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Editorial
THEGREENBEAT Hello everyone. Welcome to The Green Beat. I am trying to think where to start . This is my first article ever. When I joined the group ICARE, I didn’t know that I would be given the task of writing in a newsletter. We all support a lot of causes but how involved are we in any of them ? So to show my support for this organization I will be writing here, hopefully every month bringing something new to the table. The ICARE organization is all about bringing a change. A change of attitude, a change of ideas, a change for the better. Through this newsletter we are trying to create an awareness about the common issues that are prevalent in our country today. We also invite people to write to us about what they think they can do to help bringing this change. Every idea will be considered because it matters to us what you think. Together we can change for the better---- making our community a better place to live and for our children to grow. As the monsoon season beckons, we need to relish each moment of fresh showers, rustling leaves, gray skies and the invigorating aroma of the soil before the oppressive October Heat beckons the spine chilling winters. These are all beautiful images to enjoy in this season. However, one thought does come to mind, how long will we be able to enjoy the beautiful colours Mother Nature has given us? Will our children remember them when they are older? Will our future generations enjoy them just as we are today? And are we doing enough to keep our Planet green? Today there are signs everywhere to go green. So let us all do our bit instead of waiting for the government to do something. Just a few suggestions to come your way. 1. Take public transport to work instead of your car one day a week. 2. Join a carpool. 3. Drive 5 miles less in a week. 4. Plant a tree in your neighborhood community. 5. Ride a bicycle instead of your two-wheeler. Let’s start by doing the little things to bring a big change in our world. Just think about it and enjoy the green around you. In the end, I invite all the members who are part of this group to send in their feedback or just write to us about the issues you want to discuss. We will try and include every voice because every voice matters to us. Till next time.
Think Green. Go Green.
Shalini Mehta Guest Editor
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REGULARS 2 Editorial 4 Members Speak 5, 10 Photo Story 23 Green Tip for the month
founder
Yudhishter Puran Singh guest editor
Shalini Mehta creative editor
COLUMNS 8 How it All Began Message by the founder
12 Common Mistake Dr. Anil P. Joshi
14 Dehradun, Then and Now Mr. Raj Kanwar
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ns-gjk-nwUk Mr. Amar Barwal
17 Clean Doon Green Doon Aishwarya Sharma
18 What a Day Naman Khanduri
icare 20 In the news 24 Get in Touch
Akshay Madan news editor
Aishwarya Sharma social networking
Rishabh Kant publisher
Image Graphics marketing
Lotus Leaf photo-editor
Sandip Puran Singh special thanks
Nirvi Shah, Vishal Bhatia Om Sinha, Anshuman Dandriyal cover design & photographs
Akshay Madan
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Members Speak Prachi Bhatt
Amar Barwal
Himanshu Chauhan
Its time to know and understand the importance of the necessities of life -air ,water, soil. Its time that we strive to save our environment , to protect our place. Doon is no more the city of big tall trees all 'round. To start of with the noble cause Yudhishter sir has frmed a grp ' I CAREbringing people together' "think global, act local" the 1st project under iCARE is '*abcd -A Beautiful Campaign for Dehradun*'. Is'nt the name so kool! But why the name 'abcd'.??? Its ‘cause we all are familiar with it and can easi-ly connect with it.!Remember when we were little kids and went to school ? So this tells us that its time to get out of the 4 wallz into the 'real world' and notice the changes and start act-ing upon them. Hw many of us close taps and switch off lights when not in use? How many have actually made 2 binzs- for organic & inorganic? How many of us plant trees or take the initi-ate to stop others from littering around?? ...m sure the no. won't be v.high....So here is a chance for all.....join abcd and let our creative minds give new ideas and tech-niques , to do good for our city.Its our city and our world..and WE need to work for it...!!
Good beginning is half done but that may not be the case here as this is a tough ask, long back in 1983 when I worked in FRI ,I wished the same but with time it has changed rapidly, Doon being the state capital and a thickly populated place where every one wants to settle down. This has made it more complex. But I do not want to discourage you and wish for its success. the first and foremost need for pollution-free doon could be the use of cng in vikrams and local public vehicles. spreading awareness through similar social networks could be handy. let me assure you that your efforts would bear fruits....and for that you may have to become abimanyu. .Ameen.
ABCD is a beautiful idea, started with a noble cause. I understand your position where u're looking for the like-minded ppl for the support. I lend you all the support
Vansh Nathani
that is possible from my side.
Deepti Singh Dear team ‘I care’ great work...with this global warming its very important for ppl to understand that our future is at a great risk...its good to involve the local ppl of dehradun & the school kids......educate them bout the risks involved in using plastic bags..promote paper bags..talk bout savin electricity & ...water....give handouts to ppl.. I'll definitely spread the word around about your effort.
