautiful town of Almora around 500 years back while returning from a hunting expedition.

In the days of the Chand Kings, Almora was known as Rajapur.

Visiting Almora in any season is an experience in itself. However, it is the simplicity of the people here that is bound to strike a chord with visitors -- no matter where they come from.

While simplicity and helping nature of the town people can leave an everlasting impact, interestingly it is the festivals of the town that represent the multi-layered cultural milieu deeply rooted in age-old beliefs and rich culture that has been evolving independently in this part of the world for centuries.

Almora is also known for its craftsmanship in copper ware and many other unique crafts. The town sits on a number of ancient copper plates and is located over a horse saddle shaped ridge of a mountain.

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named after specific groups of craftsmen who worked generation after generation to develop the skills that reflect in their products.

Fairs & Festivals Fairs and festivals are part and parcel of the people’s lives in Almora. They act as a window to the rich past of the region as well as a means to express the religious, social and cultural urges of the local people.

ALMORA FESTIVAL Organised with an objective of reaching out to a larger section of people, Almora District Administration, Government of Uttarakhnd, organised one-of-its-kind ‘Almora Festival’ on October 20-22, 2018. The festival was unique in many ways, as it was used by the district administration, led by District Magistrate Nitin Bhadauria, as an occasion to promote the unique culture, arts and crafts of the region, through a host of activities attended by over 50,000 people that included an environment summit, cultural programmes, Bollywood nights, magic shows and a buyer-sellar meet that became a convergence point for businesses from across India to interact and do business with local craftsmen.

This year, too, the district administration will be organising the festival with the objective of taking it to a new height and addressing many pressing issues facing the district amidst fun and frolic.

OTHER FESTIVALS & CELEBRATIONS Dussehra Festival, Almora Thousands of people, including tourists, visit Almora every year to see the famous Dussehra festival. What makes Dussehra special here are the effigies of the clan of Ravana made locally in a large numbers. Almora is the only place in the country where 33 effigies of the Ravan clan is burnt during Dussehra.

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COVER STORY

Before burning the effigies, the entire procession is taken out in the city with music bands. It is so famous that tourists from across India and outside the country also visit Almora to see this spectacular moment. This tradition started from 1975 when locals started contributing effigies of other members of Ravana.

Nanda Devi Festival Held in the month of September, Nanda Devi Festival is organised in Almora for five days. Goddess Nanda was the family Goddess of the Chand dynasty which ruled the region in the ancient times. The temple of ‘Nanda Devi’ in Almora was built in the 17th century.

More than 25,000 people attend this festival every year.

Devidhura Bagwal Mela Devidhura is situated at the tri-junction of Almora, Nainital and Champawat. The Mela is held in the compound of Maa Varahi (Barahi) Devi temple on the day of Raksha Bandhan. Bagwal is played between four different groups of people. These groups are called ‘Khams’.

These Khams are Lamgariya Kham, Valig kham, Chamyal Kham and Garahwal Kham. Only people of these Khams can take part in Bagwal.

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Gauchar Mela The Mela is held every year in the month of November. An industrial fair, Gauchar Mela is known for its folk and other dances.

Music and Dance Music is an integral part of the culture of Uttarakhand. The calm and serene ambience of this place, surrounded with hills and mountains, has inspired many musicians to compose great tones and melodies. The scintillating glimpse of streams of rivers, lush green forests and the heavenly beauty of the hilly areas are the natural components of the folk music over here. Some of the popular folk songs are `mandals`, `panwaras` and somber `khuded`, `thadya` and `jhoda`. These folk songs are composed on the beats and nodes of dhol, damoun, turri, ransingha, dholki, daur, thali, bhankora and masakbhaja.

State is now exploring eco-tourism, adventure tourism and leisure tourism.

“Almora has been the cultural capital of Uttarakhand since time immemorial.

During prehistoric age, Lakhudiyar was one of settlements, which is still one of the major attractions for tourists. Apart from this Kasar Devi, Jageshwar, Katarmal, Ranikhet, Binsar wildlife Sanctuary, also have significant footprints on world tourism map.

Many others sites are also quite beautiful which are yet to be exlopred like Katali, Tadagtal, Kathpudia, Rudradhari Fall, Pinath, etc,” says Rahul Chaubey, District Tourism Development Officer, Almora.

Why Uttarakhand is a Favourite Tourist Destination?

If you want to connect to the essence of nature, visit Uttarakhand. It has beautiful sights with a rich heritage.

Tourist destinations such as Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Dhanaulti, Auli and Almora are visited round the year. The

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COVER STORY

PLACES TO VISIT Chitai Temple Amongst the famous temple of Almora is the Chitai temple of Lord Shiva. Here He is known as Lord Gollu. People tie bells in the temple premises as an offering to make their wishes come true.

Kasardevi Temple Located at a distance of just 5kms from Almora, the temple of Kasar Devi dates back to second century. The temple can be reached on foot from Kalimath town.

Katarmal Surya Mandir India’s second sun temple, after Konark in Odisha, is located in Almora. This 800 year old temple is surrounded by 45 smaller shrines. It has a unique architectural style

Binsar The Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary located near to Almora attracts lots of tourists who are enthusiastic about viewing animals and birds. The sanctuary has a forest guesthouse with an attached restaurant and also served as a resort.

Binsar has an enchanting beautifully lazy

feel around it. There are jungle walkaways and one can see large number of birds everywhere. True to its nature, Binsar provides peace of mind and soul.

“Uttarakhand in general and Kumaon region in particular is loaded with natural wealth and beauty which can be leveraged to provide employment to majority of the population here. Tourism can easily engage young minds in jobs,” added Chaubey.

Local Craft Almora is home to handloom and handicraft industry that is unique to it.

One of the reasons for increased tourism in this part of the State is that foreigners come here to buy handmade crafts and artifacts in large number.

Some of the common crafts in Almora are Aipan (ritual floor painting), copper ware, Likhai (wood carving), Bichhu Buti (nettle fiber craft), Ringal/bamboo craft, designer shawls, handloom, etc.

One of the traditional forms of rangoli of Kumaoni, Aipan is a decorative art form used extensively to decorate floors and walls at the places of worship and entrances of homes. This

art is associated with a great degree of socio, cultural as well as religious significance. This art is passed from generation to generation by passing on the patterns from mothers to their daughters and daughters-in-law in the family. Some of the patterns are significant from religious point of view and are made especially at the time of ceremonies like marriages, thread ceremony, naming ceremony, etc. The patterns and motifs are typical to the region of Kumaon.

Similarly, bamboo basketry is also very popular in Almora. Bamboo is also used to make containers, storage, mats, baskets, winnows (sieve used when the crop is harvested to clear impurities in grains), etc.

“We are planning for a skill upgradation programme in Almora itself. We also need to develop an online marketing campaign. For this buyers sellers meet, we have developed DIC Pahal website where we are going to promote the artisans products online,” says Dr Deepak Murari, General Manager, District Industries Centre, Almora.

Almora is also a manufacturing hub of shawls. It is also famous for metal craft.

Copper craft is found in three districts of Uttarakhand, namely Almora, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh. In fact, there is a mohalla of copper artisans known as Tamtas, in Almora. Copperware is one of the traditional crafts of Almora and some of the best coppersmiths still work from Tamta mohalla. Many national awardees also belong to this region.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Almora Beckons the World The second edition of Almora Festival will be of even larger scale and a plethora of activities have been planned. Also, Ranikhet will be completing 150 years and a big edition of Ranikhet Festival is scheduled, says Nitin Bhadauria, District Magistrate, Almora, in an exclusive interview with Souvik Goswami of Elets News Network (ENN).

Nitin Bhadauria

District Magistrate, Almora

As the District Magistrate of Almora what are your thoughts on making Almora a global tourist hub?

We have to focus on our core competencies – our location in the

heartland of Himalayas and our rich Kumaoni cultural heritage. Known as the ‘Cultural Capital of Kumaon’, Almora district has something to offer to everyone – from the spirituality of Jyotirlinga Jageshwar Temple to the

Almora Festival has been a hugely successful event with more than 25,000 footfalls. An event of this scale and magnitude gas been unprecedented in the history of the city and has written a new chapter in the city’s 500 year old history.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

tranquility of Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary.

What has been the legacy of Almora which inbound tourists should know?

Katarmal Sun Temple is the largest Sun Temple in India, where Soorya Devta is still worshipped. Swami Yogananda Paramhansa who wrote ‘The Autobiography of a Yogi’ meditated in a cave near Dwarahat, thus making it the birth place of Kriya Yoga. Haidakhan Temple, Manila Temple, Dol Ashram, Sheetla Mata Mandir and Doonagiri Temple are the other important temples located in the district. A Shiva-Shakti temple circuit is being developed with accommodation and other facilities for the tourists.

Almora takes a pride of place in the modern history as several luminaries have spent considerable time here.

Noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore wrote parts of Gitanjali at Tagore House in Almora. Swami Vivekanand

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came to Almora thrice and meditated at Kasar Devi. Vijaylaxmi Pandit owned the Khali Estate in Binsar and Nehru family would spend their summers here. In 1942, during the Quit India Movement, several national leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and Maulana Azad were arrested and spent time in Almora jail. Almora is also the birthplace of architects of modern India - Bharat Ratna Giving Ballabh Pant, Sumitra Nandan Pant, Shivani and BK Pandey. The danseur Uday Shankar had an Academy in Almora. Lama Govinda Alfred Sorensen, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Timothy Leary and DH Lawrence spent considerable

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time in artistic pursuits in Crank’s Ridge, now known as Kasar Devi area.

Oscar nominated actress Uma Thurman spent part of her childhood in Almora.

