An Indian Bureaucrat's Diary

Once upon a time, Bombay (Mumbai) had vast areas of mangrove forests.
Over the years, most of these  were cut down.
And the Maharashtra Government and its impotent officials remained mute spectators.

Bombay High Court to the rescue

In India, the Supreme Court and the High Courts – even though they are horribly overburdened with work – are able to do what the governments fail to do. Read the rest of this entry »

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Spices of India

Spice Gardens

If you visit tourist places in Goa and Kerala, you can visit spice gardens.
Some plantation owners have improvised their spice gardens into tourist attractions.
You can see a variety of plants where different spices come from.
The guide will answer your questions and clarify your doubts.
Your host will serve you authentic local meals in virgin surroundings and arrange a traditional folk dance.


Indian Spices – Background We Indians use a lot of spices in our daily food.
But most of us do not know where the spices come from.
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When I was about 9 or 10 years old (well,                                                          

that was a good five and a half decades ago),

I first read about the Flamingo in Lewis Carroll’s

wonderful book – Alice in Wonderland.

So strange was the depiction that I thought the Flamingo was an imaginary bird.

Flamingoes are truly strange looking birds.
And they feed in a peculiar fashion.
They immerse their entire heads in the mud in the bottom of the water – upside down.

Description

There are six species of flamingoes in the world.
Of these, only two species – the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) and the Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) are found in India.

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Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar, Rajasthan has been
in the news for the past four years – unfortunately for
the wrong reasons.

Sariska Tiger Reserve

The Sariska Tiger Reserve (866 sq. kms.) was originally a hunting preserve of the Kings of Alwar in Alwar District in the state of Rajasthan.
The area was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955.
In 1978, it was declared a Tiger Reserve and is now a part of India’s Project Tiger scheme.
It became a National Park in 1979.

The Sariska Tiger Reserve is larger than Ranthambore Tiger Reserve with similar topography, but is far less commercialized.

Sariska Tiger Reserve in the news

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the largest mass nesting site of
Olive Ridley turtle
in the world

Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary is the only marine sanctuary in Orissa (Eastern India).
This Sanctuary is extremely important because it is the largest mass nesting site of the Olive Ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) in the world.

There are only four mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles in the world.
Of these four, the ‘Playa Ostional’ is in Ostional village in Costa Rica.
The other three are in Orissa.

The three mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa are: Read the rest of this entry »

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 ……….Save the
              Leopard                                                
                                               

The Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Thane district.
It is 90 kms, or one and a half hours drive, from Mumbai.
It covers an area of 355 sq. kms. – more than three times the size of the 103 sq. kms. Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Yet, according to census reports, Sanjay Gandhi National Park had 20 Indian Leopards in 2007.
Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary had seven leopards in 2005. The number fell to five in 2006, and to two in 2007.
The number has dropped to one in 2008.

And this is a cause for serious concern amongst all environmentalists and lovers of wild life.

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    ……….. on the brink of
                        extinction                                               

The Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is a highly endangered, ground dwelling bird.
In fact, it is the most endangered member of the bustard family in the world;
and has disappeared from almost 90 per cent of its former habitat.
The total population of the Great Indian Bustard is estimated to be around 700. The Great Indian Bustard is found in sanctuaries located in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
You can see the Great Indian Bustard in the Desert National Park (Rajasthan) and in the Lala-Parjau Sanctuary in western Kutch (Gujarat).

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Strawberry Country

Mahabaleshwar is the largest and one of the most popular hill stations of  Maharashtra.
It is situated at an altitude of 1372 metres above sea level – about 5 hours drive from Mumbai.

Mahabaleshwar has a cool climate and is a popular week end get away for Mumbaites.
It is a lovely place to spend a few days – relaxing and rejuvenating.
It is also the summer residence of the Governor of Maharashtra.

There are several lookout points which offer spectacular views of the surrounding hills and valleys.
There are lakes, waterfalls and a number of pleasant walks.
There is an old historic Shiva temple nearby.

History

We find the first mention of Mahabaleshwar in 1215 when King Singhan of Deogiri visited Old Mahabaleshwar and built a small temple and water tank at the source of the Krishna River. Read the rest of this entry »

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Backdrop of Rudyard Kipling’s
Jungle Book

You can imagine the beauty and fascination of Kanha National Park by the fact that Kanha National Park was the backdrop of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’.
Today, Kanha National Park is one of India’s largest and finest National Park and Tiger Reserve located in Madhya Pradesh, India.In the 1930s, Kanha was divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar, of 250 and 300 sq. kms each.Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955.Today, it covers an area of 940 sq. kms in the two districts of Mandla and Balaghat.
Together with a surrounding buffer zone of 1009 sq. kms, and the neighboring 110 sq. kms Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve.  

Flora

There are dense forest zones with good crown cover.
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Land of the romantic Marble Rocks
and Kipling’s Jungle Book

When you think of a romantic cruise amongst marble rocks, think of Jabalpur.
And when you think of Snooker, think of Jabalpur again, because snooker was invented here.

Overview

Jabalpur is located almost in the centre of India.
It is the first district in India which obtained the ISO-9001 certificate.
This has come into force from April 1, 2007.

The present city dates from the nineteenth century and has wide and well planned roads.
Jabalpur is famous for beautiful formations of Marble Rocks (Bhedaghat) through which flows the holy Narmada River.

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