Great initiative! I'm confident that this group won't be one of the many name Astha Tewary sake groups and will do some real Your campaign makes a lot of sense work at the round level. to me...there is great need 2 conserve the environment. very few people make the effort 2 take the initiative ..i am so happy u did ! any help ..just ask 4 it!..though am not in ddun if i can b of any help from delhi ..let me know!
Creating a safe and Green Future for whom we care
Photograph by
Ritvika Kala
[P.S.– We put forth the views of the members in their Neo language and appreciate their enthusiasm] expressions
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Photo Story
BLOMFIELD'S WORLD
As a 16 year old I am passionate about nature and wildlife and always wanting to capture the vivid forms of nature in my camera. Join me in protecting the Mother Earth. Feel free to contact me, my Email ID is aggarwal.anant93@gmail.com .
Anant Aggarwal expressions
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Photo Story
Looking to Heaven Down to Earth
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Photo Story
Drop by Drop
Colourful World
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How it all began
I
was born at East Canal Road when the canal still flowed and the weather still had a pattern. By the time I was two and half years old we moved to Doodhly not far from Lachhiwala to be with Dad where he was helping my grandfather set up a school for the local village children. It would later go by the name of Dehra-Dun Hill Academy and that’s where I would do my schooling. But that’s get-
ting ahead in my story. As of now the year was 1988 and it was still the old Dehra Dun.
My earliest memories of childhood are of vast open spaces and myriad of colors, the blue of the sky, dark green clover lining the village path, yellow of the hay ricks and of course the emerald green of the sugarcane fields with dark freshly ploughed earth full of leaf mulch. As a child I took all this for granted. Dehra-Dun was a quiet place then and you can imagine how it must have been at Doodhly….you could hear the river Suswa at night and during the monsoons when the lights went out the old gular tree would light up with fire-flies. Those were such happy times, nothing was rushed, Sundays were almost always picnic, only we didn’t call it that, in fact we had no name for it for all Dad would say “we will cook lunch outdoors” and Mom and a helper would pack a small hamper and we would trot along towards the Phandowala forest guesthouse which was no more than a mile due south…. And o boy! All the wonderful things that lay in between, fields with all sorts of things growing in them, little canals with swift water gurgling in it, mango topes and all the birds calling in the spring and yes the smell of nectar and the blossom….but at that age there was only one word for it and the word was ‘LIFE’.
Well time flew by and I finished school and joined my cousins most of whom were doing college in Bombay or Pune. At first it was great fun. There were many things a small town like Doon did not offer but within that freedom of anonymity was also loneliness. Everything big was not necessarily good…I could see many who were made poor because someone wanted to stay rich. There is often a dark side to development which columns of ‘India Shining’ do not wish to talk about.
I began to miss home…back then I did not know quite what it was that I was missing…I took it to be just a normal bout of home sickness which a month of holiday would lay to rest, but on the contrary my desire to come back to Doon grew by the day and when finally my exams for graduation got over I did not stay a day longer than it was necessary to get my things together and I knew I was going home. That’s when I knew what I was missing and what people in big cities perhaps understand better than anyone else…a belonging…a love for your home town…something was tugging at my soul and beckoning me to come home. I am now told that it happens all the time to those who grew up in Doon…once you get smitten by it, you can do nothing about it….something like a thunderbolt, Dehra-Dun grows on you.
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How it all began I came back home, came back to the Doodhly of my childhood and starting working with children at the school. I saw in them a hunger to learn, a hunger to do something. There was small town still surviving at the outskirts of Dehra and I knew immediately why my father had taken the decision to shift to our ancestral village so long ago, why he would council the villagers to not use pesticide in their fields, why he would go to schools in Doon and conduct an awareness drive to save the tiger almost twenty years ago. I now knew the meaning of the word ‘cause’ and I knew I had found a calling and all this was because i care for who I was…for the place I was born in…a place which had a special meaning to so many people….and above all because I was thankful…thankful for being able to understand what we had been blessed with…and that I had the education and the blessing to something about it. And that’s how i-care the organization came to be as a result of the open spaces and the blue sky, as a result of the clover lined village paths and paddy fields, as a result of the bird songs in the spring and the heady fragrance of mango blossom, as a result of the clean potable water that flowed in the river Suswa which we used for cooking, drinking and of course frolicking on Sunday picnics, because if we did not do something about it, it would all be gone like the East Canal where I was born and the crystal clean water that flowed in it, like the lychees which we hardly see any more and the Suswa water which today even the cattle of the village do not drink and what to say about the quiet and the green of Doon. Since then every time I have talked to people about i-care…I have seen something positive come out of it. There are people who want to help…people in the govt. service…in high offices, people from all walks of life want to help… they listen, they give their time and want to make an effort, especially the young people in this town…and there are many bright young people in Doon who care for what is happening around them. And they are willing to speak up, they want to be heard, they want to be a part of the solution not the problem. Thank you so much all of you …without you each one becomes just one individual but together we can make the difference…thank you so much for the encouragement.