Ranikhet and Kausani are idyllic tourist destinations while Marchu-la on the banks of Ramganga serves as an alternative gateway to the worldfamous Jim Corbett National Park, away from the hustle-bustle of Ramnagar. We are also developing adventure sports activities in Almora be it Paragliding in Dinapani, Watersports activities in Kosi Barrage, Rock-climbing and Rapelling at Kalimath and Rafting in river Ramganga

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

from Bhikiyasain to Marchu-La. Almora is also known for its festivities.

Shed some light on that aspect too.

Almora is known for the fervor with which it celebrates all the festivals - be it the ‘Baithki Holi’ which is sung based on the Classical Hindustani Ragas or the ‘Khadi Holi of Kumaon’, played with flowers and dry colours. Almora is known for its Dussehra, which is the third most famous in India, after those at Mysore and Kullu. The effigies of Ravana family, numbering around 35 are pulled throughout the city and then burnt in the University Stadium.

Almora’s world famous Ram-Leela spread over a period of 10 days is a sensation for the senses. The actors sing their lines live based on classical raga-based songs in sync with the musicians playing different instruments.

perfect for a vacation in the Terai foothills while ‘Itmeenan Estate’ in Jainti and ‘Ananta Rasa’ in Sheetlakhat offer a breathtakingly beautiful view of the Himalayas. For the budget traveler, around 200 home-stays offer affordable stays with an authentic experience of Kumaoni culture and cuisine.

What were the highlights of ‘Almora Festival 2018?’

We have kick-started the Almora Festival in partnership with Elets Technomedia in 2018 featuring an array of artists and activities. Monali Thakur, Nizami Bandhu, Sankalp Khetwal, Pavandeep Rajan, magician

How the place is positioned as a preferred tourist destination when it comes to staying with world class experience?

Almora district also has several interesting staying options to offer - be it the exclusive ‘Nine Furlongs’ or ‘The Kumaon’ in Kasar Devi to the heritage ‘Mary Budden Estate’ in Binsar. ‘Solluna Resort’ and ‘Le Tigre’ in Marchu-La are

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

NC Sarkar and Jagar-singer Preetam Bharatwan were some of the star performers. On the sidelines, several competitions such as Kumaoni Masterchef Cookery Competition and workshops such as those for Kumaoni Aipan art form were organised.

Kosi Rejuvenation Eco-summit focusing on the river Kosi Rejuvenation Project was organised at GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal were organised which featured participation from diplomats, top academics and beauraucrats including Nikunja Sundray, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India was the Keynote Speaker, who dubbed it as a project of national importance.

The project has won the first prize at National Water Awards in River Rejuvenation Category, where the district team was felicitated by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Water Resources, Government of India.

The three-day event also featured PAHAL - the Buyer-seller meet providing a platform for local produce, handicrafts and handlooms. Jagadeesh Gobardhan, High Commissioner of Mauritius in India was the Chief Guest

at the event. The event featured several buyers such as Trifed and Khaddar. Business of more than Rs 10 million was transacted.

How did ‘Almora Festival’ helped in the resurgence of Brand Almora?

Almora Festival has been a hugely successful event with more than 25,000 footfalls. An event of this scale and magnitude gas been unprecedented in the history of the city and has written a new chapter in the city’s 500 year old history.

What are in the offerings for ‘Almora Festival 2019?’

The second edition of Almora Festival will be even larger in scale and a plethora of activities are being planned.

Also, Ranikhet will be completing 150 years and a larger edition of Ranikhet Festival is scheduled. A plethora of activities will also be planned in the temple town of Jageshwar aimed for the spiritual soul. Marchu-La Festival is being planned for visitors of Jim Corbett Park in October. In addition, Crank Festival was organised at the Uday Shankar Natya Academy, Almora in May. The aim is to boost the cultural activities in Almora and increase the tourist flow.

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Harnessing Technology for Sustainable Development

Mayur Dixit

Former Chief Development Officer, Almora

The Almora district administration has started a rejuvenation programme for the Kosi River. A lot of plantation work in the river catchment area has been going on. The administration is also working on natural resource management by implementing projects under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and other government schemes, says Mayur Dixit, former Chief Development Officer of Almora, who is now Chief Development Officer of Udham Singh Nagar.

Agriculture and allied activities are the main focus sectors in the district besides development of tourism, for which various fairs and festivals are organised by the district administration every year. These festivals not only increase tourist footfalls, but also serve as an excellent platform to promote works of local artisans.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

What are the focus areas to ensure overall development of Almora district?

Almora district is in the Kumaon division of Uttarakhand. At 1,638 meters above sea level, the town of Almora is surrounded by Pithoragarh district in the east, Garhwal region in the west, Bageshwar district in the north, and Nainital district in the south.

The landscape of Almora attracts a large number of tourists, who mainly visit the district to see the snow-clad majestic peaks of Himalayas and experience the unique cultural heritage, handicrafts and cuisine of the region.

Almora is also a major business hub of Kumaon. Developed by the Kings of Chand Dynasty, the town was later

maintained and further developed by the British regime.

Agriculture and allied activities are the main focus sectors in the district besides development of tourism, for which various fairs and festivals are organised by the district administration every year. These festivals not only increase tourist footfalls, but also serve as an excellent platform to promote works of local artisans.

How does Almora fare when it comes to leveraging technology to deliver governance services to the last mile?

The district administration of Almora uses technology in every aspect of governance. For example, Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping of all the ongoing development projects has been started. The projects are also monitored with the help of various social media platforms like WhatApp. Almora being part of Kumaon’s hilly region needs special focus on developing a sustainable environmental ecosystem. Please shed some light on the initiatives related to this.

We started a rejuvenation programme for the Kosi River. A lot of plantation work in the river catchment area has

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been going on. We have also worked on natural resource management by implementing projects under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and other government schemes.

How smart tourism can be leveraged to ensure more inflow of tourists from various parts of the country and abroad?

To improve tourism in Almora, the district administration is constantly improving its online presence.

Provisions are being made for providing low-cost modern facilities to tourists visiting the district. Over the years, transport and communication facilities have improved drastically. Social media is also being leveraged to extensively promote tourism in the district.

What steps have been taken to ensure sustainable development in Almora?

The district administration works with local communities in harmony with nature to ensure sustainable development in the region. Heavy construction activities near rivers and water sources are discouraged by the district authorities. Also, efforts are being made to provide sustainable employment opportunities in village clusters through various initiatives.

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

Rejuvenating Kosi, Reinventing Almora Tourism has a great potential. Eco tourism is big in these areas.

With increasing awareness, a lot of people are shifting towards eco tourism. And it’s good for everyone. So we have several big projects under execution in tourism sector. We are also promoting tourism through festivals and carnivals,’ says Manuj Goyal, Chief Development Officer, Almora to Souvik Goswami, Elets News Network (ENN) in an interview.

Manuj Goyal

Chief Development Officer, Almora

What are the focus areas to ensure overall development of Almora district?

Almora is a hill district and thus it has very specific challenges as far as development is concerned. Agriculture is the mainstay of Hill economy but is facing challenges from all sides. Be it conflict with wildlife or infrastructure for irrigation or difficultly in exploiting

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economies of scale or lack of backward-forward linkages. Hence, making agriculture profitable to ensure livelihood is definitely one focus area.

Other most important sectors directly impacting the development of this hill district are health and education. So yes, these three are the focus areas.

Nevertheless, as Chief Development Officer, we are responsible of each and every developmental activity, be it related to infrastructure development

or provision of various services or simply welfare of citizenry.

How Almora district administration is leveraging technology to reach out to the last mile with various government services?

Technology, yes it’s critical and very useful too. It’s not a panacea for all the problems but definitely helpful in easing lives. We are using technology

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POLICYMAKER’S PERSPECTIVE

for various purposes. The quality and delivery of education is very important.

Recently we have started using e-learning to improve both quality and delivery in education sector.

Technology has also made data collection easy. It helps in analysis of grass root situation and device solutions accordingly. All the subsidies and cash benefits are directly being transferred to beneficiaries. We are also envisaging single window system for most government services and also tele-medicine in the coming days.

Almora is a part of Kumaon’s hilly region. It needs special focus on developing sustainable environment ecosystem. What are the steps taken by the administration to ensure this?

Mountains, especially Himalayas are a very sensitive and fragile ecosystem.

It’s important that they are protected and preserved. For this we are committed to sustainable development in this region. One of the biggest steps taken in this direction is Kosi rejuvenation project. The lifeline of Almora, Kosi river is a dying river in present times. Through Kosi rejuvenation, we are determined to reinvigorate this river to its pristine glory. It’s a mega project, a dream Connect with us on

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Mountains, especially Himalayas are a very sensitive and fragile ecosystem. It’s important that they are protected and preserved. For this we are committed to sustainable development in this region. One of the biggest steps taken in this direction is Kosi rejuvenation project.

The lifeline of Almora.

Kosi river, is a dying river in present times.

Through Kosi rejuvenation, we are determined to reinvigorate this river to its pristine glory.” @egovonline

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project of honorable Chief Minister of the State. We are also promoting eco tourism and home stays in Almora.

Campaigns revolving around preserving local food, culture and tradition, reducing waste generation, water conservation are taken up on regular basis. Public involvement and awareness is key component.

What are your future plans to make Almora the next investment hub specially keeping in mind the tourism potential of the district?

From investment point of view, hills are not very welcoming, specifically for the ones involving big production units, large scale infrastructure, etc. We have a very typical geography. However, we do have a niche, almost exclusive, when we talk investments. Tourism has a great potential. Eco tourism is big in these areas. With increasing awareness, a lot of people are shifting towards eco tourism. And it’s good for everyone. So we have several big projects under execution in tourism sector. We are also promoting tourism through festivals and carnivals. We have initiated dialogue with local businesses and local people. We are basically working at all possible fronts to support and promote tourism.

