Its Raining Vadas!

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September 7, 2021

Dateline Mussoorie: It’s raining Vadas!! Literally! At The Savoy Hotel, Mussoorie.

Four talented chefs with their retinue of thirty have been working round the clock churning out Vadas (savoury) to make it into ‘The Limca Book of Records for over five hundred varieties of vadas.’

With more than five hundred varieties of Vadas, the team is worked with indigenous ingredients from Uttarakhand to add local flavour and texture to the savoury accompanied with condiments, along with authentic vadas found pan India.

Talking to us Smriti Hari, the brain behind this tantalising idea tells us, “This is a dream come true for all of us present here. With the support of The Savoy Hotel and Chef Rajeev Badola, Chef Virender Singh Rana and my daughter Khyati Hari (Junior Masterchef fame) we hope to create a new Limca Book Record.” She further adds, “We wanted to use indigenous ingredients such as jakhia, black sesame seeds, local mustard oil, madava, kandali, gaitha, jhangora, timru, red unpolished rice, poppy seeds etc to showcase our rich culinary heritage along with the regular vadas that we commonly get.”

Mouth-watering cheese burst vada to poha vada, makhana vada to rice vadas, from ringing paneer to sabudana vada all spread out to entice the eye along with our taste-buds.

The youngest chef 19-year-old Khyati tells us, “It was once-in-lifetime experience being guided by such talented chefs including my mother. We thought up the idea, laid our stores in advance and then fructified our dreams.”

Chef Rajeev Badola of The Savoy Hotel adds, “We have grown up on these flavours and our focus was to make 51 local varieties that remind us of home and hearth.”

Chef Virender Singh Rana for the past five years has been no stranger to creating new records. From samosas to regional biryani, kathi rolls, raitas to the longest coconut barfi, his forte and core interest has been Indian cuisine. “Vadas are a popular snack. You will find all varieties including 51 regional ones from the hill-state. We plan to publish a book with recipes of 350 of these in the near future.”

With the results rolling in by the end of the month, look out for the space for more.

Uttarakhand connect to the “KAZIND-21” joint military exercise

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Harish Thapliyal/Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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September 2, 2021

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Dateline Uttarkashi: Kazakhstan joint military exercise “KAZIND-21” started today at Training Node Aisha Bibi, Kazakhstan. The 5th Edition of annual bi-lateral joint exercise of both the armies will continue until 10th of September, 2021.

While the fourth edition of the exercise was held in September of 2019 in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, this year around, the officers and jawans of 9 Bihar Regiment which are presently deployed at Hursil Indo-China border will be taking part in the training at Training Node Aisha Bibi, Kazakhstan.

Leading from the front officers, Col. Rajendra Prasad, Lt. Col. Kartik M, Major Amit Kumar, Captain Kovind and Captain Mukund along with jawans from 9 Bihar Regiment will be taking part in the week long joint military exercise.

What makes this one more especial is the fact that the contingent comprises of 120 troops from Kazakhstan and ninety soldiers from the Indian Army. Both the contingents will share their expertise and skills in the field of counter terror operations. The exercise will culminate in a 48 hours joint validation exercise scheduled on 8th & 9th of September, 2021.

The validation exercise will be a litmus bed for the soldiers of both the country armies as they would be undergoing challenges of actual operations in such scenarios. The exercise will also provide impetus to the ever growing military and diplomatic ties between India and Kazakhstan. The joint exercise goes on to reflect the strong resolve of both these nations to counter terrorism and stand shoulder to shoulder to combat the same.

Tapping Rudraprayag’s dharas or water springs

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Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 26, 2021

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Dateline Rudraprayag: If you happen to travel to Rudraprayag via the Sirohbagar Rishikesh- Mana Highway or the Tilwara – Mayali Road do look out for the dharas or natural water springs that are making quite a statement, now.

With an eye for perfection and something aesthetic the District Forest Officer Vaibhav Singh has tapped into traditional Dhara or Naali or roadside water springs and turned them into beautifully crafted work of art.

DFO Vaibhav Singh explains, “We started this project in Rudraprayag with the vision that it will be replicated in other districts as well. Our springs had become an eye-sore with either pvc pipes or plastic bottles being used as a spout. They were littered with plastic waste. But these natural springs add to the scenic beauty of our state and we felt the need to creatively beautify them.”