Yudhishter Puran Singh Founder expressions
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Photo Story
Shades of My Dehradun
By Sandip Puran Singh expressions
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Photo Story
The Valley of Dreams
By Sandip Puran Singh expressions
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Common Mistake
T
he hottest International issue that we con-
Resources are only governed
front today in Print and Electronic media
generated by people of rural
is on Global Climate Change. Copenhegan
parts of the Globe. The major
has been hotspot and world’s eyes and ear
stakeholders of these resources
were focused towards, in recent past. Mr. Barack Obama
are rural community.
to Dr. Manmohan Singh, the world’s nation heads and
We must agree with the fact that conversion of these
others have been party to it. The whole meeting ended
resources for usable commodity are rarely available within
with ever ending economic fight. Developing world
rural community. This set huge energy use for transport of
cursed developed world for denying their share of de-
resources from rural to urban. The same processed re-
velopment through industrialization. As a matter of fact, it was ecological battle in economic disguise. There are series of debate, discus-
sources again flow back to consumers who are largest in number in rural part. There are two issues eventually arise. The transportation of resources to both end add to unnecessary energy use. This could be comfortably saved by cur-
sion dialogue ending to nowhere and everyone pretend
tailing one way. Why after all local opportunities to convert
to be serious without free initiative and concrete action.
local resource are not adequately explored in rural parts.
To be honest, the dilemma is not going to end until and
We fail to understand that this approach will set decentral-
unless everyone of us seek solution from within our
ized economic flow which will further offer local jobs.
own niche. Collective responsibility and self transfor-
Crowding cities will have a relief from flocks of people
mation from consumer to donor can only mitigate this serious problem. We have had serious discussion on environment distress and its consequences specially in International
stampede for job search here. The uniform equity will also avoid ill decesions which currently are reflected in our socio-political systems. Efforts to bring economic equity will indeed need political will, knowledge transfer and social acceptance of urban rich.
Forum. What is happening at your own land is rarely discussed. Why New Delhi had to blow at New York is no case is less important similar conflict between New Delhi to New Tehri. It is in fact economic disparity that has set major imbalances. Economic imbalances lead to ecological, this fact need to be more realized to planners and policy Makers. We can rectify the gross common mistake first at our only end and be an example for others to follow. Photograph by Akshay Madan
The after-effects of collected garbage and plastic waste, a cloud of polluted gases over a small market in the Doon Valley
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Common Mistake
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here are enormous examples with us today where local economy retrieved and enhanced with mere knowledge inputs. Massive drive to decentralize economy will bring total socio, ecological and political stability as these are directly linked with true development strategies. This has to be understood that such an initiative will bring a clear vision of ecological sound economical development. Mountain strategies will
focus on economic development around forest water resources while arid zone will depend upon low rain produces. This will also help to utilize local strength of the region which is predominantly lies on available resources. This will ultimately add to sustained resource based regional development. Development need to be redefined. Should we place industrialization, real-estate business and infrastructure as development indicators? Such a development can not be enjoyed particularly when corresponded loss of resources are not acknowledged. There must be a parallel analysis which should measure periodical growth of life resources i.e. water recharging, forest cover, soil enrichment and air quality etc. Extreme physical achievement for comfort have already hampered our ecological cycle, constant negligence will lead to unrepairable losses and other socio ecological disasters. We can give an example to improve our habitat first for overall ecological and economical efficiency. Only after we can become a better advocate for global environmental sustainability. We can only claim to be best judge when our performance at our own home will qualify standard of Nation’s inclusive prosperity of life. Since it is a common mistake all of us will have to volunteer to retrieve what have been lost in the past.
Dr Anil P. Joshi www.HESCO.in
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Dehradun Dehradun
THEnandNOW
I
have almost continuously lived in Dehra Dun for 63 years, a long enough time to become its inseparable part. Even when compulsions of business or service took me out to other cities, we always had a family home here. I was a teenager when my family moved here, studied at the DAV College, and spent many years here as a professional journalist.
annexes to be let out. A gardener was a must, and it was his religious responsibility to maintain the lawns and the plants in immaculate condition.
