04 | metro | HINDUSTAN TIMES, PATNAFRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014

Ban on elephants soughtAloke Chatterjee■ htpatna@hindustantimes.com

PATNA: The Inter national Organisation for Animal Protection (OIPA), affiliated to United Nations (UN), has demanded a ban on presence of elephants in the Sonepur cattle fair arguing that it violated provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

According to Naresh Kadian, country head, OIPA India, “The capture and transportation of Asian elephants (Elephas Maximus) from Assam to Sonepur appears to be a regular occurrence despite legal provisions that clear-ly state that a captive elephant (schedule I animal) cannot be possessed, acquired, disposed of or transported without written permission of the chief wildlife warden or the authorised officer under Section 40 (2) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.”

In a petition addressed to Union minister for environment and for-ests Prakash Javdekar, Governor of Bihar, Patna high court, district magistrate of Saran and others, on behalf of OIPA India, he demand-ed that Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) be directed to issue strict advisory, not to trade scheduled wild animals. The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) may also issue advisory for strict compliance of PCA Act, 1960 with Cattle Transport Rules, 1978 amended in 2001.

“The WCCB and AWBI may send activists’ team for vigilance

inquiry and to take legal action, if any violation and illegal trade is found,” Kadian said. He claimed an official survey by TRAFFIC (NGO) revealed shocking details about illegal animal trade rampant under the guise of the fair. The fair had also been surveyed earlier and the findings were made public in November 2012.

“The Sonepur fair is an organ-ised gathering, which promotes and facilitates trading of various species of animals. This event is carried out unfailingly year after year and openly disregards legal and prohibitory pro-visions of the Wildlife Protection Act,

1972, which ban commercial trade of certain species of animals,” he added. Furthermore Section 43 of the same Act restricts the sale, purchase or transfers of captive elephants from one person to another for monetary consideration or any other profit-able gain, he claimed.

He said the TRAFFIC survey documented 37 elephants, includ-ing six tuskers and six calves at the fair in 2013. “Enquiries revealed that some of these elephants had been transported from Assam to Bihar, especially for sale at the fair. Thus any such sale (if it were to take place)

would be illegal. The transporta-tion could have been justified andsupported with adequate docu-mentation as per the aforemen-tioned provisions,” he asserted.

He demanded deputation ofWCCB volunteers at Sonepurcattle fair for better results andrestrictions on illegal trade ofwild animals and birds, controlon animal abuse, while shiftingthem in goods transport vehi-cles along with the horse raceswith carts as well, elephant raceand polo etc, whereas male ele-phants were handled by spikedbits with iron ‘ankush’.

INTERVENTION Display violates provisions of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, says OIPA

Saran district magistrate Kundan Kumar, refuted OIPA India charges and said, “No sale of elephants takes place in the Sonepur cattle fair. The fair is not famous for sale of elephants, rather it is well known for sale of cattle, including cows, buffaloes and ox on which there is no ban.”

“The fair is organised by the tourist department and the job of the district admin-istration is only to maintain law and order. Since this a month-long affair we organise other activities like horse race to attract the crowd. Trade of horses,

cows and ox do take place in the fair,’ he said. However,

he admitted elephants draw a lot of crowd. HTC

NO SALE OF ELEPHANTS, SAYS DISTRICT MAGISTRATEReena Sopam■ htpatna@hindustantimes.com

PATNA : T h e m o n t h - l o n g Sonepur fair will open with the Bharatnatyam presentations by Padma Bhushan Saroja Vaidyanathan on November 5.

Organised every year by dis-trict administration with the sup-port of various departments, it has turned out to be a major tour-ism event, drawing thousands of tourists from all over the world.

And to tap tourism potential of this love interest of a vast major-ity of foreign tourists, tourism department initiated last year the plan to make it a cultural extravaganza. This time also it has come up with a comprehen-sive package of classical dances and folk music on the occasion, beginning with the performance by a senior Bharatnatyam artiste, Saroja Vaidyanathan.

Saroja, who happens to be a disciple of Saraswati Gana Nilayam of Chennai and Guru Kattumannar Muthukumaran Pillai of Thanjavur, is married to an IAS officer of Bihar cadre and has spent years in state capital. But this time she will be here to perform at the centuries old fair held at Sonepur.

Apart from Saroja, the event will also present artistes like Janmejay Mohanti and

troupe, the Odissi dancers from Bhubaneswar, the Umrao Jaan fame ghazal singer Talat Aziz, Indian Idol participants from the state, Devendra Pal and Ritika Raj and the playback singer Abhijeet Bhattahcarya..