The overwhelming response by local residents and tourists to the pilot project gave it a much-needed boost. The Forest department is now in the fray to beautify over thirty more natural water-springs that dot the hill-district.

With out-of-the-box thinking and a small budget, these water-springs have been given a facelift which is insync with their surrounding. Constructed by a local artist these two water-springs are 1.5 meters in height and 2.5 meters in length with a stone-face of a leopard pouring water out of its mouth.

DFO Vaibhav further elaborates, “there is a message behind this rustic creativity. The animal-face spout reminds us that these forests are home to a wide variety of flora, fauna and a natural source of pure water which should not be taken for granted or wasted.”

The forest department is now exploring the option of contacting more artists who can help to bring alive these dharas and naalas which though considered sacred water outlets by the hill folks yet remain neglected!

‘Yakulaans’ capturing Uttarakhand’s haunting reality

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Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 25, 2021

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Dateline Rudraprayag: Migration. A fact that stares our home-state Uttarakhand in the face. A recent RTI reveals how within a decade over five lakh people have migrated out of Uttarakhand leaving 3,946 ghost villages dotting our hills.

Capturing this poignant issue in less than 30 minutes in their debut short non-feature-film category are the ‘Pandavaas Production’ from Srinagar, Garhwal.

‘Yakulaans,’ means ‘to be lonely,‘ and that is what this story is all about. It is the moving story of an elderly man who lives all by himself in one such ghost village. The man is bereft of any human company to share his joy or sorrow with, he speaks in monologues to his cattle and a few strays in the village.

Shot from a Point Of View (POV) camera angle, the team brings alive the haunted world of the protagonist residing in a ghost village bereft of human company.

The Pandaavas explain, “The moving lyrics of Jagdamba Chamoli ji and the soulful voice of Deepa Bugyali define the loneliness of our protagonist. The topic of ghost villages and migration have always been pertinent to our hills. Yakulaans is both liberal, progressive and dipped in nostalgia.”

As for Ishaan Dobhal the Music Director, “Sound recording in the ghost village was a challenge as the silence was haunting and disturbing. The theme song of the movie is an amalgamation of local Uttarakhand folk musicians along with classical western musicians. We have tried to capture all the emotions through music.”

The fact that Yakulaans was a crowd-funded project by two hundred and eighty people and Damodar Hari Foundation made the project more endearing for the Pandavaas team.

For Kunal Dobhal the Director of his debut non-feature film, was something he could empathise with. Armed with a master’s degree in theatre and performing arts, Kunal started the art of storytelling through acting in plays. Through Yakulaans, that has been shot on location in a ghost village in Chamoli district with local characters, Kunal’s creativity resounds the reality of ghost villages across Uttarakhand.

Pandavaas Creations Pvt. Ltd. an Uttarakhand based media production has been instrumental in working with the young artists on music videos and folk literature, video documentaries on social issues. Yakulaans is their first, yet not the last, Non-Feature Film and part 4 of their Time Machine series.

Yakulaans is slated to release @ 6:00 p.m. on social media handles coming 27th of August, 2021.

Classrooms for children: Border Road Organization

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Harish Thapliyal/Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 16, 2021

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Dateline Uttarkashi: For young and energetic Sandesh, Vikas, Lalita, Kavita and many amongst these seventy-five young children the month of August has been special, and no not only because of the 75th Independence Day

Thanks to the initiative taken by two young officers of the Border Road Organization 72 RCC, stationed in the Indo-China border in Uttarkashi the world of words have been introduced to young minds like them.

Rahul Yadav, Junior Engineer of BRO 72 RCC and Subedar Sandesh Pawar switch roles and teach close to seventy-five children of some five hundred labourers mostly from Jharkhand, Bihar and labourers from Naga, Hindoligarh and Jangla labour camps in the interiors of Garhwal.

Aged between four-year-olds to fourteen-year-olds the children have been living a nomadic life in BRO camps with their folks who work as labourers for the Border Road Organization in the bordering districts of India. The idea came into being when the officers noticed how the children stayed back in the camps without any supervision as their folks set out to work early morning and returned late in the evening. The safety of the children and keeping them engaged in a fruitful activity was of utmost priority for the officers who brainstormed ideas and decided that pen and paper would be the best way forward.