Most of the roads were tree lined. Many roads in Dalanwala, Rajpur and Kalidas localities were covered with canopies of overhanging branches. The Eucalyptus Road, which connects East Canal Road with Rajpur Road was so named because In the beginning, we lived in large tall eucalyptus trees stood like sentinels on and expansive rented bungalows in Dalanwala its both sides. So thick was the overhead branches that even rays of the Sun could not filter through its in the midst of and surrounded by green canopy. Today it is barren, and devoid of any form of greenhundreds of litchi and guava trees. ery. Similar has been the fate of most other roads in Dehra Dun, Under the municipal byelaws, no and the situation has gone from bad to worse since the formation houses could then be built in Dalanof Uttarakhand. Today roadside trees are routinely felled in order wala area in less than five to widen these roads; this is going on all over the city in bighas of land (4500 sq utter disregard to widely prevailing public sentiment yards). Most houses, however, stood on even larger After 63 years, I am a saddened senior citizen. Dehra Dun is not the same as it used to be. The valley plots; green hedges, not once green, is no longer so. There is, unfortunately, nexbric k s, sym b ol i ze d us of timber contractors and corrupt government offiboundary walls. Large cials busy in minting money by destroying fragile ecoand finely manicured system. Curse on those who have turned a green and lawns with beds of flowfertile valley into a rocky desert. ers were the badge of honor for householders. Every bungalow had outhouses and annexes; outhouses for servants, and
Mr Raj Kanwar Journalist
Photograph by
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Akshay Madan
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hen generations to come would struggle for survival, finding it difficult to breathe, tough to move from one place to another and spill their blood over a glass of water, cursing their forefathers, do you think we would be resting in peace up above? Certainly not.. It therefore becomes our utmost duty not to provide our children concrete houses only but something concrete so that their lives do not become miserable. Most of us may be cursing our ancestors whenever we visit our villages to see our small traditional houses but if we minutely look at the surroundings with greenery all around, open spaces where kids could play while older ones could gossip, ladies keeping an eye over their off-springs and cattle at the same time and sharing their pleasures and pains, customs and religions, faiths and beliefs with one another. Our ancestors may not be having provisions and means but they had a vision and that is what matters most. Time has undergone a sea-change. The earlier society oriented approach has now become a self centered one. Jealousy has been foremost in our minds. We compete with others out of shear jealousy forgetting our needs, requirements and budget. This is the root cause of all evils. We should not forget our contributions we owe to the upcoming generations or else it would spell the disaster. Due to population explosion and speedy urbanization, people are quickly migrating to cities making cities even more crowded. Its a hard known fact that populated big cities are ecological nightmares, wastelands of concrete and garbage, traffic jams and poisonous fumes emanating from vehicles chimneys and cigarettes. This unmanageable population flooding the cities cause scarcity of resources resulting into frequent power cuts, scarcity of water and other amenities, disrupted communication links, poor road and other transportation means ,crowded hospitals and even police-stations and above all in-effective law and order resulting into complete chaos. Dehradun is no misnomer in this regards. If we go down history lane to find out how the name Dehradun may have come into existence? We find that the name Dehradun may have originated from two words namely Dehra and doon. It is said that during the reign of Aurang zeb, Ram Rai the guru of Udasi sikhs on being ordered by Mughal king to retire to the wilderness of Dun had pitched his tents here in what is known as present day 'Khurbura' and also built a temple at Dhanawala. The town was built around these two sites and was called dera and dun means a low land at the foot of the mountain range. Another derivation of the term Dehradun is stated to be from Dronasharam, a hermitage from guru Draunacharya of Mahabharta fame , who sojourned for a season in the village Devara situated near Dehra to perform his devotions. The present day Dehradun has lost its charm and greenery due to heavy urbanisation, needs to be re defined.
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According to me it should be 'De-hra-doon'(in Hindi)..or so to say Give me a green doon Each one of us is well aware of the fact that urbanisation is a movement away from tradition to modernity, a shift from agrarian to industrial and market economy and this is also true that for growing society this growth is equally essential. Its a hard known fact that these urban activities and growth are constantly putting pressure on the already burdened environment and public utility infrastructure. Setting up a new city according to the future requirements is easier than crowding the existing infrastructure to accommodate more people. It is quite obvious that exponential population growth and human activities has resulted into large-scale ecological degradation, improper and excessive use of surrounding forest resources, and increased environmental pollution due to air, water and land-use posing serious threat and leading to unsustainable development. With the emergence of new state, Dehradun became the capital of Uttrakhand in November 2000.The population graph of the city rose exponentially again. Situated about 230 kms away from New Delhi, the capital of India, Dehradun is surrounded by Himalayas in the North and Shivalik ranges in the South, river Ganges flowing in its East and the Yamuna in the West ( having latitude of 30" 19' and longitude of 78" 04' east with an altitude of 2100 feet a. m. s. l.) Dehradun is neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winter and having around twelve lakhs of population with about 75 % literacy rate. Once famous for its good quality rice and litchi and world known for producing quality defense personnel, the place is also known for small scale industries producing bulbs, woolen garments and soaps etc. The total area under the district is around 3088 sq.m with 73.7 per cent under forest cover which is depleting day by day. This depleting forest cover is the real cause of concern and needs to be looked into. It’s an old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and if we do not wake up now it would be too late. Each one of us must work in the direction of controlling global warming and should not leave every thing to Govt. The race for green Dehradun has begun but this needs to be kept in mind that this is a steeple-chase race where hurdles would be many with no finishing line. Let each one of us run along and contribute for the good cause. There would be time when spirits would at the lowest, there would be time when people would not appreciate your efforts but the lamp of hope needs to be kept enlightened so as to achieve what has been perceived. Bringing masses together for the cause is the first and foremost task which needs to be done with utmost care. Social sites and other mediums could bring in people together contributing for the cause. Various agencies like business houses, Govt. Departments/organizations, schools, local and national leaders and national and international agencies need.