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

Rejuvenating the Dying Kosi River: Concept and an Overview of GIS-Based Strategy Professor JS Rawat

National Geospatial Chair Professor (DST Government of India) & Professor and Head, Department of Geography, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora

The length of the major trunk of the Kosi River from reach to mouth is about 56.76 km. As many as 12 major tributaries drain the river. These include Koshalya Ganga, Dev Gad, Menal Gad, Ben Gad, Janeli Gad, Rengad, Kurali Gad, Sim Gad, Nani Kosi, Bagania Gad, Jamthara Gad and Khul Gad. 20

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Due to transformation of perennial streams and tributary rivers, the Kosi River is dwindling steadily during the summer season due to decreasing annual lean flow. The fast dwindling of the major trunk of the Kosi River warrants massive rejuvenation measures to stop the river from permanently transforming into a seasonal river in the next one and half decade. Professor JS Rawat, National Geospatial Chair Professor (DST Government of India) & Professor and Head, Department of Geography, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, who has been at the forefront of devising a GIS-based strategy to rejuvenate the river, discusses in detail the major challenges and the strategy to overcome them to save the lifeline of Almora.

S

ite and situation encompassing an area of 462.61 sq km, the Kosi watershed (district Almora, Uttarakhand) extends in between 29033’47” N and 29052’20” N latitudes and 79033’12”E and 79048’11” E longitudes in the Lesser Himalayan terrain in Uttarakhand (Fig.1).The Kosi River originates from the Dharpani Dhar ridge at an elevation of 2,040 m in

Fig. 1: Location map of the Upper Kosi watershed

Takula block of Almora district. From its origin to about 10 km downstream till Chaunoda, this river is known as Kaushalya Ganga, and after that it is known as the Kosi River.

Physical Background

Topographically, the watershed is constituted of mature hilly landscape (Fig.2) predominantly of convex hill crests, wide multitier terraced valleys composed of alluvium and the mid-crests are characterised by concave slopes with pluvial cones and fans.

The average height of the watershed stands at 1,597m (sd 253m) which varies between 1,180m and 2,676m.

The average slope of the watershed stands at 150 (sd 7o) which varies

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

watershed is complex. A large part of the watershed in between 1,200m-1,800m, which enjoys cool temperate climatic conditions while a small part near the mouth of the watershed having elevation <1,200m falls under sub-tropical climatic condition. The remaining part of the watershed having elevation >1,800m has cold climatic conditions.

Rivers and Streams Fig. 2. Topography and Stream Network (perennial and Non-Perennial) in the Kosi Watershed (based on Cartosat Satellite Data)

between oo in the river terraces in valley region to more than 800 in the valley scarps.

Geologically, the rocks of the Kosi watershed are composed of two different tectonic units and seven different litho logical formations of the Lesser Himalayan region. These include: i) Almora Nappe, which constitutes the rocks of Saryu Formation (qurtzites and mica schists), Almora Group (gneisses) and Gumalikhet Formation (schist, slate/phyllite); ii) Ramgarh Nappe, that constitutes rocks of Devguru Formation (quart porphyry); iii) Sedimentary Belt, which is made-up of the rocks of Berinag Quartzitess.

The rocks are dipping towards north-east mainly 150 to 200 but upstream the Kosi River near Takula the rock dip is south-west. Climatically, the

Fig.3: Origin point (2240m) of the Kaushalya Ganga from a perched aquifer in Dharpanidhar Hill (2520m) (A) in the Past.

Due to depletion of groundwater level in the perched aquifer now the Kaushalya Ganga dies out from its origin point during summer season (B) at present.

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The Kosi River is a seventh order river having a network of as many as 9,969 streams of different orders, i.e.,7,805 first order (a total length of 3588.63 km), 1,750 second order (a total length of 729.83 km), 315 third order (a total length of 254.77 km), 76 fourth order (a total length of 119.64km), 16 fifth order (a total length of 65.32 km), 6 sixth order (a total length of 39.73 km) and 1 seventh order (a total length of 35.75 km), (Table-1).

The total length of non-perennial and perennial stream network in the watershed is about 4,833.67 km having a density of 10.43 km/km2. The length of the major trunk of the Kosi River from reach to mouth is about 56.76 km. As many as 12 major tributaries drain the river. These include Koshalya Ganga, Dev Gad, Menal Gad, Ben Gad, Janeli Gad, Rengad, Kurali Gad, Sim Gad, Nani Kosi, Bagania Gad, Jamthara Gad and Khul Gad. The length of these tributary streams varies between 1.73 km and 29.3 km.

Drainage Types

Based on the nature of flow of water in the streams, the drainage network of the Kosi River watershed is divided into two different types of streams. These are perennial streams and non-perennial streams (Fig.2).

The non-perennial streams are further divisible into two different types.

These are ephemeral and intermittent streams. Thus, the entire drainage network of the Kosi watershed is divisible in three different types of streams. These are ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams. @egovonline

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Table-1 contains numbers of different types of streams in the Kosi watershed.

Ephemeral -Hydrologically all those streams in which water flows during and after 2 to 4 hours of rainfall event are known as ephemeral streams. The first order finger tips and second order streams of the Kosi watershed are ephemeral. There are 9,870 ephemeral streams in the Kosi watershed.

Intermittent Streams- In the intermittent streams, water flows in rainy to winter season, but during summer they become totally dry. There are 76 major intermittent streams in the Kosi watershed.

Perennial Streams -Streams in which water flows throughout the year are known as perennial streams. At present, there are only 23 perennial streams in the Kosi watershed having a total length of about 41.5 km. All these perennial streams are in dying stage.

Table-1: Number of streams of different orders in the Kosi watershed.

Stream Order

No. of Streams

Drainage Type

First

7805

Ephemeral

Second

1750

Ephemeral

Third

315

Ephemeral

Fourth

76

Intermittent

Fifth

16

Perennial in dying state

Sixth

6

Perennial in dying state

Seventh

1

Perennial in dying state

THE PROBLEM Transformation of Streams

The Kosi River, known as Kaushalya Ganga from its origin to Chaunada, is a non-glacial fed river which originates at the height of 2,240m from perched aquifers in Dharpani Dhar Ridge having a maximum elevation of 2,520m (Fig.3 A). In hills, normally there is no continuous water table and the stream flow is maintained by draining such areas of gravity water in the perched layers (viz, aquifer).

If there is no proper recharge of aquifers during rains, the rocks of aquifer become dry and there is no water flow for streams. The drying up of JULY 2019 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

Fig.4: The perennial streams (in green colour, total length 225.6km) in 1965 -(A) based on SOI Toposheet records,and perennial streams (green colour, total length 41.5 km in 2003) - (B) based on field observation in the Kosi watershed.

the Kaushalya Ganga during summer seasons indicates that the ground water level has gone down from the origin point of the Kaushalya Ganga River (Fig.3B). Thus, due to depletion of groundwater level during summer, there is no water supply for these streams from their aquifers. In this way the minor and major tributary streams are dying from the headwater regions and are being transformed from their perennial nature to non-perennial (intermittent/ephemeral) nature.

The total length of perennial rivers in the Kosi watershed was about 225.86 km about five and half decade back (in 1965), but it was found to be only 41.49 km (Fig.4) during the draught of 2003.

The remaining 184.87 km, which

constitutes about 82 percent of the total perennial river networks of the Kosi watershed, has been transformed from perennial to non-perennial (intermittent/ephemeral) streams in nature. During the last 5.5 decades, the major tributary rivers of the Kosi such as Koshalya Ganga, Dev Gad, Menal Gad, Ben Gad, Jaineli Gad Ren Gad, Kurali Gad, Bagania Gad, Jamthara Gad, and many other minor tributary streams have been transformed from perennial to non-perennial streams.

Dwindling of the Kosi River

Due to transformation of perennial streams and tributary rivers, the Kosi River is dwindling steadily during the summer season due to decreasing annual lean flow. About two and a half decade back, the annual lean flow of the Kosi River was about 792 l/sec in 1992 which was found 50 l/sec in 2016 (Table-2, Plate-I). In 2018 summer it was dropped down to 48 l/sec (Table-2). The long term (1992-2018) lean annual flow records of the Kosi river reveal that the lean flow of the Kosi River has decreasing trend. The lean flow records suggest that during the last two and half decade the lean flow of the Kosi River has dropped about 16 times, i.e., from 792 l/sec in 1992 to 48 l/sec in 2018.

Plate-I: Lean flow -50 l/sec of the life line Kosi on 15th May 2016 at Kosi bridge.

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Table-2: Lean annual flow of the Kosi River recorded at Kosi Bridge Year Lean Flow in l/sec 1992 790 1993 440 1994 995 1995 780 1996 530 1997 430 1998 315 1999 423 2000 290 2001 285 2002 250 2003 85 2004 196 2005 111 2006 185 2007 380 2008 108 2009 95 2010 180 2011 120 2012 96 2013 80 2014 85 2015 100 2016 50 2017 50 2018 48

Sign of desertification

The steady transformation of perennial rivers into non-perennial rivers and fast dwindling of the major trunk of the Kosi River warrant that if no river massive river rejuvenation measures were taken, the Kosi river will be permanently transformed in to a seasonal river within the next one and half decade. It means that there will be no water in Kosi River during summer season. The indication of transformation of Kosi River into seasonal river was already highlighted in 2009 when the Kosi River flow was completely stopped for couple of days (Plate-II), underscoring that the groundwater storage of the Kosi watershed has been completely exhausted. It is a sign of incipient stage of desertification in the region which is

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

dangerous for sustenance of the mountain civilization.