A few weeks into their open-air classes, the children come together at 8:00 a.m. sharp and follow a flexible time-table. From English, Hindi to basic Maths, the boys and girls are smitten by the written word. They look forward to their daily classes as much as their dedicated teachers.

Major Binu VS, Officer Commanding of BRO tells us how on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day colourful stationery was distributed amongst the children who are now hooked to the world of alphabets and numbers all thanks to the initiative of two young officers.

‘Minting’ money in Uttarakhand

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Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 16, 2021

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Dateline Udham Singh Nagar: Baburam Saini is a happy and content farmer from Narpat Nagar. His experiment with intercropping something as basic as Mentha/Mint has added more zeroes to his agricultural income.

Today, Baburam’s 5.5 acres of land is producing additional crop thanks to the technical assistance from the Centre for Aromatic Plant (CAP). Based in Selaqui, CAP is teaching farmers the nuances of intercropping and its multiple benefits. Baburam intercrops maize, mentha/mint and cucumber with his main crop being wheat which has assured better returns.

This one case study reflects the story of over five thousand farmers of Udham Singh Nagar who are being provided technical assistance by the Centre for Aromatic Plant/ CAP in 47 clusters.

The continuous efforts of CAP has ensured that the cultivation of Mint has now crossed borders from Khatima into Sitarganj, Rudrapur and Jaspur development blocks as well. Cultivators have taken to this new technique like ducks to water and are readily intercropping crops for lucrative returns.

A similar story in repeated in Haridwar district where Rao Farooq Khan has been intercropping mint with wheat since 2017. At present, 453 farmers in 14 clusters of Bhagwanpur, Narsan, Bahadarabad and Khanpur in Haridwar are reaping benefits from the technical cooperation of Centre for Aromatic Plant.

A perennial aromatic herb, Japanese peppermint (Mentha arvensis) grows to a height of 60-80 cm. A growing demand for Mentha oil and herbs in industries such as food, flavouring, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and confectionaries shows India dominating the international market with an annual turnover of Rs.6000 crores.

In Uttarakhand, the Terai region is best suitable for the cultivation of this Japanese mint which is being cultivated in 6,118 hectares of land in the four districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Nainital and Dehradun.

In collaboration with CAP, the State Government plans to develop thirteen Aroma Valleys over the next seven years. Plans are afloat to cover 7,000 hectares of land which will in turn benefit close to twenty eight thousand farmers in the hill-state.

Engineering Marvel: Silkyara Bend–Barkot Tunnel

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newspost

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August 12, 2021

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Dateline Uttarakshi: “Tunnelling is an art and complexity is its beauty,” a thought put into action in the construction of the Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel Project with escape passage in Northern Himalayas.

Being constructed by NHIDCL at Dharasu ˗ Barkot ˗ Yamunotri Road (NH-94/134), in Uttarakhand, this engineering marvel is located on the Chardham route that connects Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

Termed as on one of the most prestigious highway projects currently underway in the Himalaya, this bi-directional, two lane 4.531 km long tunnel has an excavated diameter of 14 m. The project is considered as most challenging given its terrain, topography, accessibility, climate, geology and hydrogeology.

Commenting on the development, Mr Raj Kumar, CMD, Rodic Consultants Pvt Ltd., Authority Engineer for the supervision of this project said, “Rodic Consultants takes pride in being part of this dream project located in the Himalayan region. This is truly a challenging task, given the geolocation of the site and the environmental norms of the location. Significant work has been done for the excavation, bridging and hauling process. Once completed, this tunnel will not only facilitate easy access to Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage sites but also enable the development of backward areas, connect new trade centres, and serve the resident population with better economic prospects.”

The tunnel after completion will reduce the road length from 35 km to just 4.537 km. Yamunotri being just about 50 km from this tunnel will make it an easy access for pilgrims who then plan to travel towards Badrinath and Kedarnath.

Barkot and Silkyara are the two ends of the tunnel, with the tunnel alignment covered with overburden/soil with a thick pine forest over it. Apart from being a tourist attraction, this megastructure promises to be an engineering marvel considering the challenges such as 90% of the tunnel is being excavated in phyllite, a very weak rock, using New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) that employs sophisticated monitoring to optimize various wall reinforcement techniques based on the type of rock encountered as tunnelling.

It is expected that this national asset will be completed and commissioned as early as next year i.e. 2022.