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ns-gjk-nwUk to be coordinated to get whatever help could be possible. The total area requires to be divided into small sectors and sub sectors and each sub sector has to be properly looked after by a group of local representatives. Schools are the ones from where the idea of green Dehradun could percolate rapidly. Debates, seminars, symposiums, brain storming sessions, drawing competitions etc. needs to be organized to create awareness in various localities. Feeling of "keep your surroundings clean, green and pollution free" is to be generated and spread through these activities. Various areas of the cities could be owned by business houses, elite social clubs, NGOs etc. to help the local bodies in planting saplings, strengthening infra structure like sanitation, water supply, irrigation, maintenance of roads and in improving electricity and communication networks. These business houses could act as a model of green Dehradun and at the same time could advertise their objectives. Mussoori, Dehradun Vikas Pradhikaran along with local administration may be playing significant role but these agencies along with other developmental organizations such as Town and Country Planning, Pollution Control Board, Irrigation and Public Health, Electricity Board, Cantonment Board and other Public Utility Organisation needs to be well coordinated with local bodies to help the cause.
free and green. Certain market areas of the city should be banned for vehicles so that people could move freely. The encouragement should be given for use of non conventional energy sources for transport. The cycle rickshaws with improvised designs can also play a vital role in bringing down the pollution and local administration must encourage the rickshaw pullers by giving them adequate financial assistance. As regards planting trees, this must be done at war footing, barren forests and wastelands needs to be afforested. Help from premier institute engaged in forest research i.e. FRI having its Head quarters in Dehradun could play vital role in providing saplings, suggesting area-specific species to be planted and suitable plantprotection measures could go in very handy. Oil and Natural gas Commission and local Cantonment boards may also help a lot in this cause. As has been generally observed, we celebrate' van-mahotsava' every year by planting millions of saplings but their rate of survival is alarmingly low. No one bothers about the fate of the planted trees. It is equally important to reduce the mortality rate. Utmost care needs to be taken in this regards. Another aspect which is worth mentioning here is under-utilization of rain water. Concept of rain water harvesting may be old but rarely practiced. Every new house must incorporate rain water harvesting system and make use of the rain water which goes unutilized.
Photograph by
Sandip Puran Singh
When you move around Dehradun city, you may find eighteenth century hand pulled cart alongside an imported luxury car, may also find private carrier known as Vikrams (Three wheeler) throwing tons of fumes into the surroundings making mockery of pollution free certificates. New Delhi did face a similar disastrous situation few years back forcing the planners of the nation to seriously look for the alternatives. The result is a use of CNG introduced after so many deliberations in the public transport system which not only reduced the air pollutants in the atmosphere but also made the transport economically viable. The use of this model in Dehradun can bring in enormous changes in making the city pollution
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The topic has no meaning if I fail to point out the existing sanitation and drainage system of the city. One heavy shower is sufficient to bring garbage on to the roads; needless to say, local authority has to toil hard to find a permanent solution for this. As regards wastedisposal the authorities may be taking all the care but lot needs to be done and achieved. There could be many more aspects that requires to be addressed and re-dressed and could be part of the campaign but at this very outset I congratulate and hope that challenges would be encountered one by one. A Beautiful campaign for Dehradun with a motto of ICARE is a wonderful beginning and I fully endorse my compliments for its success....
Amar S. Barwal Instrumentation Engineer
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Clean doon green doon
S
o, we’ve seen and discussed enough about Dehradun. We’ve seen the transition of the serene and pristine retirement retreat into an advanced town with all the highs of development, immigration, pollution, deforestation and all of those predominantly mentioned things. We’ve seen the abandon polythene movements, the discussions in our classes, in our drawing rooms, in those grueling EVEd classes, and of course, in the fierce debate competitions. But hey! What next? What else have we done except for discussing, blaming, and in the end, shutting off our headspace and going off to sleep, hoping that someone will come to change the way things are going on in our once peaceful and heavenly town? We make faces at the traffic jams; cover our noses to keep away from the obnoxious odours of the garbage that’s there on the roads, blame the administration for not taking care of the city, crib, and yell over the way everything is being managed, and well, do everything that everyone is conditioned to do. But excuse me! What right do we have to accuse the administration of anything? What have we done? What are we doing? Are we following our duties? Are we doing what we’re supposed to? We feel disgusted to see the trash on the roads; especially the heaps at the railway station gate right there and hurl curses at the management of Dehradun. But I would like to ask all of those highly concerned citizens “who throws ice cream sticks, chips wrappers, chocolate wrappers, fruit peels, and all sorts of unnecessary stuff outside the car window, onto the roads?” Who cares? It’s the government’s job to keep everything clean. Why should we worry? We aren’t getting paid for all this anyways. Let the officials do what they are being paid for. We are nowhere into all this. People might justify themselves saying that they do not collect heaps of garbage on the roads, but all I want to tell them is “maybe you guys don’t collect heaps of garbage, but you contribute to it. When everyone does what you’re doing, it creates a heap, a big heap. Not just of garbage, but of indifference, ignorance, apathy, and ennui. I want to ask you people. How many of you are really doing something for the garbage problem? How many of you segregate biodegradable waste from non- biodegradable wastes? How many of you practice the sustainable practice of composting? How many of you have separate dustbins for biodegradable and non biodegradable wastes respectively?