GIS BASED REJUVENATION STRATEGY

Kosi is a seventh order large river and transformation of such a large river into a seasonal river is a sharp indicator of

desertification in hills. This has imposed a threat to the sustenance of not only mountain natural environment, biodiversity and ecological system, but also for human civilization. In view of this, there is an urgent need to reverse the process of desertification of the hills. Therefore, it is the prime duty of all

Plate-II: No flow in the Kosi river on 22nd June, 2009 at 100m down stream of the Almora Drinking Water Pump House at Kosi

Plate-III: Presentation of the Kosi River Rejuvenation Strategy to the Chief Minister of the Uttarakhand Government Sri Trivendra Singh Rawat on 24th June 2017 at the Circuit House Almora.

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the stakeholders to take steps for rejuvenation of the dying rivers.

In this regard firstly in 2003, when a serious draught occurred in the region, we started to make people and local/ state government aware that the Kosi River is dying steadily. On 22nd June, 2009 (Plate-II) when we observed that the flow of the seventh order Kosi river has completely dropped down to zero at about 100m downstream of the Almora drinking water pump house at Kosi, then we started to develop coordinated action plan in association with the District Administration of Almora to rejuvenate the river.

The GIS-based Kosi River Rejuvenation Strategy was completed in 2010, following which presentations of this strategy were made before district and state level stakeholders for its implementation. But we could not get success till May, 2018. On 24th June, 2017 we got an opportunity to make a presentation of the Kosi River rejuvenation strategy before the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Sri Trivendra Singh Rawat at the Circuit House Almora (Plate-III) and then subsequently a presentation was made before the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand, Utpal Kumar Singh at the zero point (Plate â&#x20AC;&#x201C;IV) on 13th December, 2018. After these presentations, the State Government adopted the Kosi River Rejuvenation Strategy, and the State Government of Uttarakhand launched it formally on 16th July, 2018 (the day of Harela Festival) by the the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Sri Trivendra Singh Rawat (Plate-V). On the launching day a record 167,755 saplings were planted in 60 minutes from 10.30 am to 11.30 am for the rejuvenation of the Kosi River. Tree saplings were planted in 109 selected sites in 14 GIS-based identified Surface Recharge Zones over the entire catchment area of the Kosi River. More than 10,000 people from schools and colleges students to NGOs, the Army and the ITBP were involved in this effort.

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

Plate-IV: Discussion on the Kosi River Rejuvenation Programme with the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand Sri Utpal Kumar Singh at zero point on 13th December, 2018

Surface Recharge Zones

The non-glacial fed rivers in hills originate from the 200m to 500m below the hill crest known as the headwater region. Streams originate generally to different directions from hill crest for example; the Dharpani Dahr headwater zone of the Kosi River watershed gives birth to as many as 11 rivers to different directions (Fig.5). Inside the headwater region, the water saturated rocks are known as perched aquifer (Fig.3A). Each headwater region has perched aquifer in hill from which streams originate to different directions. Each year the perched aquifers are recharged by summer and winter rains. The areas through which these perched aquifers are recharged by rainwater, termed here as surface recharge zones–the area of the hill above the origin point of streams (Fig.5).

Plate-V: The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Sri Trevendra Singh Rawat Launching of the Kosi River Rejuvenation Programme on 16th July 2016 (Harela Festival) at Village Katali near the origin point of the Kosi River.

forest, civil forest agricultural and barren land; stream orders, their types and length, etc. An example of Geographic Information map, out of 14 recharge zones, viz., the Syahi Devi Recharge Zone is presented in figure-6 and a brief account of this recharge zone is given in the following paragraph.

The Syahi Devi Recharge Zone

The Syahi Devi Recharge Zone (Fig.7) encompasses an area of 46.75 km2 and extends in between 29° 32’ 34.332” to 29° 36’ 50.328” N latitude and 79° 30’

27.828” to 79° 36’ 22.572” E longitudes in the Hawalbagh development block.

The minimum and maximum height of this zone varies in between 1100m and 2100m. About 34 percent area of this recharge zone is covered by reserved forest, 17 percent under civil forest, 24 percent under barren area and the remaining 25 percent is under agricultural/horticultural land. This zone is drained by 159 first order and 34 second order ephemeral streams in Northern Aspect and 99 order first and 19 second order ephemeral streams in Southern Aspect having a length of 179.72km, and 9 perennial streams, viz., Ari Gadhera (length 3.95km), Champa Gadhera (length 0.38km), Aghur Maufi Gad (length 0.40km),Kurali Gad (length 0.55km), Chan Gad (length 0.55km), Balam Gad (length 1.22km), Sidhpur Gadhera (length 1.50km), Kuman Gad (length 1.89km), Nariye Gad (length 1.89km) The total length of perennial and non-perennial stream networks in this recharge zone is about 192.05km.

Treatment Measures for Rain water

Delineation of Recharge Zones

The CARTOSAT satellite data-based Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and 3D maps (Fig.2) were used for delineation of 14 surface recharge zones of the Kosi river watershed which are presented in figure 6 with their names.

Geographic Information Map of a Recharge Zone

For demarcation of location and sites of river rejuvenation treatment measures, detailed GIS-based Geographic Information maps were prepared for all 14 recharge zones. These maps depict geographic location, relief, land-use/ land cover pattern showing boundaries of beat, compartment, range of reserved

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Fig.5: The Dharpanidhar headwater region which gives birth to 11 rivers out of which 4 (i.e. Kaushalya Ganga, Rudhra Ganga, Pinath Ganga and Dev Gad are tributaries of the Kosi river.

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

• To improve the quality of economic environment of the local inhabitants.

Biological Treatment Measures

Fig. 6: Spatial distributions of 14 recharge zones of Kosi river which give birth to the river network of the watershed.

Harvesting

Based on geographical and geological conditions of the Kosi watershed, the treatment measures which are being taken up for the Kosi River rejuvenation are broadly divisible in to two groups.

These are: biological treatment and mechanical treatments. A brief account of objectives and treatment measures is as follows:

In order to meet above objectives, the following biological treatment measures are being carried out in all the 14 recharge areas. (i) Plantation of Trees (Pt) - It includes plantation of water harvesting (broad leaved) species such as Banj,Utish, Amla, Kafal, Hisalu, Devdar, Padam, Tejpatta and Jamun in all four categories of land, i.e., degraded reserved forest, civil soyam and van panchyat forests, and barren lands. It should be done by initiating massive social forestry programmes in the recharge areas. (ii) Plantation of Grasses - It includes plantation of water harvesting grasses such as Napier grass species in all four categories of land, i.e., degraded reserved forest, civil soyam and van panchyat forests, and barren lands.

(B) Mechanical Treatments

The biological treatment measures shall take longer time to improve the condition of land for rainwater infiltration, therefore, for speedy groundwater augmentation, mechanical treatment measures are needed in the identified recharge zones. The objectives and types of mechanical treatments measures are being taken on suitable sites are described as following:

Objectives

The objectives of mechanical treatments are: • Groundwater augmentation through artificial recharge of rainwater by increasing the rainwater infiltration capacity of soil and percolation capacity of bed rocks to recharge groundwater storage.

• To increase soil moisture storage in the top-soil, sub-soil and parent material horizons of hills.

• To control overland flow and channel

(A) Biological Treatments

The objectives of biological treatments are as follow: • To increase the carpets of fresh litter, partially decomposed litter, decomposed litter on the ground to increase rainwater infiltration capacity of land for soil moisture storage.

• To increase groundwater storage by infiltration and deep percolation of rainwater into rocks on long term basis.

• To decrease overland flow and channel runoff.

• To control accelerated sheet wash, gully and rill erosion.

• To mitigate the problem of flooding on long term basis.

• To control the process of masswasting, i.e., land creeping.

• To regenerate the degraded natural environment; and slumping, land sliding, etc.

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Fig.7: Geographic Information Map of one of the 14 recharge zones of the Kosi watershed, viz., Syahi Devi Recharge Zone

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

• •

• • •

surface runoff or the problem of flooding.

To control accelerated rain splash, sheet wash, and gully and rill erosion.

To reduce dissolved, suspended, and bed load concentration of streams/ river water To bring back hariyali on the nature through water conservation.

Development of tourism.

To improve the quality of economic environment of the local environment.

Mechanical Treatment Measures

To fetch the maximum part of high intensity rainwater on hill slopes for acceleration the hydrological process of infiltration and percolation of rainwater into the rocks for groundwater

augmentation in perch aquifers, six mechanical treatment measures are suggested. These are: infiltration holes, infiltration trenches, bio-percolation barriers, infiltration tanks and check walls. A brief description of these mechanical measures is given as following: (i) Infiltration Holes- These are small holes (10 cm diameter and 30 cm deep) holes on soil on the degraded forest and barren hill slopes on the recharge zones to catch rain drops and overland sheet flow for infiltration into the soil for groundwater augmentation. These infiltration holes should not be constructed on geologically weak fault zones, nearby habitat areas and on discharge zones.

