Shishir Prashant / New Delhi/ Dehra Dun May 03, 2010, 0:27 IST

Gangotri, Valley of Flowers and other highly eco-sensitive zones of the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand may be becoming hot sites on the tourist map.

The Uttarakhand capital is likely to get a specialised institute of glaciology, a first of its kind in the country.

The study group on Himalayan Glaciers, constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has recommended establishment of a nodal institution for glaciology that could act as a repository of the currently available data with different knowledge institutions in the country.

Binsar is a wildlife and forest sanctuary in Uttarakhand. It was declared a sanctuary decades ago, and as a result it is unscarred by development today. There are only five houses inside, each of which was built by the British more than a century ago. There is no electricity; water has to be carefully

Wants world heritage status for the holy river

Haridwar, April 30

Kalpana Jain / New Delhi May 01, 2010, 1:58 IST

The government is taking a fresh look at the 600 Mw Loharinag-Pala hydel project on the Bhagirathi river following an expert committee report cautioning against stopping work at an advanced stage, as it might be disastrous for an active seismic zone. Work on it was suspended last year.

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed concern over unregulated tourism posing threat to tigers, a seceratary level meet is scheduled next week between the Tourism and Environment Ministry to take stock of the situation.

The Supreme Court was approached on Tuesday by an environmentalist ex-Naval officer seeking a direction to the Centre to take immediate steps to protect Bhagirathi and Bhilangana, the tributaries of Ganga, which he said faced a threat of drying fast.

The petition was filed after the Uttarakhand government had recently taken a decision to scrap some hydro-electric projects on these rivers.

In spite of crores of rupees being spent on the construction of the Parsari Joshimath Potable Water Project, the residents of Joshimath continued to face shortage of water.

A meeting was held at the Collectorate hall to review preparations for Pulse Polio campaign in Dehradun scheduled to be organised on April 25. District Magistrate D Senthil Pandiyan presided over the meeting.

The budgetary allocation for providing compensation to those who suffer from financial losses due to human-wildlife conflicts has been increased.