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The maximum problem of waste disposal in Dehradun is exclusively because of the fact that we mix up both the kinds of wastes. The biodegradable waste putrefies, and renders the non biodegradable wastes unfit for recycling. Rarely does any family practice segregation of household wastes. Roads are increasingly filled with toxic, stinking garbage, rivers and other water bodies are losing their sustenance because they’re overloaded with rubbish, and are reeking with the stench of untreated garbage. One might argue that the environment was never "ours" to save, but maybe it deserves a bit more respect than mankind has bestowed upon it thus far. What can be done to preserve what we have, restore what we've destroyed, and raise awareness about environmental causes, it all depends upon us. We are a democracy. A democracy is for the people, and by the people. Every problem we face can be solved by active participation. Unless we take the initiative, we don’t have the right to accuse anyone of not doing anything. I find it incredibly amazingly hypocritical as to how we so easily allege the slackness on the part of the government but in no way want to “waste our time” in working for such things. I would certainly encourage you to think about your actions, and your options. Every small problem in Dehradun is due to the fact that we don’t raise our voices and take things in our stride. Let us be instrumental in making things happen, rather than waiting for our neighbors to initiate a revolution. In the end,
If not now, When?
If not here, Where?
If not you, then Who??? Be the Change, Right Here, Right Now!
——— Aishwarya Sharma Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun.
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What a day
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he day begins with the ringing of my alarm clock at six in the morning. I wake up, not to the lovely and blissful chirping of birds, but to the honking of cars in my street. Taking it as my regular wake up call, I take a stroll through my garden, hoping to enjoy the fresh morning air. As I step outside my house, a somewhat warm breeze, bringing along with it the stink of the rotting garbage from the nearby dump, greets me. What a fine way to begin the day with! On my way to school, I notice youngsters taking a roller coaster ride, throwing caution to the winds as the lone policeman tries, in vain, to stop them. I feel pity for the poor fellow, after all who cares to take notice of him. Leaving all this behind, I manage to reach my class avoiding the rush at the school gate. Frequent power cuts take away, with them the studying atmosphere of the classroom leaving me with no choice but to get distracted. This combined with boring lectures in some subjects makes the fun-filled hours at school seem to be more like a punishment. Anyways withstanding these difficulties I still manage to achieve a reasonable percentage. The last bell brings with it some relief as well as pleasure to me, but all this subsides as soon as I reach the School gate, and the same old story repeats itself again. A long queue of cars emitting poisonous smoke, which seems to look like a serpent gobbles up the fresh air and it becomes difficult to breathe I stagger home, exhausted. Though I have hardly used any energy, yet the polluted atmosphere seems to drain my energy away. To refresh myself, I decide to take a bath only to find that there is not even a single drop of water in the shower. What’s new in that, after all how often is the water supply regular? Grumbling, I step out of the bathroom, disappointed, wondering when the situation will improve. Evening is the time for me to go to Gandhi Park for a brief walk. Once again I notice traffic chaos on the road. Policemen are absent from their duty. Even their presence makes no difference to the rude and unruly drivers. Cyclists are constantly pushed off the road and drivers don’t seem to be aware of their presence. Reaching Gandhi Park I wonder if it is really the same place which I have known
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since childhood. Taking two rounds of the park, I get back home, complete my homework and go off to sleep. In one day I get to experience all phases of city life - irregularity of the Municipal Board, traffic disorders, overcrowded public transport, lack of basic conditions of life like electricity and water and many others. This is my daily life in the mini metropolis of Dehradun. I curse the inefficient political leaders and their false promises that are responsible for the present condition of my town. It pains me to see how the condition of Dehradun has worsened in recent years. I face all the hardships of life every single day, and yet I say that I am proud to be a citizen of Doon. I truly remember my old Doon. The day begins with the ringing of my alarm clock at six in the morning. I wake up, not to the lovely and blissful chirping of birds, but to the honking of cars in my street. Taking it as my regular wake up call, I take a stroll through my garden, hoping to enjoy the fresh morning air. As I step outside my house, a somewhat warm breeze, bringing along with it the stink of the rotting garbage from the nearby dump, greets me. What a fine way to begin the day with. On my way to school, I notice youngsters taking a roller coaster ride, throwing caution to the winds as the lone policeman tries, in vain, to stop them. I feel pity for the poor fellow, after all who cares to take notice of him. Leaving all this behind, I manage to reach my class avoiding the rush at the school gate. Frequent power cuts take away, with them the studying atmosphere of the classroom leaving me with no choice but to get distracted. This combined with boring lectures in some subjects makes the fun -filled hours at school seem to be more like a punishment. Anyways withstanding these difficulties I still manage to achieve a reasonable percentage. The last bell brings with it some relief as well as pleasure to me, but all this subsides as soon as I reach the School gate, and the same old story repeats itself again. A long queue of cars emitting poisonous smoke, which seems to look like a serpent gobbles up the fresh air and it becomes difficult to breathe.