Fig.8: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Syahi Devi Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.10: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Kausani Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

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(ii) Infiltration Trenches- These are small cuts (3.0 x 0.3 x 0.3m) on recharge zones on the hill slopes made at a spacing of 10 m at an average slope condition of 20 degrees. The distance of spacing may be decreased, in case the hill slope is low or vice versa. The purpose of these infiltration trenches is to catch the rainwater in the form of overland flow or sheetflow and to facilitate it for groundwater recharge. These infiltration trenches should not be constructed on geologically weak fault zones and nearby habitat areas, on discharge zones and on flat lands. (iii) Bio-Percolation Barriers- These are small barriers to be constructed by vegetation and dead wood logs or pine needles across the first order

Fig.9: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Dharpani Dhar Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.11: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Binasar Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

Fig.12: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Jariyakholi Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.14: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Mayolikhan Recharge Zone (source of dataDepartment of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

ephemeral streams having a height of 1.0m with 0.1m base into the ground to at a distance of 20m on more than slope of 200 slope and 30m on less than 200 slope. The purpose of these bio-percolation barriers is to check the runoff of ephemeral streams during rain and to facilitate it for groundwater recharge. (iv) Infiltration Bowls- These are bowl shape shallow pits (maximum depth 1.0m) on dead small ephemeral lakes locally known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Khalâ&#x20AC;? to trap surface runoff to facilitate it for groundwater recharge. (v) Check Walls- These are small water retaining stone and cement check walls having a height of 1.0 m with 0.10m base into the ground to be constructed across the second order ephemeral streams to check the flow Connect with us on

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Fig.13: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Gananath Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.15: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the DinapaniRecharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

of streams to facilitate it for groundwater recharge. The width is site specific.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF THE FIRST PHASE WORK

The Kosi River rejuvenation work done during the first phase, i.e., from June, 2018 to December, 2019 was geotagged through the Nodal Officers of each recharge zones and Geographic Information Maps of all the 14 recharge zones were prepared showing distribution of river rejuvenation woks as presented in figure 8 to 21).

INSTITUTIONILISATION OF KOSI RIVER REJUVENATION PROGRAMME

Kosi River Rejuvenation Committee (KRRC) has been constituted by the State Government of Uttarakhand under

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the chairmanship of the District Magistrate Almora for sustenance and management of the Kosi River Rejuvenation programme. The coordinator of the KRRC is the Chief Development Officer, Almora, while the chief of Irrigation Department is Member Secretary.

The GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Katarmal, Vivekanand Parwatiya Krishi Anushandhan Sasthan, Almora and the Centre of Excellence for NRDMS in Uttarakhand, Divisional Forest Officer, District Development Officer, Executive Engineer Jal Nigam, Executive Engineer Jal Sasthan, Superintending Engineer Irrigation, Executive Engineer PWD, Project Manager Swajal, Block Development Officer Hawalbagh and Block Development Officer Takula district Almora are the members.

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

Fig.16: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Simtola Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.17: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Deolikhan Recharge Zone (source of dataDepartment of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.19: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Airadeo Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

Fig.18: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Riyuni Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

The Term of Reference of KRRC is to review the progress the Kosi River Rejuvenation programme and to make necessary arrangements of resources for the sustenance of the programme.

Technical Committee for Standardisation of the Kosi River Rejuvenation Treatment Measures

A technical committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Development Officer, Almora, in which, Divisional Forest Officer, Executive Engineer Irrigation and Executive Engineer Minora Irrigation Almora are members.

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In the committee, Prof. J S Rawat is a Special Invited Member. The term of reference of this committee is to decide the size and design of the mechanical and biological treatment measures and to monitor these treatment measures in the field to maintain the quality of treatment.

Nodal Officers

The Kosi River Rejuvenation Committee has appointed Nodal Officers for all 14 recharge zones of Kosi river. These Nodal Officers are district level officers of different departments. The terms of reference of the Nodal Officers are:

i) To prepare GIS-based micro-plans of the recharge zone ii) To prepare DPR of the micro-plans of the recharge zone iii) To implement the micro-plans of the recharge zone iv) To geo-tag all the treatment measures of the recharge zone v) To report daily progress through a WhatsApp group vi) To submit monthly report of progress to the coordinator of the River Rejuvenation Committee.

RECOMMONDATIONS

1. The Kosi River rejuvenation is not a

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RESEARCH STRATEGY TO SAVE KOSI

of the first and second order ephemeral streams, it may take a period of five years. After completing the first major phase works, the purpose of the second major phase work, is to start treatment measures across and within the catchment areas of the third and fourth orders intermittent streams. To complete the objectives of the second major phase works, it may take Fig.20: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the a minimum period of first phase in the Chuniya Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh) three years. The third major phase of treatment work shall concentrate across the project. It is programme on mission fifth and sixth order rivers of the Kosi mode which shall be continued till to watershed which may take a period reach its goal up to the logical of minimum two years. Thus, to culmination. During the first major complete the Kosi River Rejuvenation phase, for fetching the rainwater, the Mission, it may take a period of mechanical and biological treatment minimum ten years. The State measures have to be done within the Government should prepared catchment areas of all the of the first systematic and scientific micro-plans and second-order ephemeral streams of all above three major phases for a of all the 14 recharge zones. It is total period of minimum 10 years. projected that to complete treatment 2. The activities of the Kosi River measures within the catchment areas

Fig.21: Geographic Information Map of treatment measures done during the first phase in the Lod Bhatina Recharge Zone (source of data- Department of Forest and Development Block Hawalbagh)

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Rejuvenation programme cannot be sustained by the Kosi River Rejuvenation Committee, as till date it has neither funds at hands nor has any provision of getting funds, therefore, to sustain this programme of river rejuvenation, the State Government should immediately constitute a Uttarakhand River Rejuvenation Authority (URRA), by which not only the Kosi River but all the dying rivers of the state could be rejuvenated and saved.

3. The most challenging task for river rejuvenation programme is uncontrolled forest fire which is doing beside unrepeatable ecological and environmental damages, decreasing groundwater recharge by accelerating alarmingly overland flow generation catastrophic mass wasting and floods coupled with suspended, dissolved and bedload. To save the dying rivers, the State Government should constitute new policy of forest fire control as per need of the geographic conditions. Under existing policy of forest fire control, the dying rivers cannot be rejuvenated.

4. The concept of Natural Regeneration of Flora (NRF) should also be adopted for growing ecologically healthy forests by protecting the forest area. This should be started on pilot basis by the Forest Department, NGOs by identifying areas for NRF in all 14 recharge zones of the Kosi River.

5. To reduce the human pressure in forests, it has to be ensured that: i) All the families in the pilot programme areas of river rejuvenation has received LPG Cylenders for cooking their foods; ii) all the farmers are using Syahi Hal (made by iron) for ploughing their agricultural fields; and iii) all the families in the pilot programme areas are being provided alternative of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thangreâ&#x20AC;? (being used 4-5 thangre by each family in each year) for growing hyker vegetables during rainy season.

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TOURISM PERSPECTIVE

Rejuvenating Essential Resources to Create Livelihoods in Almora To welcome tourists in large numbers, we need essential resources like water in abundance, which is fast depleting with the passage of time due to deforestation, forest fires and plantation of trees like pine, which further depletes the ground water, writes Rahul Chaubey, District Tourism Development Officer, Almora.

Rahul Chaubey

District Tourism Development Officer, Almora

H

It is encouraging to see that due to concerted efforts of various stakeholders, the tourist influx has increased substantially in Almora, thus directly benefitting the stakeholders.

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ill states in India in general lack in economic resources on which the edifice of development is raised. However, the nature has blessed hill states with abundant natural wealth and beauty which can be leveraged to boost the economies of hill states.

Almora, which has been the cultural capital of Uttarakhand since time immemorial, has immense potential in the tourism sector. The District Tourism Development Office has been working on a war footing to attract tourists in large numbers to unlock the unrealized potential of the tourism sector in the

River Kosi

district by effectively putting a stop on out-migration from the district and turn its demography into an economic dividend, thus paving the way for development in the district.

The mandate of District Tourism Development Office in Almora is to develop and promote tourism by providing adequate facilities to the tourists visiting the picturesque district.

The office also generates employment opportunities for the local populace under various government schemes. For example, there are two schemes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Deen Dayal Upadhayay Home Stay Scheme

Almora Bazaar

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TOURISM PERSPECTIVE

Kasar Devi Temple

Ancient Cave Paintings at Lakhudiyar, Almora

and Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Yojana â&#x20AC;&#x201C; under which jobs are being created in the tourism sector.

However, Almora needs to develop good infrastructure to support tourism in the district, which is dotted with amazing places like Lakhudiyar Cave, which is a human settlement site dating back to the prehistoric age. Apart from this, Kasar Devi, Jageshwar, Katarmal, Ranikhet and Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary also have significant footprints on the world tourism map. Many others sites like Katali, Tadagtal, Kathpudia, Rudradhari Fall and Pinath, are among Connect with us on

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the potential tourist hot spots that are yet to be fully explored and developed.

But to welcome tourists in large numbers, we need essential resources like water in abundance, which is fast depleting with the passage of time due to deforestation, forest fires and plantation of trees like pine, which further depletes the ground water. The scarcity of water in the district has been so grave that it makes it strenuous for various stakeholders to draw their livelihood in their area of residence, and rather find it easier to move out in search of some better source of @egovonline

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livelihood, which is at the root of the problem of out-migration, turning many villages in the district into â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ghostvillagesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

To address this issue, the Uttarakhand government has taken an initiative to rejuvenate the lifeline of Almora, the Kosi River. Under this project, plantation drives are being 2organised. Various surveys have been conducted to assess the impact of Kosi Rejuvenation Programme. It is encouraging to see that due to concerted efforts of various stakeholders, the tourist influx has increased substantially in Almora, thus directly benefitting the stakeholders.

The district administration has also taken multiple initiatives to tap the natural wealth of Almora like promoting adventure sports, cultural activities, essential and cost effective infrastructure building, etc.

