After 8 years Mirik Lake in Dist. Darjeeling gets some mending

DARJEELING: Mirik Lake, a popular tourist destination located at the foothills of Kurseong subdivision, is finally getting renovated with the initiative of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC).

In 2003-2004, a project was undertaken by the DGHC to beautify the lake and it was sanctioned by the Centre under the National Lake Conservation (NLC) scheme. However, the project failed to take off following some technical difficulties. But things have again taken off in the right direction with the DGHC pursuing the matter with the central government.

"DGHC faced several technical difficulties and only some work could be undertaken. After the recommendation of an advisory committee, formed by the state urban development department, we have made some revision in the old project plans and are now ready to start work," said Anil Verma, the DGHC administrator. The 6-member panel has technical experts and engineers from IIT Kharagpur.

So far, the process of weeding the area, construction of the boat stand and renovation of a lodge, owned by the DGHC, at a cost of Rs 60 lakh have been taken up. "We hope to complete the beautification of Mirik Lake in a couple of months," added Verma.

Disposal of waste and sewage water from the local houses and siltation pollute the lake and this needs to be checked immediately. "Since the lake is surrounded by residential apartments, all the wastes and sewage water are diverted towards the lake. Another problem is the collection of debris from streams located on the upper fringes whenever there is a rainfall. We need to address these problems soon," pointed out Verma.

The Mirik Lake is a popular destination and tour operators offer tourists a full day tour of the areas, besides other spots in the Darjeeing subdivision. However, tourists, lately, have been complaining about the lack of facilities and the poor condition. Besides, the lush green tea gardens surrounding Mirik, tourist can also take boat rides.

The project cost has been pegged at over Rs 4 crore, as there was a delay in starting the work. "Initially, the project cost was fixed at Rs 4 crore, but the delay and additional works mean the estimate will rise," Giving a proper idea The exact estimate is tough At the moment we cannot say by how much though,"said Verma.

Source: Times of India

India's most wanted - frogs

A few weeks ago, Dr SD Biju, an eminent Indian amphibian researcher, was leading volunteers in the forests surrounding Mirik Lake in Darjeeling, West Bengal. They were on the lookout for frogs belonging to that region. Here, it's not habitat destruction that has led to the frogs' disappearance, but the fact that locals comsume them.

This is only one of the few obstacles faced by this team that functions under the umbrella organisation Lost Amphibians of India (LAI), launched in November 2010 with the plan to travel the country to rediscover India's
'lost' amphibians.

Sadly, over 50 species of amphibians in India, mostly frogs and caecilians, are thought to have gone extinct, since noone has seen them for 10 years. Some have not been seen for 18, others for 169 years. The figures are dire when one considers that about 60 per cent of Indian amphibians are not found anywhere else in the world.

Dr Biju, coordinator and brainchild, LAI, says, "They have existed for centuries and have seen many animals go extinct. But now this category is quickly disappearing too."

He thinks the reason is habitat loss. "Many might still be around but won't be for long if steps are not taken to conserve them."

The expedition team, apart from scouring the country looking for lost species and studying them, is also trying to involve the locals and forest department officials in conservation. But it's not easy. Most of these areas are marshlands, rainforests or protected areas. Plus, these animals come only at night.

But results are emerging. The LAI has already rediscovered five species of frogs that were considered extinct. These include the green Chalazodes Bubble-Nest Frog in Tamil Nadu, sighted after 136 years, the Anamalai Dot-Frog, from Kerala after 73 years, the Elegant Torrent Frog, from Karnataka after 73 years, the Stream Frog from Uttarakhand after 25 years, and the Silent Valley Tropical Frog from Kerala after 30 years.

Over 19 expeditions have already been undertaken this year. Dr Biju says, "We have found some interesting species that are being identified. Many are probably lost species, while some may be never-before-identified.

We will make an announcement about the findings in September."

While amphibians are facing extinction worldover, he says steps are being taken to conserve them in other countries. "Here, conservation activities are geared towards only certain animals," he says.

Dr Caesar Sengupta, a wildlife photographer who participated in many of LAI's expeditions, says, "Conservation activities in India focus only on the tiger and the elephant. While they are equally important, so are amphibians. Without them, there will be a major bio-diversity shift."

Midday

Mirik & Gangtok boys to rock Asia

Siliguri, Jan. 31: A Pune-based rock band with a vocalist from Gangtok and a bass guitarist from Mirik will be the first group from India to take part in Asian Beat 2008, one of the continent’s biggest amateur music competitions.

The competition will be held in Taiwan on March 9.

The band, Silver, was formed in Pune just four months ago. Yet it came up trumps at Yamaha Roxx, a nationwide competition held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on January 12 to select one rock group from India for Asian Beat.

“It is indeed an achievement to be chosen for the finals in Taiwan. The meet is considered to be one of the most prestigious in Asia,” said Rishi Rai, who hails from Mirik and has been working in Pune for past three years.

“We had to fight against six other top rock bands in the finals of Yamaha Roxx, apart from 50 other contenders in the preliminary rounds.”

Rishi, a business development analyst by profession, teamed up with Mahesh Niroula of Gangtok who is a student at Fergusson College in Pune and the vocalist of Silver.

“Both of us desperately hunted for like-minded people who wish to form a band that would work on the mixed genre of new wave rock, jazz, funk, heavy metal and classic rock,” Mahesh said. “We found two local youths, Savio Sebastian, a lead guitarist, and Amit Godse, our drummer, and the journey began.”

In the finals of Yamaha Roxx, Silver beat bands from Calcutta, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Famous drummer and percussionist Sivamani was the judge at the event.

“We will be representing India in the international platform of rock music and are confident of making the country proud,” said Rishi, who was earlier associated with bands like Calcutta-based Cyanide Angels and Carnage of Siliguri.

This year, Rishi and friends will be up against bands from Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, mainland China, Philippines and Hong Kong. The winners stand to get a cash prize of $ 50,000.

The two judges who will preside over Asian Beat 2008 are Nathan East, a bass guitarist from the US associated with the band Fourplay, and Xavier Muriel, the drummer of the US-based rock-and-roll band, Buckcherry.

Children injured at Mirik

Four students of a school in Mirik were injured after a balustrade collapsed and they fell down from the first floor of the institution’s building this morning.

Priya Chettri, Amardeep Gurung, Roman Tamang (all from Class VII) and Bishal Galey (from Class VIII) were taken to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri. However, their injuries were found to be minor and they were released in the afternoon.

The incident took place just before 9 am at Orange Lake English Medium School, 35 km from here. A number of students were rushing down from the first floor for the morning assembly when the balustrade along the corridor collapsed and three boys and one girl fell to the ground.

“Every morning at assembly, we had been telling the students that the balustrade, which is around 3 ft high, was not strong enough and that they should be careful while walking or running along the corridor,” said principal of the school W. Tshering. “We were thinking of repairing it very soon, along with the construction of a new building adjacent to the existing one.”

Tshering added that the school would bear all medical expenses of the injured students, all of whom are day scholars and residents of Mirik.

The ICSE school, situated barely a kilometre from Mirik Bazaar, has around 350 students. Following this morning’s incident, classes were suspended for the day.

A source in the school said the parents of the injured students have not as yet lodged a police complaint.

The parents could not be contacted today as they had accompanied their children to Siliguri.

Source: The Telegraph