To teach the importance of the mighty Himalyas and to create awareness to save the snow ranges , The ‘Himalayan Day’ is celebrated on 9th September by the National Institute of Wild Life ,which is situated at Dehradun ,since 2010 . The is being organized with lectures, training workshops, talks, seminars and children awareness programs in the different areas of Himalyan hebitations to teach public about the Himalayan range, which provides life line for millions of people living in the mountains and in the northern plains of India..A spokes person of wild Life institute of India WII, informed that This year, the theme for Himalayan Day Celebration was ‘Ecological Services of Rivers’. Therefore, WII celebrated the 7th Himalayan Day by organizing a training-cum-conservation Awareness Workshop on‘Ecological Services of the Himalayan Rivers’ at the bank of River Nayar in Pauri District of Utterakhand, which is one of the most important rivers for Golden Mahseer conservation in Uttarakhand, said Dr. K. Sivakumar, Scientist at WII.
“This workshop was organized under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem project funded by Department of Science and Technology,” said one of the scientists of WII. A total of 50 participants comprising of school students, forest officials and staff from Uttarakhand Forest Department and representatives of the fishermen community of the area participated in this workshop , which was organized at Government Inter College at Bilkhet, Pauri. Dr. Anoop Dobrial, Head, Department of Zoology, H.N.B. Garhwal University, Pauri campus was the chief guest for the workshop.Hemchandra Kestwal, Principal, Bilkhet Inter-College , in his welcome address ,highlighted the importance of Himalaya and role of school students and teachers in conserving the Nayar river.
Dr. S. Sathyakumar, Scientist of WII in his opening remarks recalled the purpose of celebrating the Himalaya Day and on the need to spread awareness amongst the youth and students to save the rivers. Shri Girish Kumar Rastogi, Conservator of Forests, Garhwal shared his experiences on biodiversity conservation and the need for collaborating with the local communities to save the rivers and its fauna. Dr. Anoop Dobrial, shared his experiences on rivers and their conservation and emphasized on the importance of monitoring of river and its fauna by local youth. A hands-on training was given by Dr. J. A. Johnson, Scientist from WII, on the river bank of Nayar. All the participants were then divided into groups and provided hand-on training on river habitat quality assessment and restoration techniques. Harmful effects of destructive fishing and dredging were also explained along with various scientific techniques. Prizes were distributed for the bright student based on a quiz. The closing remarks were given by Dr. V.P. Uniyal, Scientist, WII on the need to organize similar workshops/trainings for the youth in future.