The fire beneath : Jharia may turn into a ghost town soon

The threat of underground fire in Jharia leading to land cave-inhas already affected railways in the region. In March 2007, the 22-kmDhanbad-Jharia-Pathardih track was dismantled while the railway stationcomplex of Jharia is "abandoned" since 2005.

In 1996, the Union government formed a committee to probe the underground fire. On finding that the fire could not be doused, it recommended shifting the entire Jharia town and 23 surrounding villages to two resettlement colonies.

Under the mammoth exercise, about 46,000 houses are to be set up at Belguria Bazar, 10 km from Jharia, in the first phase, and another 34,000 at Belliyapur in the second phase at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore.But while the Jharkhand government is keen on shifting the people to the new resettlement colonies, coal trade unions are opposing it. Janata Mazdoor Sangh general secretary Kunti Singh, also MLA from Jharia, said, "At no cost would we allow eviction of people from Jharia."

The package has been accepted by the Jharkhand government and it would cover all residents of Jharia. The fund for rehabilitation would be raised by Coal India and also through consumers who would have to pay enhanced royalty on coal (Rs 3.50 per tonne to Rs 10 per tonne). Says Bhattacharya, "The idea is to save the people. They are more important for Coal India than excavating prime coking coal from Jharia mines."
Courtesy:TOI

Bharatpur bird sanctuary falls off tourist map !

Gone are the days when the famous bird sanctuary here seasonally drew over 300 species of winged visitors, bringing in thousands of tourists from all over the world.

With barely 50-80 bird species arriving this year at the virtually dry sanctuary, located 175 km from New Delhi, tourists have either started skipping it or have been cutting short their stay here.

'I came here to watch birds and stay here for at least five to seven days. I am a bird lover, but there is nothing, almost nothing, to see here. So I am curtailing my number of nights and I plan to go back in a day or two,' Robert Bell, a tourist from England, told IANS.

Some bemoan that the government is doing nothing to save the bird sanctuary while others are critical of tour operators who are marketing Bharatpur as a bird haven despite knowing the true state of affairs.

'I am surprised. Why can't the government do something for it? I had come here around five to six years back at the same time around October and November, and there were lots of birds to see. But the place is now pathetic. Does the government want a famous place to die?' asked Diana, another tourist from Britain.

The bird sanctuary, known officially as the Keoladeo Ghana National Park, wears a deserted look with very few birds and tourists in sight .

Registration application filed for Darjeeling Tea !

The Tea Board of India filed an application at Brussels on Monday to register Darjeeling as a Geographical Indication (GI) in the European Union (EU).
GI is a sign used on products, which have a specific geographical origin. The use of a GI often acts as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.
Darjeeling was the first GI to be registered in India and is the first application for registration of a tea in Europe.
The distinctive characteristics of Darjeeling tea are due to both its geographic origin and the way in which the tea is processed in Darjeeling.
A major portion of the annual production of Darjeeling tea is exported, the key markets being Japan, Russia, the US and the EU countries.
India is one of the world's largest producers of tea, with a total production of over 900 million kg in 2006. India supplies about 30 percent of the world's tea.

Mobile Hospital for rural people of Assam.India !

A mobile hospital has brought hope at the doorstep for Titaram Payeng, a middle-aged farmer unable to work for the last three months because of a severe stomach ailment, and many like him having no access to proper healthcare.

Payeng's wife and two children suffered with him in their isolated village near Jonai, about 550 km from Assam's main city of Guwahati, as he could not earn a penny due to his sudden illness.

Payeng could not afford to visit the district hospital in Dhemaji and there were no doctors or medicines at the local health centre, forcing him to get medication from a local quack.

But life is looking up for Payeng now with Dhemaji district getting a state-of-the-art hospital-on-wheels - along with seven other districts in Assam.

The mobile hospital sits on two different buses equipped with sophisticated laboratory and diagnostic facilities, including X-ray machines, ECG, ultrasound, and an operation table.

Two doctors, two nurses, a radiologist and a pharmacist would be accompanying the mobile hospital in a separate vehicle.

'The mobile medical units would have two buses and a small vehicle aimed at reaching the doorsteps of people in rural areas,' Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told IANS.

The mobile units would visit isolated areas and villages on appointed days where patients could avail themselves of the services of the expert team of doctors.

Eight such mobile hospital units have been launched in as many districts in Assam - all the 19 districts would be covered by the scheme under the National Rural Health Mission by March next year.

Assam has become the first state under the Mission to introduce the hospital-on-wheels concept.

'People like us are surely to be benefited by such healthcare facilities,' Payeng said.

There are similar plans for people living in an estimated 2,500 sandbars located along the Brahmaputra river by March 2008.