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What a day I stagger home, exhausted. Though I have hardly used any energy, yet the polluted atmosphere seems to drain my energy away. To refresh myself, I decide to take a bath only to find that there is not even a single drop of water in the shower. What’s new in that, after all how often is the water supply regular? Grumbling, I step out of the bathroom, disappointed, wondering when the situation will improve. Evening is the time for me to go to Gandhi Park for a brief walk. Once again I notice traffic chaos on the road. Policemen are absent from their duty. Even their presence makes no difference to the rude and unruly drivers. Cyclists are constantly pushed off the road and drivers don’t seem to be aware of their presence. Reaching Gandhi Park I wonder if it is really the same place which I have known since childhood.
Taking two rounds of the park, I get back home, complete my homework and go off to sleep. In one day I get to experience all phases of city life - irregularity of the Municipal Board, traffic disorders, overcrowded public transport, lack of basic conditions of life like electricity and water and many others. This is my daily life in the mini metropolis of Dehradun. I curse the inefficient political leaders and their false promises that are responsible for the present condition of my town. It pains me to see how the condition of Dehradun has worsened in recent years. I face all the hardships of life every single day, and yet I say that I am proud to be a citizen of Doon. I truly remember my old Doon.
Naman Khanduri St. Joseph’s Academy. Dehradun
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In The News
GRAFEST KARTAVYA 2010 GRAFEST is not an event but a tradition that we follow every year in Graphic Era University. It hosts a platform for young and budding students to show their extra-curricular wit and compete with each other under different cultural craniums. This year the faculty of Management department and the students took a step ahead to relate GRAFEST with social and environmental concerns and it was started with a name KARTAVYA 2010 so as to keep in tune and emulate the kind of wonderful things I CARE has been doing. Being extremely impacted by I CARE’s initiatives, it was indeed an honour for us to host an event with such a noble angle. KARTAVYA 2010 captured various environmental concerns and issues related to the youth under its banner. The first day was dedicated to the youth wherein the team managed to inculcate the spirit of hockey amongst the young blood and a quiz was organised to bring in awareness about the culture, the heritage of India amongst all. The second day was devoted to the global warming solutions wherein various aspects related to the environment were given utmost importance. A nukkad natak was staged in the college premises, the focus of which was on less water consumption and anti-smoking. Students rode cycles to put forth the necessity of saving fuel. Various banners and charts prepared by the students of the “KARTAVYA” team were pasted within the college premises to create awareness related to the same. On the same day a pledge was taken to preserve the extinction of our national animal “tiger”. A huge banner was placed in the college auditorium, on which the faculty members and the students penned their signatures and took a pledge to save them. The Hon’ble President of Graphic Era University, Professor Kamal Ghanshala along with the Chief Guest Air Commodore A.N Pradhan let off a bunch of white and green balloons (Symbol of Peace and Prosperity) in air to mark the success of the event. Finally, the event was brought to a grand closure with the plantation drive held in Dehradun Hills Academy situated on the outskirts of the city in Dehradun. It brought out the essence of this event being a social and environmental concept.