With every effort made, Almora is inching closer to resolving various resource-based issues and helping the local communities to gain from the increasing tourist flow, which is set to rise further in near future.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

Kosi River Project: Making Positive Impacts at Multiple Levels The Kosi River Conservation and Rejuvenation project has made multiple positive impacts in many sectors—social, environmental and economic. With large plantation, there is an increased flow of water and there is an improvement in overall water retaining capacity of the catchment, says Vishal Mishra, a 2018-batch Indian Administrative Services officer who has done his MTech in Water Resources Engineering from IIT Kanpur, is currently undergoing a one-year-long district training in Almora.

Vishal Mishra Trainee IAS, 2018

As water resources engineer, what is your analysis of the Kosi River Conservation and Rejuvenation project?

After I joined Almora district administration, I came to know that the Kosi River Conservation and Rejuvenation project won the country’s

top conservation award. After carefully studying the project, I found three important factors behind its success.

The first factor is its comprehensive approach towards rejuvenating the river system, which is not just limited to the plantation of trees. Rather, it focuses on all crucial aspects that are important for reviving a river. For

In the future, some new technologies such as hydrological mapping, rainfallrunoff modelling, etc, can be utilised to ensure the success of the project.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

example, creating infiltration trenches, and check dams, etc. The second factor is the composition of the project’s dedicated team that includes all important stakeholders such as communities, NGOs, SHGs, schools, and all relevant departments and research institutes. The third factor is the excellent application of technology, whether it is at the analysis stage or the implementation stage.

What kinds of technologies are being used in the Kosi Rejuvenation project?

In this project, technology is being used at every stage—planning, implementation, and monitoring. At the planning stage, using GIS 14 different recharge zones were identified.

Professor JS Rawat has done excellent work in this area and has been constantly providing his unwavering support. During the plantation and post-plantation stages, drone cameras are being used to monitor activities.

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and Development are also working with the district administration at every stage of this project.

In the future, what other technological inputs can be used for a greater success of this project?

In the future, some new technologies such as hydrological mapping, rainfallrunoff modelling, etc, can be utilised to ensure the success of the project. In this regard, G B Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development will be procuring an instrument that will help us monitor the impact of efforts made so far in the Kosi project. Also, for monitoring water quality, samples will be taken from different points and analysed so that not just quantity but also quality should be monitored.

In your opinion what impact has this grand initiative made so far?

The project has made multiple positive impacts in many sectors -- social, @egovonline

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environmental and economic. With large plantation, there is an increased flow of water and there is an improvement in overall water retaining capacity of the catchment. Associated fauna is also getting protected.

Communities are participating with great zeal and enthusiasm; as a result, it has become a new socio-environmental movement of Uttarakhand.

As almost everyone is contributing in this socio-environmental movement, what will be your role?

As I have some academic interest in field of water resources, being a part of the district administration I am going to have multiple roles. As part of the administration team, I will be playing an active role in upcoming plantation drives. As a researcher, this project will be the dissertation part of my assignment that will be submitted next year to Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration.

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FOCUS: LIVELIHOOD

ILSP- Building Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural Uttarakhand The Integrated Livelihood Support Project (ILSP) has adopted a two-pronged approach –to support and develop the food production systems and generate cash incomes through introduction and expansion of cash crops –to building livelihoods in hill districts of Uttarakhand, writes Kailash Chandra Bhatt, Divisional Project Manager, Integrated Livelihood Support Project, Almora.

Kailash Chandra Bhatt

Divisional Project Manager, Integrated Livelihood Support Project, Almora

The project has to date supported 848 LDPE tanks with a total water storage capacity of 12,914 kilolitres since its inception. The water stored is being used by members of producer groups in the production of seasonal- off seasonal vegetables and other cash crops.

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The Integrated Livelihood Support Project (ILSP), funded by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and being implemented by Uttarakhand Gramya Vikas Samiti, Department of Rural Development, Government of Uttarakhand, is being implemented in eight blocks of Almora district—Hawalbagh, Dwarahaat, Tadikhet, Chaukhutia, Bhikyasain, Siyaldeh & Sult.

The project’s objective is to reduce poverty in hill districts of Uttarakhand.

This would be achieved via the more immediate development objective of “enabling rural households to take up sustainable livelihood opportunities integrated with the wider economy”.

The strategy is to adopt a twopronged approach to building livelihoods in hill districts. The first of these is to support and develop the food production systems which remain the main means of support for most households. The second main thrust of the project is to generate cash incomes via the introduction and expansion of cash crops.

Community Participation Project activities are being implemented

through 2,361 Producers’ Groups (PGs) involving 22,038 families from the project villages in Almora district. These groups have been further organised in 40 self-reliant cooperatives, also known as Livelihood Collectives, which are registered under Uttarakhand Self Reliant Cooperative Act 2003. The producer groups are carrying out selected agricultural production activities such as spices, traditional crops, vegetables, milk production, goat farming, and poultry, etc.

Besides these community institutions organised under the project, the project is also supporting 5 self-reliant farmers’ cooperatives’ of Lamgada, Bhaisiyachhana and Dhauladevi development blocks formed under the previous Uttarakhand Livelihood Improvement Project (ULIP).

Due to rain-fed farming practices of the project supported producer groups, these groups are motivated to harvest rainwater and source water for agriculture by constructing Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) tanks. The project has till date supported 848 LDPE tanks with a total water storage capacity of 12,914 kilolitres since its inception. The water stored is being used by members

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FOCUS: LIVELIHOOD

of producer groups in the production of seasonal- off seasonal vegetables and other cash crops.

Dealing with Threat from Wild Animals There are rampant cases of wild animal menace such as wild boar, porcupine and stray animals creating a constant threat in agriculture production in the project area. The project has supported agriculture production by providing chain liked fencing to prevent the threat from wild animals. Under this activity, 140,596 running metres of chain link fencing has been provided to 2,391 families preventing 197.80 hectares area from this threat. This has not only motivated members of producer groups to improve agriculture production, but also set examples of converting fallow/ barren land into cultivable land with the help of LDPE tanks.

Redevelopment of Fallow Land Due to the constant migration of people and decrease of interest in agriculture in the last few decades, a huge area of cultivable land was converted to barren and uncultivable fallow land. The project has started the activity to develop fallow land by planting fruits and fodder species in barren land across the project villages so that the group members develop an interest in carrying out agriculture and allied activities.

Under the fallow land development activity under the project, the plantation of monsoon and winter season fruits

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plants species (with a total of 41,164 fruit plants) has been done in 210 hectares of land in the district. The main species of fruit plants planted are citrus species fruits (24,785 plants), mango (3,164 plants), guava (1,041 plants), litchi (306 plants), jackfruit (868 plants), pomegranate (860 plants), aonla/ gooseberry (1,425 plants), tejpatta (1,125 plants), walnut (1,970 plants), apple (1,725 plants), peech (3,635 plants), plum (485 plants) and apricot (50) in fallow land across project villages.

Under the fodder plantation activity in the project, Napier grass has been planted in 195 hectares of the project area.

Livestock Development To reach to milk producers with Artificial Insemination (AI) facility and other supportive services being provided by 24 trained para-vets, 22 livestock development centres have been established in the district. These centres

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are collection and storage point for about 800 to 1,400 litres of milk per day which is supplied to Anchal.

Marketing of Agriculture Produce In the project area, 15 collection centres and 135 mini-collection centres to ensure safe collection and storage of agriculture produce has been provided at the level of Livelihood Collectives. A Hilans Kisan Outlet at Officers Colony, Almora and “Ho Dajyu Outlet & Cafe” in Raghunath City Mall has been started to provide forward linkages to the collected and graded agricultural produce.

To ensure marketing of perishable agriculture produce of producer groups formed under the project, four weekly haats are being organised at Officers Colony, Almora, Aapno Bazaar, Chaukhutia, Ramleela ground, Bhikyasain and Deviyal, Sult.

The project has established community-based enterprises at the local level to undertake value addition and processing of local produce as well as products of producers groups. Some of these enterprises are given below: • Agro Processing Centre (APC) is a unit established in extension training centre premises in Hawal Bagh block.

Local products such as apple, mango, apricot, garlic, kiwi, chilli, etc are being processed to produce various items such as jam, chutni, pickles, squash, marmalade, etc. These products are being sold under the brand name “Hilans” in the markets.

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FOCUS: LIVELIHOOD

centre premises in Hawal Bagh block.

This unit is processing various traditional crops such as mandua, wheat, chaulaayi, etc and producing products like mandua biscuits, mandua bread, puffs, cakes, bun, etc.

• A rice mill unit has been established in Aapno Bazaar premises in Chaukhutia block. This unit is processing local paddy varieties, grading, packaging and selling them under the “Hilans” brand in local markets.

• A spices processing unit has been established in the block premises of Bhikyasain block. This unit is processing locally grown spices such as chilli, turmeric and coriander and selling that in powdered form in packs sold in the market under the “Hilans” brand name.

• An oil expelling unit has been established in Chittorekhaal in Siyaldeh block. This unit is processing locally-grown varieties of mustard and packaging them in different volume packs under “Hilans” brand name to the market. 6. Dalia unit is established in Saraikhet of Siyaldeh block. This unit is procuring organically grown wheat from other Livelihood collectives and processing Dalia under sufficient hygiene and quality parameters. This Dalia is supplied to some Cooperatives to use that as input in take-home ration and also being marketed in different

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packs to local markets.

Work Done by ILSP under Catchment of Kosi River in Hawalbagh Block • All the six clusters of ILSP in Hawalbagh block fall under the catchment of Kosi river in the block.

These clusters are known as Shitalakhet, Daulaghat, Patalibagar, Hawalbagh, Matela-Dhamas and Falseema.

• As many as 307 Producer Groups covering a total of 3,095 households in 88 villages have been formed in the blocks in the said clusters.