It will be inaugurated by the tourism minister Dr Javed Iqbal Ansari.

“Cultural sessions at the fair have been planned jointly by the three departments, tourism, culture and the information and public relation (IPRD). Seven

days’ events will be presented by tourism department while 14- days’ sessions have been planned by culture department and 11-days’ programmes will be presented by the IPRD,” Deepak Prasad, tourism secretary, said.

The Aarti shows will be held at Gandak river ghat on Tuesdays and Saturdays. “We have also planned there activi-ties like hot air balloons, para sailing and river rafting to pro-mote rural sports and adventure sports,” he said.

An arts and crafts village has been created by the industries department. The artificially cre-ated village will have 35 stalls with the artisans demonstrat-ing their crafts and its making process, tourism secretary said.

And to of fer luxurious accommodation to the tour-ists, the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) has created more than 20 Swiss cottages with plush facilities, a BSTDC official who did not want to be quoted, said.

Month-long Sonepur fair to kickstart on November 5ATTRACTION Fair to open with Saroja Vaidyanathan’s Bharatnatyam concert

EVENTS GALORE■ Month long Sonepur fair

to begin with Saroja Vaidyanathan concert on November 5

■ Been planned as a classical dances, folk music package by tourism, culture deptts, IPRD

■ To be inaugurated by tourism minister, fair will have over 20 Swiss cottages by BSTDC

■ Industries department has created there a crafts village with 35 stalls

■ Besides, tourists can also enjoy there Aarti, hot air balloons, para sailing, rafting

Avinash Kumar■ htpatna@hindustantimes.com

PATNA: Most of the railway stations in the state are wit-nessing huge rush of passen-gers, mostly migrant workers returning to their workplaces, post Chhath.

It is estimated that over 2.5 lakh migrant labourers work-ing in mega cities across the country visit home during Diwali and Chhath, the most sacred festival in Bihar.

Crowded platforms, long q u e u e s a t r a i l w a y P R S counters and passeng ers scrambling to board the trains were common sight on Thursday evening at Patna, Barauni, Katihar, Saharsa, Muzaf far pur, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Jamalpur junctions.

Union minister of railways D V Sadananda Gowda had per-sonally spoken to general man-ager (GM) of ECR Madhuresh Kumar and instructed him to make arrangements for pas-sengers returning from Bihar after Chhath.

T h e U n i o n m i n i s t e r instructed senior officers to supervise the satisfactory dis-patch of regular and special trains. Gowda told them to ensure arrangements of ticket,

adequate security and medical assistance to passengers.

The ECR GM who is said to be personally monitoring movement of special trains being run from its Danapur, Dhanbad, Samastipur, Sonepur and Mughalsarai divisions in

view of post Chhath rush. Extra rakes have been

a r r a n g e d a t J a y n a g a r, Darbhang a, Saharsa and Patna to run additional spe-cial trains. Senior railway officers have been deputed at Patna, Darbhanga, Barauni,

Muzaf far pur and Gaya to ensure hassle-free operation of trains. Medical assistance booths, which had been opened at five railway stations before Chhath, are still functioning.

According to ECR CPRO Arvind Rajak, the GM has

instructed the five divisions to arrange extra rakes and run special trains to clear rush. DRMs of Danapur, Mughalsarai and Samastipur divisions have been asked to be extra cautious in running of special trains from Patna, Darbhanga and

Jaynagar junctions. Rajak said that railways was

currently running several bi-weekly and weekly special trainsto clear rush of passengers. Inaddition, it operated manyunscheduled special trains fromDelhi for Chhath, he added.

On the other hand, CPROof Northern Railways NeerajSharma said, the railways wasoperating around 160 extratrains for the entire festivalseasons which began at theend of September and to con-tinue till November 10. Duringthe entire festival season, therailway was expected to makesome 300 trips, said Sharma.Northern Railways has alsoattached 130 extra coaches tovarious trains, he added.

Huge rush in trains post Chhath; Gowda monitors spl trains

What are the complications of obesity?

Obesity is excess weight gain or body fat due to long term, consistent consumption of much more calories than you are able to expend. Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, gall bladder diseases, arthritis and gout. It may also lead to infertil-ity, menstrual disorder, sleep disorder and psychological problems, including low self esteem and depression, leading to overeating for consolation.

What is the role of diet and physi-cal activity in treating obesity?