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Ashwani Garoo (MBA II) Prachi Bansal (MBA IV) expressions
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In The News The ambulance is equipped to clean trees, even perform small surgeries NEW DELHI: Green cover in areas under New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is set to get a new lease of life. Come December, and the civic body will launch a tree ambulance that will identify sick trees in need of urgent care and nurture them. After August's heavy showers, over a 100 trees were uprooted in NDMC areas. Experts blamed it on concretization and a lack of proper care of the city's trees, some of which are 20 to 30 years old. The ambulance will be a part of a plant protection cell that will be set up before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Said an NDMC official: "We have to protect these trees from termite attacks and fungal infection which leads to hollow trunks. Besides this, they require regular pruning. People also have to be careful not to break branches or barks of trees indiscriminately.'' A survey conducted by Forest Research Institute, Dehradun found some sick trees in NDMC areas, but which could be salvaged with proper treatment. The idea of a tree ambulance was devised to treat these trees and increase their longevity. According to NDMC, this concept of plant protection has never been adopted before in the country. In the beginning, NDMC will start with 2-3 such ambulances. These ambulances will be built from special trucks and will carry equipment like insecticide, water tanks, ladder, pruning equipment, strengthening material etc needed to treat sick trees. The ambulances will take rounds of a particular area in NDMC on a monthly basis and monitor and inspect the trees along the stretch. Each ambulance will have six to seven trained gardeners who will look after trees that need care. Said an NDMC official: "If people know of a sick tree, they can get in touch with us through our control rooms. Since the trees cannot come to us, we have to keep an eye out and take good care of them.'' According to NDMC's horticulture department, trees on Janpath and Mother Teresa Crescent suffered from a termite attack recently. Said an official: "Some old trees have fungal infections that cause cavities in the tree trunk. These hollow trees can be identified and treated. Trees also fall ill due to insect attack and that can be taken care of. We are dealing with concretization by carrying out soil work in such areas.'' According to NDMC, whenever trees fall due to storms, they replant new ones. For instance, many trees fell along Aurangzeb Road during the recent storms. Some of the oldest trees in NDMC can be found along Tuglaq Crescent and Talkatora Garden. Guys………Why cant we ask our respective State Govts. to help us with a few? Lets sign a petition asking the state govt. to help us out so as to prevent any damage. Mail your feedback to: treeambulance@gmail.com
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In The News House the Sparrow For the first time, March 20 is being celebrated as the World House Sparrow Day Dehradun, March 20 The Action and Research for Conservation in the Himalayas today observed the First World House Sparrow Day in Dehradun. At a function held at MKP(PG) College, Dr RS Tolia, Chief Information Commissioner, Uttarakhand, recalled the importance of the rich avian fauna diversity in the state. He said the house sparrow stood as a symbol towards conservation of avian fauna. Chief Conservator of Forests Jairaj disclosed that birds always revealed the health of the environment. He called for an understanding between Dehradun schools and forest authorities for wildlife conservation. In his keynote address, ornithologist Prof Dinesh Bhatt from Gurukul Kangdi University attributed change in house building pattern as the main reason behind the dwindling number of house sparrows. He said usage of pesticides was also reason behind the deaths of sparrows. RK Kohli, ecologist says, "Each species is a significant part of our food web so efforts must be made to ensure survival of all. And we have to make more efforts to save sparrows because they cannot survive in the forests." Kohli is at present doing a project commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests that studies the effects of mobile radiation on urban ecology. "Making little changes in our lifestyle can go a long way in ensuring sustenance of these birds. CDMA technology emits less powerful radiations than GSM services and landline phones are even better. Opting for technology that pollutes less is one way of ensuring our contribution towards the ecosystem," he adds.
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GO GREEN - GREEN TIP Eco-living is easy, affordable and smart, and can be incorporated in our lives. It now makes economic sense, and is the apt thing to do for our planet” EARTH”. We feel proud and satisfied knowing that our very actions will preserve the charisma of life for our forthcoming generations.
We must first take baby steps because the task of going green starts from our very own homes. We can buy canvas bags and take them to the grocery store with us. We can make sure all lights are turned off when no one is in a room. . Once we start making these small changes in our family’s everyday living, we’ll look for more and more ways to green up our home. Our children will thank us. The planet will thank us. Make Eco Living commonplace in your own home, and set a good example. This month’s green tip is making compost. If you have a garden or a kitchen garden, consider building a compost heap for your food waste.
To build a compost pile 1) Put leaves and grass trimmings in a bin or pile. 2) Dampen the pile with a little bit of water. 3) Turn the pile once per month. 4) Add food waste (vegetable and fruit scraps, tea leaves, etc.) daily and bury them in the pile. Continue to add water so the pile stays damp. 5) In 12 months, the bottom of the pile will turn into rich compost.
Photograph by Sandip Puran Singh
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Get in touch Show that you care No organization can thrive without active participation from people, especially the young brigade. So what are you waiting for? Just unleash your creativity and show the world what you got!! We are looking for creative, enthusiastic and innovative people. Can you write? Invent crazy ways? Design? Photograph? Develop websites? Photoshop? Draw? Whatever you can do, you are invited. We can always utilize an extra mind! As you know this is the inaugural issue of this magazine and we are expanding. I CARE values every member and we would appreciate your VIEWS. To be a part of our initiative just mail us a paragraph about yourself and your skills.
We are online on www.icarefordoon.org Follow us on Also if you have any queries to make, you are most welcome to contact us.
Email us at expressicare@gmail.com Ring up Yudhishter Puran Singh +9411114921 Photograph by Anant Aggarwal
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