The road less taken: Uttarkashi’s Covid Warriors

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Harish Thapliyal/Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 10, 2021

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Shweta Rana and Sonam Rawat enroute to administer covid dose

Dateline Uttarakshi: Dedicated health workers like Shweta Rana and Sonam Rawat have proven to be true Covid warriors in every sense of the word. They, like many amongst them, risk their life to ensure that people in the interiors of Garhwal are vaccinated against the deadly virus which shows no mercy.

The fear of wild animals, incessant rainfall, landslides, submontane rivers and streams in spate, do not deter these determined women whose only mission is to vaccinate as many as they can. Armed with their kits and working on war-footing to reach remotest of villages, ensure that those enroute are vaccinated on time.

Walking 10-18 kilometers at a stretch to reach villages such as Osla, Gangadh, Dhathmeer and Pavadi with a population of 1500 people, the door-to-door scheme of the health department has ensured that some three hundred and fifty people have been vaccinated in the process till date.

For the likes of Shweta Rana an Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) who trekked fourteen hours to get to Taluka village, twice, to administer Covid vaccine doses, this is all part of her job as a health worker.

With biscuit and water to sustain them enroute as they trudge to their final destination Osla village, situated at a height of 2,800 meters, is not an easy job. Braving adverse weather, natural disasters and wild animals they arrive in Osla at eight o’clock at night. The additional ice they carry in an ice box ensures that the precious cargo of vaccine doses remain at the desired 15 degrees. The set to work early morning, before making their way home.

But it is not the sheer distance they cover on foot but convincing hill-folks to get vaccinated on time that has proven to be an uphill task for this dedicated team. But they too leave no stone unturned to ensure that they vaccinate a few, if not all, and come back with more resilience and patience to convince the rest.

‘Neerakshan’ To save every drop of water

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Dr. Tania Saili Bakshi

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August 9, 2021

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Dateline Mussoorie: Campaigning to save a rare commodity like water especially in Mussoorie, a hill-station that struggles with water-shortage is not something new. But ‘Neerakshan’ is one such initiative which is not only light on your pocket but also a very easy doable option for every household to consider.

Leading from the front, HRIDA_greenliving a Mussoorie based NGO has undertaken water conservation campaign under the ‘NEERAKSHAN’ banner urging hotels, homes, schools, institutions and other big and small commercial outlets to install a small device called a ‘water saver aerator.’

This small eco-friendly device is priced at a nominal Rs.56+gst for bulk buying by hotels and just Rs.70/- for homes or restaurants with free trials. Isha Vaish, the woman behind this unique initiative says, “We are giving free trials at homes and hotels. So far a handful of hotels have purchased these aeartors and many homes have given it a shot. There are plenty more that are willing to come aboard.”

These water saving aerators save about 50-70% consumption in bathrooms and kitchen sinks. The item is being directly sourced from a Bengaluru based Ecopreneurship company called ‘Eco-365.’ Isha further adds, “The motive is simple: To make Mussoorie free from future crisis situation. Also, it will cut down on water-consumption i.e. this is small, single device can save about 20k litres annually.”

Ashish Goyal, a local hotelier who has used Water Saving Aerators at home and his hotel is very impressed, he says, “To our surprise these are very simple to use and save a lot of water. There was no after installation issues either. We finally decided to use these for our hotel rooms too. The thought of being a contributor to the save-water mission is most satisfying.” He signs off saying, “I would highly recommend this device and urge everyone to be a part of this mission.”

To book for free trial: 9557248440

Dharasu Power Station sets new record

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newspost

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August 6, 2021

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Dateline Uttarkashi: Monsoon rains racking havoc in the hill-state has made both national and international headlines, but here is something worth celebrating, thanks to the rains.

With the great Indian monsoon in full swing, the state’s Dharasu Power Station in Uttarkashi, a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station built on the mighty Bhagirathi and commissioned in 2008 is located in Chinyalisaur Development Block in Uttarkashi district.

An elated General Manager of UJVNL, Mohammad Gulfisha says, “The 304 MW Dharasu Power House located at Neri village created a new-record by producing 7.388 million units (average load 307.88MW) yesterday i.e. 4^th of August 2021.”

Breaking its past record of generating 7.273 million (average load 303.4MW) in the month of June in the year 2018, this year sets a new high.

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