Fish ponds in Ranchi drying up due to concretisation of roads

Concretisation of roads is leading to an ecological disaster because, the flow of water from surrounding areas to fish ponds are disturbed and, as a result, fish ponds in Ranchi are drying up. The rising temperatures and dipping water-levels are posing a serious threat to fish at breeding centers in Ranchi which, in turn, is affecting the availability of fish.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 20 April 2016.

In Ranchi, the fish ponds at Doranda's Machli Ghar and Dhurwa's Shalimar training center have started to dry up due to not only the scorching heat, but the concretisation of roads that has blocked the flow of water into these natural receptacles for the last few years. As indicated by State fisheries department officials, three out of the 12 ponds at Machli Ghar are already parched and the water levels of the other ponds has reduced alarmingly to 1.5ft.
Moreover, the level of water in all the 24 ponds at the fisheries department's training center in Dhurwa have dipped from 7ft to 1ft and, as a result, both the centers have shifted the fish to reservoirs. The reduction in water-level is also due to abnormal warming of water and this is lethal for survival of spawns (fish seeds).
Incidentally, nearly 30-32 tonnes of fish spawns are bred annually at the Doranda firm and 45 tonnes at the Dhurwa facility. These spawns are bred and reared in a controlled environment after which they are released into big reservoirs and water bodies across the state. According to experts associated with fish production since long, the major problem was poor civic planning over the years which resulted in catchment areas not getting sufficient water which, in turn, has affected the water bodies.


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Annual chhau dance festival to begin in Seraikela from 3 April

The much-awaited annual folk dance festival, Chhau Mahotsav, is set to take off from April 3 in Seraikela. This festival is being organized by the state government since the past many years and is a bid to promote and popularize chhau, which had been declared as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2010.
This has been reported in telegraph.co.uk dated 22 March 2016.

The festival is hosted by the state art and culture department and, the nine-day event will see performances not only by chhau artistes on three schools of the dance, Seraikela, Manbhum (Purulia) and Mayurbhanj but also other dance forms. These are artistes performing Odissi and Gotipua, a traditional dance form of Odisha, Bengal ballet, the Bihu dance from Assam, lavni from Maharashtra, garba from Gujarat and ghoomar from Rajasthan.
Like last year, package tours will be organized - these would be of four days and three nights duration at the festival to Seraikela from Ranchi. The rates would be between Rs 14,750 and Rs 19,450, depending on the type of car used for travel.
This tour package will be basically to promote tourism. Last year, road shows announcing Chhau Mahotsav had been organized in Ranchi and New Delhi. Similar plans are there this year also.


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Khadi fair in Ranchi showcases handicrafts also

Khadi is a handwoven cloth that was made popular by Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle, but, over the years it has lost its charm even though a section of the population cries hoarse to promote for everything desi!! Therefore, the 10th edition of Rashtriya Khadi and Saras Mahotsav, which began on Morbadi grounds in Ranchi, is of special importance. It is a khadi mela and, there are about 500 stalls of khadi and rural handicraft products from 25 states. The products include spinning on wheels, weaving on handlooms and pedal husking.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 8 February 2016.

For the art buffs, the state art and culture department has put up a pavilion that showcases paintings of about 60 artists of Jharkhand. This pavilion has been put up for the second successive year to promote state artists.
Moreover, there were other stalls that offered a wide variety of products, from pickles to ayurvedic medicines, from bamboo to dhokra artefacts, from miniature Eiffel Tower replicas to navratna meenakari ornaments of Rajasthan.
As far as khadi was concerned, there were khadi shirts and bundies in attractive colours in different stalls and the prices were also reasonable.

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Jharkhand sets a new trend in growing fish through the cage culture

Jharkhand has set in motion a new trend in fish cultivation – it is the cage culture that has seen its output grow from 14,000-metric tonnes in 2000 to a phenomenal 1.6-lakh metric tonnes in 2014. This cage culture of incubating fish in a controlled environment has paid rich dividends and has given the state the tag of a mentor fisherman for others.
This has been reported in telegraphindia.com dated 24 September 2015.

The cage culture had been introduced on an experiment basis in 2011 at Ranchi's Hatia dam and the success is attracting teams from across states to learn the technique and replicate it back home.
An 18-member Rajasthan team, consisting of 15 fishermen from tribal belts of three districts and three officials of the desert state's fisheries department have come to Ranchi for a week-long exposure trip on cage culture.
Earlier, between July-end and first week of August, a team from Jharkhand fisheries department had visited Telangana at the invitation of the state government to help them set up cages in six water bodies. That was after the Telangana fisheries department had sent 200 fishermen for a fortnight's training to Ranchi.
About cage culture – it is a proven method to grow fish faster in a controlled environment. It involves water-resistant cages that are covered with nets and released in water. Before releasing fingerlings or small fish freely in a large water body, they are kept in cages and nourished by means of artificial feeding. Drums are fitted below the cages to prevent them from drowning and to ensure that the fish get regular oxygen supply.
Already there are 2,000 cages positioned in 14 prominent dams/ reservoirs in Ranchi and another 1400 are proposed to be added.
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IPL8 – Chennai beats Bangalore and enters the finals, Dhoni does it again

#IPL8 #CSKvsRCB #MikeHussey #AshishNehra Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore at Ranchi to move ahead to the finals and their opponent now will be the Mumbai Indians – they will clash at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 22 May 2015.

Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first and Ashish Nehra took three of the prize wickets of Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Dinesh Karthik to put RCB on the back foot. Hard hitting Chris Gayle hit Suresh Raina for two consecutive sixes and then gave a return catch to Raina to ensure that RCB does not get to a too big score.
It was a game more of holding ones nerves and there were dropped catches and misfielding on both side. The tension was evident from the facial expressions.
Finally the RCB could score 139 runs and it was left to CSK to score 140 to win and move on to the finals which should have been an easy task but proved difficult and dragged on to the last ball of the innings. Mike Hussey top scored with 56 runs and Dhoni added 26 runs.
Ashish Nehra was adjudged the Man of the Match.
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