Pillgrimage to Kedarnath Dham halted due to falling stones, debris
Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand) [India], June 15 (ANI): The pilgrimage from Sonprayag to Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand has been postponed due to debris and falling stones into the ravine near Jangalchatti, Rudraprayag Police said on Sunday.
Furthermore, the police appealed to devotees coming to Shri Kedarnath Dham to remain safe.
'The footpath was obstructed when debris and stones fell into the ravine near Jangalchatti. The pilgrimage from Sonprayag to Kedarnath Dham has been postponed till further orders. The district police appeals to the devotees coming to Shri Kedarnath Dham to remain safe wherever they are,' Rudraprayag Police Uttarakhand posted on X on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami warned of strict action against culprits after seven people were killed in a chopper crash in Rudraprayag district and further stated that aviation companies were directed to follow rules of Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
Following the incident, the Chief Minister informed that the Helicopter services will not run for the next two days.
Speaking to ANI, CM Dhami said,' This morning, a helicopter crashed due to bad weather. I pray to God for those who lost their lives.'
Calling for strict compliance with safety norms, the Chief Minister said, 'An emergency meeting has been called immediately, in which instructions have been given that the rules of our DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) should not be violated, and the pilots flying in the upper Himalayan areas should have experience of the region. Aviation companies should also ensure this.'
'A control and command centre should be set up. Strict action will be taken against the culprits in this accident... Helicopter services will not run today or tomorrow. These services will remain closed until the safety of the passengers is ensured,' he told ANI.
Earlier this morning, seven people, including the pilot on board a helicopter were killed after the chopper crashed near the forested area of Gaurikund in Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) said.
The Aryan Aviation Helicopter was flying to Guptkashi from the Kedarnath Dham when it crashed at 5:30 am today.
The deceased have been identified as Captain Rajbir Singh Chauhan (39), resident of Jaipur, Vikram Rawat (47) a Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee representative and resident of Rasi, Vinod Devi (66), resident of Uttar Pradesh, Trishti Singh (19), resident of Uttar Pradesh, Rajkumar Suresh Jaiswal (41), resident of Gujarat, Shraddha Rajkumar Jaiswal and Kashi (2), resident of Maharashtra.
Rescue teams were immediately dispatched under the direction of SDRF Commander Arpan Yadav. The incident spot was located in a very inaccessible and dense forest area, where a fast-paced and coordinated rescue operation was carried out by the joint teams of SDRF, NDRF, and local police.
Rescue teams worked in inclement weather to retrieve the bodies of the deceased.(ANI)
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Arunachal Pradesh: Mithun milk churpi could improve farmer incomes
Churpi, a variety of hardened cheese, is a popular traditional snack in the Himalayan belt of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet and parts of northeastern India. Primarily made from yak milk, it can also be made using cow or buffalo milk, and even the milk of chauris, a crossbreed of yak and cow. Arunachal Pradesh is known for its Geographical Indication tagged churpi made from yak milk. Recently, a farmer from the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh has developed churpi made from the milk of mithun – a semi-domesticated bovine species (Bos frontalis) native to Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland. Mithun has a very limited geographical distribution. An adult weighs between 400 and 600 kg and its productive life ranges from 16 to 18 years. Mithuns produce one calf every year. Tadang Tamut, who comes from a line of mithun farmers, collaborated with Indian Council of Agricultural Research's National Research Centre on Mithunin Nagaland, to explore the idea of mithun churpi. Traditionally, yak churpi is fermented and smoked over several months or even years to develop its characteristic hard texture. Although Arunachal Pradesh is known for yak churpi production, the Siang district, where Tamut hails from, has no native yak population and therefore no tradition of making churpi. Instead, the local community rears free-grazing, semi-domesticated mithuns. Since churpi-making is unfamiliar to them, there is no infrastructure for it in the region. Mithuns are also difficult to milk. So, the National Research Centre on Mithunin Nagaland is stepping in to help the farmers. The first few batches of mithun churpi are being produced in small quantities at their facility using milk from the mithun farm at the institute, with non-traditional methods such as hot air ovens, to support the initial development and testing of the product. Tamut describes mithun churpi as 'milkier' in taste. 'Likely due to its high fat content, the new churpi tastes milkier, and fattier,' he says. 