Diet is one of the most important factors for weight reduction. We tend to lose weight when less energy is derived from food than is expended. Around 80% diet modification and 20% physi-cal activity, behaviour and lifestyle modification are required for weight reduction.

What are the taboos associated with weight reduction?

A common myth is that only strenuous exercise can work. The fact is without die-tary modification, it will not lead to long term weight loss. The daily diet plan should

have an energy deficit of 500-1000 kcal in general. Another myth is starvation and crash dieting reduces weight. In fact, crash diets are unlikely to result in long-term weight loss. They can sometimes lead to long-term weight gain. The main problem is that this type of diet is too hard to maintain. Another myth is about skip-ping meals. In fact, doing so may make you feel hungrier and lead you to eat more than you normally would in your next meal.

Does taking lemon water and honey, very high protein and very low carbohydrate diet help lose weight?

Only lemon water and

honey will not reduce weight without other dietary modi-fication and physical activ-ity. However, honey is recom-mended in crash diet plans. High protein and low carbohy-drate diet leads to fast weight loss, but it is nutritionally inadequate. Long term use of very high protein enhanc-es calcium loss and leads to Osteoporosis.

What do you prescribe for weight reduction?

I recommend complex carbohydrate, for example, whole cereal, whole pulse, fruit with edible skin, raw vegetables (salads) and green leafy vegetables that enhance fibre content of diet and pro-vide satiety and lower blood

glucose level. Proteins like milk and its products (with-out added sugar), pulses, fish, chicken, eggs and soya protein enhance body metabo-lism and reduce craving for sweets and provide satiety.

What should be avoided in weight loss plan?

Simple carbohydrates like sugar, jam, jelly, honey, jaggery; deep fried food like Indian sweets (laddoos, jale-bies, gulabjamun, malpua, etc.) and namkeens (samosa, pakoda, mixture, mathari, etc.). Excess use of salt - table salt, pickle, papad, etc. - retains water in the body and increases weight.

AS TOLD TO RUCHIR KUMAR

Diet modifi cation can help weight loss 610

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SIXQUESTIONS

SIXQUESTIONS

VIDYA

Vidya is a nutrition advisor at the Vidya Diet Clinic,

Patna. She has done B.Sc in clini-cal nutrition and dietetics from Hazaribagh (Jharkhand) and PG diploma in diploma in dietetics from the All India Institute of Hygiene & Public Health, Kolkata. She claims 3-7 kg weight loss can be achieved purely through bal-anced diet, with no machine or medicine supplement.

■ Sonepur cattle fair. FILE PHOTO

■ Rush at Patna Junction. FILE PHOTO

Man, son drown in river at NarkatiaganjBETTIAH: In an unfortunate inci-dent, a father-son duo drowned in a river while they were crossing it to fetch sugarcane from cane fields for Chhath in Narkatia g anj of West Champaran on Wednesday.

The victims, a cloth mer-chant Pradip Gupta and his 21-year-old son Shubham, were

trapped in the strong currents of the Harhbora river and were unable to get out of the same. They were fished out by the local police after onlookers inti-mated them about the incident. The duo were taken to the local primary health centre, where they were declared brought dead. HTC

Two killed, five hurt as three mobikes collide Press Trust of India■ htpatna@hindustantimes.com

BIHARSHARIF: In a freak accident, two persons lost their lives, while five others were seriously injured when three motorcy-cles collided with each other in Nalanda district on Thursday.

Police officials said the mis-hap occurred at Purniabigha village under Hilsa police station in the district. Hilsa station house officer (SHO) R a j e s h R a n j a n s a i d t h e deceased have been identified as Nitish Kumar (25), a resi-dent of Salimpur village and

Dipak Kumar (22), a native of Chotkibhgha village.

The bodies have been sent to Biharsharif sadar hospital for postmortem examination, while the injured have been admitted to Hilsa sub-division hospital for treatment. One of the seriously injured has been

referred to the Patna MedicalCollege and Hospital (PMCH).

Later, agitated villagersblocked the Hilsa-NoorsaraiRoad and demanded speedbreakers to stop such accidentsin future. The jam was lifted afterthe SHO assured of governmentaction in this regard.

CPRO OF NORTHERN RAILWAYS NEERAJ SHARMA SAID, THE RAILWAYS WAS OPERATING AROUND 160 EXTRA TRAINS FOR THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL SEASONS WHICH BEGAN AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER AND TO CONTINUE TILL NOV 10

■ Sonepur fair organised in Saran district promotes and facilitates trading of various species of animals. HT FILE PHOTO

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