Through these groups and households, the project is implementing development and livelihood orientated activities in the block • To conserve and harvest the water in the Hawalbagh block, 121 LDPE tanks have been constructed, which has increased 1,580 kiloliters of water holding capacity for the purpose of irrigation and raising the seasonal and off-seasonal vegetables and cash crops. In the present FY 2019-20, 26 more LDPE tanks are proposed to be constructed in the block.

• Under the fencing activity, 21,102 running meter of chain link fencing been provided to the members of producer groups, which has enabled to protect an area of 32.4 hectares of agriculture land and agricultural

production from the wild animals like wild boar, porcupine and stray animals etc.

• As many as 5,465 saplings of fruit under the use of fallow land activity have been planted in 30 hectares of land. The major species of fruits include citrus species (2165), apple (1025), guava (550), pomegranate (350), plum (250), walnut (100) and apricot (60).

• To ensure the availability of fodder to animals, Napier plantation in 30 hectares of land has been accomplished in the block. To promote the breed improvement among the dairy farmers, one livestock development centre has been set up by providing training to para-vet.

• Five milk collection centres in livelihood collectives in the block have been set up by the project, which collects approximately 250 to 400 litres of milk per day with supplies to UCDF (Anchal) Almora.

• To aggregate and collect the local and the agricultural produce of the producer groups and their members, 1 collection centre and 16 small collection centres have been constructed in the block so far in the block. Outlets like Hilans Kisan Outlet at Officers colony and ho Daaju- Hilans Outlet and Café have been started by the project to sell and market the aggregated and collected produce.

• Two community and local resourcebased enterprises namely AgroProcessing Centre and Bakery Unit have been established at the campus of Extension Training Centre, Hawalbagh, which are processing local produce like Garlic, Apple, Apricot, Kiwi, Ginger, Finger Millets, Chaulai and Wheat etc.

With all the interventions of the project, approximately 30,000 households of the project area are being benefitted directly and indirectly through income generating activities in the entire project area for better livelihood opportunities.

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FOCUS: GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

Girls are the Most Precious Gift of God Social actions to ensure the survival of a girl child, in the form of initiatives to create awareness among people underscoring the importance of a girl child, have been the cornerstone of the district administration of Almora, writes Manvinder Kaur, Assistant Project Director, ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme, Almora.

Manvinder Kaur

Assistant Project Director ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme, Almora

A

larmed by the declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR), defined as number of girls per 1,000 of boys between 0-6 years of age, Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme in 2015. The scheme was launched with an objective of addressing the pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender-biased sex selection across the country, as many people simply don’t want to have a girl child and post birth discrimination against girls.

The scheme, which is being implemented through a national campaign and focused multi-sectoral action in 100 selected districts low in CSR, covering all States and UTs, has adopted a three-pronged approach— prevention of gender-biased sexselective elimination by making the determination of sex a punishable offence, ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

Social actions to ensure the survival of a girl child, in the form of initiatives to create awareness among people underscoring the importance of a girl child, have been the cornerstone of the district administration of Almora. For example, we congratulate the parents of Connect with us on

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a girl child and honour them with a ‘Badhai Patra’ (congratulatory letter) after birth.

Further, to protect and take care of the health and nutrition requirements of a girl child if she is underweight, anaemic or suffering from any kind of disease or disorder, the district administration has made provisions to provide treatment.

The third important focus area of the scheme is to educate the girl child. For that, many initiatives have been taken by the government and the district administration. These include motivating the parents to send their girl child to school, providing encouragement to meritorious girls in any field and give them some monetary help through the Nanda Gaura scheme.

The district administration of Almora also tries to ensure the participation of

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girls in every field. For example, in programmes on ‘Save Girl and Protect Girl’, bike rallies to spread the message to save the girl and providing encouragement to those girls who have done good work in the field of education, sports, arts or any other field.

Girls are the most precious gift of God and we have to save the girl child.

Our approach is that if we educate a boy, we educate one person but if we educate a girl we educate a family.

Thanks to this approach, Uttarakhand has emerged as one of the best performing states in the country in ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme. The state has performed consistently well in terms of child sex ratio at birth. As per the latest data, the state has seen the Sex Ratio at Birth increasing from 906 to 938, way above the national average of 923 girls per 1,000 boys.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

Saving Kosi

The Lifeline of Almora

Unlike other rivers, Kosi is a non-glacial river; therefore, its life depends on the water recharged in its huge catchment area. Unfortunately, that is happening far less now.

About 350 villages fall in the catchment area; hence the participation of local people is necessary to save the river (Kosi) from dying.

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The annual minimum water discharge hydrograph reveals that during the last two decades the minimum summer discharge has drastically come down. If this trend continues and no river rejuvenating measures are taken immediately, the entire perennial stream network would disappear, writes Major Praveen of Eco Task force, Almora.

The perennial stream network of the Kosi River in Almora district is transforming into a non-perennial network. The length of perennial streams in the Kosi watershed in the district has reduced to 41.9 km only.

The perennial streams are disappearing steadily from their places of origin in the region. The Kosi originates from the reserved forest of Dharpanidhar Hill which lies in the North West of the

Kausani town. The place of origin gives birth to as many as 11 tributary rivers to different directions, like Kasaulya Ganga, Rudra Ganga, Penath Ganga and Dev Gad (all tributaries of the lifeline of Almora town -Kosi River), Jantarya Gad and Garur Ganga.

Present Scenario

At present, all these 11 tributaries become dry during the summer season.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

This indicates that the groundwater level at the origin of Kosi, i.e.

Dharpanidhar Hill, drops down below the origin points of all 11 tributaries, hence, these streams normally become dry during summer seasons.

Similar to the Dharpanidhar recharge area, there are 13 other hills or recharge areas in the headwater region of the Kosi watershed from where as many as 90 tributary streams originate in different directions. Similar to the 11 streams of Dharpanidhar, 90 tributary streams which originate from 13 other recharge areas, become normally dry during the summer season.

Due to drying up of tributary streams from their places of origin and downstream areas in the range of 1-3 kilometers in the Kosi watershed, the summer discharge of the Kosi River is dwindling very fast. The annual minimum water discharge hydrograph reveals that during the last two decades the minimum summer discharge has drastically come down. If this trend continues and no river rejuvenating measures are taken immediately, the entire perennial stream network would disappear and the mighty Kosi River will become a seasonal river in the near future.

Unlike other rivers, Kosi is a non-glacial river; therefore, its life

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Major Praveen Eco Task force, Almora

depends on the water recharged in its huge catchment area. Unfortunately, that is happening far less now. About 350 villages fall in the catchment area; hence the participation of local people is necessary to save the river (Kosi) from dying.

Efforts to Save our Kosi

To meet fodder requirements, villagers leave their grazing animals in plantation areas even though these have been fenced. Adequate grasslands must be developed along the plantation area.

Napier grass and Vertiver grass should be planted in abundance to prevent the animals from entering the plantation areas.

We have seen a tremendous response from the local populace in terms of participation in Kosi River conservation efforts. It is important to make people responsible and engage them in tasks to safeguard the plantations. The local populace can also play a critical role in controlling this raging inferno which can directly hamper the efforts being made to safeguard the river.

Kosi is a lifeline of Almora and every step must be taken to save the river.

Encouraging local participation will surely play a crucial role in rejuvenating River Kosi.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

Breathing New Life into Kosi As part of the preparation for Phase-II of the Kosi rejuvenation programme, Vikas Bhawan Almora is taking various innovative steps like setting up of a Kosi Secretariat on its premises, which will look after the holistic development, timely approval and review of rejuvenation works, writes KK Pant, District Development Officer, Almora.

KK Pant

District Development Officer, Almora

M

other Kosi, the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lifeline of Almoraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, stretches for 75 km from her origin till Quarab, making a watershed area spread of 452 sq km. The river plays an important role in the ecological and economic well being of the region and the communities that depend on it to draw their sustenance.

Why Almora Needs Kosi?

As per studies by eminent geohydrologists, Kosi had flow of 790 litres/ second in 1992, which shrank to 48 litres/second in 2017. In the summer season, 90 small streams in upper belt of watershed dry up, resulting into nearly drying up of the main channel of Kosi.

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As many as 350 villages in and around Almora depend on Kosi for their drinking water needs, sanitation and other usages. The Kosi River feeds 33

major irrigation canals, hundreds of small irrigation canals, 16 lift schemes, among others. Not only for humans, but also the rich biodiversity of Binsar wildlife sanctuary and associated ecosystems depend on the river for food, fodder, fruits, flowers, etc.

Challenges Kosi is facing As per studies by eminent geohydrologists, Kosi had flow of 790 litres/ second in 1992, which reduced to 48 litres/second in 2017. In the summer season, 90 small streams in upper belt of watershed dry up, resulting into

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

nearly drying up of the main channel of Kosi. Forest fires, cattle grazing and mining have aggravated the pain of Kosi.

Bhagiratha Initiatives As many as 14 recharge zones of the Kosi River have been identified, which are the focus of joint rejuvenation efforts of various departments in the district mainly in Hawalbagh and Takula blocks.

Two main approaches –mechanical and biological treatment –have been adopted that consist of below components: Forest Development Through CAMPA Rural Development Through MGNREGA

spring shed and catchment area, strengthening of state nursing and timely reports on improvement of river flow are the key quantifiable deliverables.

Components

Biological

Plantation of Trees

Plantation of Grasses/ Shrubs

Impact Efforts made during the last Monsoon season have started giving results in the form of net accumulation of 174 million litres of ground water through recharge efforts. The quantity of water gained is enough to irrigate up to 6,960 hectares of agriculture land, helping Almora to achieve its sustainable development goal in the coming decades. Government of India has recognised these efforts by presenting the district the National Award in North Zone in “Best District in Revival of River” category.