'So far three batches of seven kilos each have been developed and are currently being sold in packs of 200 grams. They are priced at Rs 200 per pack,' says Tamut. He hopes it will be popular once it is fully launched in the market, adding that there is already a demand from retailers in Delhi and Karnataka for the product. The National Research Centre on Mithunin Nagaland is also exploring the possibility of scaling up mithun churpi production, which could bring in lucrative opportunities for mithun farmers in the region. Free-ranging mithun Tamut is a mithun farmer who owns 48 mithuns in his village Jomlu Mongku, in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh. During a conversation with friends from the National Dairy Development Board, Tamut was struck by the idea of mithun churpi. 'Nepal generates millions in revenue from churpi made from cow, buffalo, and yak milk. I realised that we could do the same with mithun milk,' says Tamut, a sociology graduate who has been farming since 2005. According to a report, in the fiscal year 2021-'22, churpi exports from Nepal were valued at approximately $22 million, making it one of the country's top export commodities, apart from tea and carpets. The demand for churpi, particularly as a natural dog chew in international markets, has led to a substantial increase in exports. For instance, in the first four months of the fiscal year 2024-25, Nepal exported 621,747 kg of churpi to the United States, accounting for about 90% of Nepal's churpi exports. 'Traditionally, churpi has been used as a nutrient-dense food by people in the hills. It is valuable because of its long shelf life (around six months) and low moisture content, and it does not require refrigeration,' says Girish Patil, Director of the National Research Centre on Mithunin Nagaland, who has been trying to promote mithun farming as a sustainable source of income for farmers in the state. 'We collaborated with Tamut, who is a progressive farmer and works closely with us. We standardised the product [churpi] in our lab, worked on its production, and conducted sensory evaluations at our institute. The response has been positive, and we are now conducting further analysis,' he says. This is not the first time that a product has been made out of mithun milk. Due to its high protein and fat content, mithun milk can also be used to make other products such as paneer, ghee, curd, and more. The National Research Centre on Mithunin Nagaland had previously experimented with paneer and lassi made out of mithun milk, but are now focussing on developing the mithun churpi. 'Currently, we are producing it (churpi) in small quantities. Since drying reduces the milk volume significantly, only about 20% of the solids remain,' explains Patil. Making churpi requires a substantial amount of raw milk; one litre of milk will give 200-250 grams of churpi. 'A mithun will give around a maximum of two litres per day, but if farmers are able to collect this milk and have a regular source of income from mithun, then commercial mithun farming is possible,' he says. What makes mithun milk special? The mithun, often referred to as 'the cattle of mountains', is an indicator of wealth and social status in the tribal society of Arunachal Pradesh. The larger the herd size, the wealthier and prestigious the owner is considered. It is primarily reared for its meat, considered superior in quality compared to that of other livestock. It was recognised as a food animal by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, or FSSAI, from September 1, 2023. The mithun is also listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature – the IUCN. According to the 2019 livestock census, the mithun population in India is approximately 390,000. Most of these, 89.7%, are found in Arunachal Pradesh, with 5.98% in Nagaland, 2.36% in Manipur and 1.02% in Mizoram. Reared in community forests under the free-range system, mithuns move and browse around the forest, foraging for shrubs, herbs, and other natural vegetation. They are an efficient converter of forest biomass into fat-rich milk; they can eat plants and vegetation found naturally in forests, which many other dairy animals might not easily digest, and turn that food into milk. It also translates to high quality meat and leather. A study conducted by the National Research Centre on Mithun in Nagaland found that mithun milk was rich in essential amino acids, with glutamic acid, lysine, proline, and isoleucine being the most abundant. In addition, mithun milk was found to have a high concentration of vitamins A, D, and E, as well as calcium; about 7.3% fat, 4% protein, and 5.7% lactose; and also a good amount of solids-not-fat – the nutrients left after removing fat and water. 'As compared to milk from other bovine animals, mithun milk contains higher levels of proteins, fats and essential nutrients like calcium, phosphorus, and different vitamins,' says Rounak Chourasia, a research associate at National Agri-Food and Biomanufacturing Institute, in Mohali. Known for his work in developing bioactive peptides-enriched novel soybean churpi cheese, aimed at the socio-economic upliftment of local communities in Sikkim, Chourasia says that fermentation of such a highly nutritious substrate can result in the production of churpi with a high content of bioactive peptides, conjugated linoleic acid, vitamins, and minerals, leading to a novel functional food for the northeastern region of India. 'This vision aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, focusing mainly on SDG 2 (zero hunger), and SDG 3 (good health and well-being). Besides, utilising an unexplored food source in mithun milk can help the socio-economic upliftment of local tribes and communities of the region (SDG 11 – sustainable communities),' he adds. Challenges and possibilities For Patil, the long-term vision is to make mithun milk a commercial production, like other dairy farms. 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