Way Forward Carrying forward the momentum of the ongoing efforts, Almora district administration has mapped all 14 recharge zones through the GIS technique, which is helpful in tracing the actual work on the ground.

State Government Project Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, rewarded the efforts made in Kosi Connect with us on

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Mechanical

Infiltration Holes & Trenches

BioPreculation Barriers

Check walls, Check Dams & Ponds

Rejuvenation programme by granting the district a fund of approximately Rs 3.5 crores for a period of three years with three specific guidelines.

Objectives: To work on water conservation and to monitor water flow through ‘flow & discharge measurement along with quality measurement. Apart from it, developing conservation models in selected village & schools in 2 recharge Zones of Simtola & Devlikhan, creation of Kosi secretariat at district level and skill development of youth as tourist guide.

Monitoring indicators- Monitoring is key to the success. Focusing on data such as number of plant maintained and survived, stream treated, awareness campaigns started, how many regional best practices implemented, no. of plant seeding developed are being holistically monitored by the Almora district administration and state authorities.

Quantifiable Deliverables- It consist of maintenance of plant saplings, plantation of native broad leaf plant at degraded forest patches, treatment of @egovonline

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As part of the preparation for Phase II of the Kosi rejuvenation programme, Vikas Bhawan Almora is taking various innovative steps like setting up of a Kosi Secretariat on its premises, which will look after the holistic development, timely approval and review of rejuvenation works.

The district administration of Almora is also working on a website that will have all the details of the Kosi project, including payment gateway for raising funds through ‘Crowd-Sourcing’, which will turn this project into a people-funded rejuvenation project, thus ensuring greater participation of the citizenry.

Apart from it, the administration is working extensively with media teams to raise awareness among the people through a magazine called Kosi Patrika, a community radio “Kumaun Vani”, Akashvani and most importantly through social media.

The Kosi rejuvenation project is making a steady progress, but unless civil society, NGOs, citizens, students, media, and other stakeholders, which form a vital group, don’t contribute to the cause the efforts would remain incomplete.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

KOSIâ&#x20AC;¦ THE LIFE LINE OF ALMORA Sanchita Verma

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Rejuvenation Summit

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

¼lafprk oekZ½ ou {ks=kf/kdkjh@uks y ½vf/kdkjh ¼lafprk MoekZ ¼flerks y k fjpktZ u½ ou {ks=kf/kdkjh@uksMy tks vf/kdkjh vYeks M+k ou =] vYeks ¼flerks yk {ksfjpktZ tksMu+k½] vYeks vYeksMM+k+k] vYeksMM+k +kou ouiz{ksHkkx] =] vYeks vYeksM+k ou izHkkx] vYeksM+k 46

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FOCUS: ADVENTURE SPORTS

Adventure — A Way of Life Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing culture shock or through the performance of acts, requiring significant efforts and involving some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger, writes Rakesh Joshi, Chief Instructor, Disaster Mitigation & Management Centre, Almora.

Rakesh Joshi

Chief Instructor, Disaster Mitigation & Management Centre, Almora

A  D  V  E  N  T  U  R  E 

Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone. This may be from experiencing culture shock or through the performance of acts.

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Adaptability Desire and Determination Vision and Values Experience Natural Curiosity Teamwork and Trust Unlimited Optimism Risk Ability Exceptional Performance

Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should “expect the unexpected”. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the US-based Adventure Travel Trade Association, adventure travel may be any tourist activity, including two of the following three components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction and engagement with nature.

This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, mountain biking, rafting, zip-lining and rock climbing. Other rising forms of adventure travel include social tourism, jungle tourism and overland travel.

ADVENTURE SPORTS Rock Climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up or across natural rock formations or man-made rock walls with the goal of reaching the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route. Rock climbing is similar to scrambling (another activity involving the scaling of hills and similar formations), but climbing is generally differentiated by its need for the use of the climbers hands to hold his or her

Adventure tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone.

This may be from experiencing culture shock or through the performance of acts, requiring significant efforts and involving some degree of risk (real or perceived) and/or physical danger.

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FOCUS: ADVENTURE SPORTS

own weight and not just provide balance. Rock climbing is a physically and mentally demanding sport, one that often tests a climbers strength, endurance, agility, and balance along with his or her mental control. It can be a dangerous sport and knowledge of ; proper climbing techniques and usage of specialized climbing equipment is crucial for the safe completion of routes.

River Rafting Rafting or whitewater rafting is a challenging recreational activity utilizing a raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.

The development of this activity as a leisure sport has become popular since the mid 1970s.

Parasailing Used for familiarisation of free flight, is an activity in which a modified Parachute is attached to a person and pulled by a vehicle. The resultant force pulls the pilot up in the air. A flat open space approximately 400 Meters or longer can be used for this activity.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES The training of adventure sports will open up lot of job opportunities for a large cross section of people, of which direct employment will be available to the under mentioned skilled or semiskilled human resource: • Instructors in Adventure Sports • Store holders who are semiskilled in a particular sport field • Repairmen • Individuals who have requisite qualification in management of tourism • People involved in housekeeping work • Personnel involved in tourist security • Individuals involved in publicity • Individuals involved in safety and maintenance of quality control Besides these, there would be requirement of part-time trade workers, especially in tourist season, who will be freelancing to assist adventure tourists in various fields.

• Porters • Drivers and transporters • Cooks • Tour operators • Photographers • Tour Guides • Hoteliers • Entertainers • Shop owners, etc

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IMPACT OF ADVENTURE SPORTS ON LOCAL ECONOMY 1. Employment generation 2. Increase in publicity of the area 3. Resulting from the above : increase in tourist inflow.

4. Developing an International image of the Area.

Hang Gliding Hang gliding is another adventure sport that combines the thrill of an extreme sport and the grace of a bird. A gradual slope of 30 Degrees (from the horizontal) is used for ground training and the pupil is slowly taken higher till he has gained enough proficiency to attain high flight.

Scope and Impact of Adventure Sports Being very environment friendly, sports cause almost no damage to the air, water or land. Adventure sports can collectively boost the economy of a region without causing any damage to the surroundings. Adventure sports activities are considered the safest way of promoting tourism by many advanced nation without damaging the ecology.

Various other benefits due to adventure activities include development of hotels/caterers, transporters, souvenir shops and host of other services providing employment directly or indirectly to the people by the adventure sports organisations.

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FOCUS: KOSI REJUVENATION

Rejuvenating Kosi: An Iconic Campaign to Nurture Life in Himalayas Writing about the Kosi water rejuvenation campaign, Dr Kapil Nayal, Lecturer, Government Inter College Hawalbagh, Almora, describes the measures being taken to restore the river. The campaign, which is being monitored and guided by the district administration Almora, headed by District Magistrate Almora N.S .Bhadauria, is aided by the team of specialists, headed by Professor J.S. Rawat , nodal officers of recharge zones, district level officers and teachers. Community mobilisation being carried out by the district administration to involve the local communities is a hallmark of this iconic project.

Dr Kapil Nayal

Lecturer, Government Inter College Hawalbagh, Almora

I The awareness campaign and mass mobilisation seem to be working successful as all stakeholders are working to the best of their capacity for river rejuvenation campaign. People have understood the value of water.

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n India water from ponds, rivers and ground is used for domestic and agricultural purposes. Kosi River originates from Pinath near Kausani and flows to Someshwar. At Someshwar, Dhoni Gad and Bhutagaon Gad meet Kosi. Masterstreams Sim Gad, Patia Gad and Khul Gad join the river near Kosi town. The river then flows to Kwarab where another master stream Suyal joins it. From here, Kosi moves to Khairna, Simalkha, Baitalghat and then to Ramnagar in Nainital district. With 40 percent of Kosi bank area under cultivation, the riverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s valleys are home to thousands of people and in recent years have become the subject of maximum anthropogenic exploitation.

In recent times, the problems of Kosi have aggravated due to falling water level and degrading water quality. To

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address these issues, the district administration of Almora, with the help of specialists, has planned a detailed project for rejuvenation of the river.

Kosi River Rejuvenation Campaign According to the plan, 14 recharge zones have been identified with one nodal office in each zone. Infiltration holes, trenches and check dams are being constructed at mass level with the help of local people of the area.

Forestation is being carried at a large scale with the help of students, Eco Task Force, ITBP personnel, village people and various NGOs. Mass mobilisation programmes are being organised by district level

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officials, school teachers and administrators. Rallies, Kosi oath ceremony, chart and poster competitions are being organised at schools, block and district level regularly. Social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook are also being used for the awareness campaign.

The plan also takes into account taking measures for improvement of water quality. A study done in four sampling stations at Pinath, Kosi, Someshwar and Quarab showed a well-marked seasonal fluctuations in temperature of water .The pH of water from all sampling stations was within the recommended threshold limits.

Monsoon season recorded the maximum amount of total dissolved

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solids and Toal suspended solids and total solids, the values are within the prescribed limits suggested by WHO. High concentration of magnesium ions is recorded in the water. This is due to the presence of dolomite, magnesite and olivine in the catchment area.

Hardness values differ significantly in different seasons. Water quality status and extent of pollution in Kosi is studied through an integrated effects of the concentration of the relevant water quality variables.

Impact The awareness campaign and mass mobilisation seem to be working successful as all stakeholders are working to the best of their capacity for river rejuvenation campaign. People have understood the value of water. All recharge zones are being covered with dense forestation, infiltration holes and trenches. The success of the campaign has been underscored by other districts also taking river rejuvenation works on the same lines. We hope the coming generations in Almora would not face scarcity of water and the Kosi River will be rejuvenated to nurture life.

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