Dibru-Saikhowa is a biosphere reserve. This little known site, is one of the biodiversity hot spots situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra. It is located in the alluvial flood plains of the Brahmaputra. Fashioned by nature – earthquakes and ever changing water courses it has numerous island pockets and water bodies providing an unusual habitat for varied wildlife
and aqua fauna and avifauna.

Contained between the Debang, Lohit & the Great Brahmaputra rivers,the 340 sq Kms reserve was set up with a view to protecting the grass land and swamp habitat. Its internal water channels & bodies,seasonally flooded forests, “beels”, and grassy pockets, makes it an interesting birding destination for rare specialized grass land and swamp forest birds such as the threatened Marsh Babbler, Jerdon’s Babbler, Black throated Parrotbill, Rufous-vented( swamp) Prinia, and Jerdons Bushcat. You can also spot altitudinal migrants such as Pale-capped pigeon, White-tailed Rubythroat,and Black – breasted Thrush, and various warblers. More than 300 species have been recorded.

Located in Arunachal Pradesh, Namdapha lies in the extreme North East of India. Spread over 1985 sq Kms, Its altitude varies from 200 m to 4578 m. However it is only approachable up to altitudes of 850 m.Its avifauna is a unique blend of Indo-Burmese, Sino-Tibetan and Himalayan forms, which thrives in the bio-diverse habitat encompassing tropical, temperate and alpine. Largely unexplored 665 species of birds have been recorded, of which some are exotic – Blyth’s Tragopan,Wards Tragopan White- Winged Wood Duck, Rufus necked hornbill, Blue napped Pitta, Wedge-billed Wren Babbler, snow
throated Babbler, and Beautiful Nuthatch. Brown Hornbills may occur here, together with a fabulous list of pheasants, babblers and laughing-thrushes, which include the Arunachal endemic – Austen’s Spotted Babbler. Whilst such truly rare and elusive species occur, you should treat a sighting of any of them as a real bonus. It will be years before sites for such species are sufficiently well known for them to be found more easily.Nonetheless a visit to this remote park is an experience to remember.

The park is home to outstanding wet tropical forest. The remote and inaccessible nature of the park has preserved its pristine forests,and much of the area remains unexplored. It is as close to true wilderness as any of the many national parks and sanctuaries in India.But do bear in mind that access will be restricted, as the network of trails and tracks that allow exploration of most national parks and wildlife reserves simply does not exist here. Over 150 species of tree are found in Namdapha, including such tropical giants as Hollock,Mekai, Hollong, Jutuli, Dhuna, Mechelia champaka and others. Amongst the temperate and subtropical zones a wide variety of rhododendrons and oaks, birch and magnolias are found. Species of particular note are Pinus merkusi and Abies dalavavi, which are not found elsewhere in India; whilst one of the rarest and most endangered orchids, the Blue Vanda, occurs here, together with the Mishmi Teeta a well-known local medicinal plant, used by endemic tribal people to treat a host of illnesses.

Details of the trip are as follows :

19th December 2009: Arrive Dibrugarh in the morning, transfer to Dibru-saikhowa ( 1 1/2 hrs). Birding around the guest house. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

20th December 2009 : Boat Safari / Borajan WLS visit. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

21st December 2009 : Trekking/Maguli beel visit. Overnight at Dibru-saikhowa.

22nd December 2009 : After the breakfast drive to Namdapha & Overnight at Namdapha.

23rd December 2009 : Birding/trekking at Gibbons Land.Overnight at Namdapha

24th December 2009 : Birding /Trekking around 13th Mile/Anamika falls.Overnight at Namdapha

25th December 2009 : Birding around 19th Mile and transfer to Dibrugarh.Tour ends.

Cost : Rs.20,500/ per person Ex- Dibrugarh.

Cost includes : Transporation,all meals,guide charges ,Inner line permit and entry & Boating fees to the national park Ex – Dibrugarh for Indians.

For further details, please contact:

IT Nature Club
C/O Avanti Holidays
1922.Nisarga Layout
3rd Main 4th A Cross
Bannerghatta Post
Bangalore-560083
Tel/Fax : 080 – 27824059
(M) : 9845383882
Email : itnatureclub@rediffmail.com
itnatureclub@gmail.com
info@avantiholidays.com
Web : http://www.itnatureclub.com

Cost does not include : Camera Charges and any personal expenses.

Participants must be in Guwahati by 18th of December in order to leave for Dibrugarh to begin the trip. There is a good non-stop train from Bangalore to Guwahati, apart from the air option.

GreatEscapes, in association with Pixetra Club, presents an expedition in to the heart of the Western Ghats with wildlife photographer Amoghavarsha.

Spend 2 days in the thick rainforests of Agumbe, a
King Cobra haven that receives the second highest rainfall in India.
Camp at the country’s first rainforest research station – the ARRS,
and experience Radio Telemetry Tracking of animals first hand.

The photo expedition involves trekking through pristine forests which are home to several rare and endemic species of animals, found nowhere else on the planet. Photograph these rare species in addition to beautiful waterfalls and landscapes that would leave you mesmerized.

The total cost of the expedition ex-Bangalore is Rs 8900/-,
which includes a pre-expedition workshop, travel charges to Agumbe and back,
food and accommodation, local transport and guide and tracker charges.

For further details log on to

www.greatescapes.co.in

To register, please call

Ajay: 98441 61733 / 98861 01005
or Email

info@greatescapes.co.in

Or directly contact:

Amoghavarsha:

+91 9901044344

Website:
http://amoghavarsha.com

Email:
email@amoghavarsha.com

Several cyclists of Bangalore have got together and done a very professional job of putting together a Tour Of Nilgiris event, that will kick off from St Joseph’s at 6.30am on 25th December, and go through 919 km of mountainous terrain until the 1st January 2009.

Details of the Tour Of Nilgiris are at:

http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/

I am a cyclist, but I can’t participate, fossilized as I am (it would be, quite literally, the last thing I do!) I am drooling over the mental picture of the cyclists sailing through the incredible beauty of the Nilgiris….I can do *that* quite well!

This is a great initiative which these guys have organized, and they have done such a great job of pulling it all together, involving this list of Bangalore people:

Title Sponsor and Food Caterer: Nilgiris 1905
Official Accessory Partner: Wildcraft
Official Radio Partner: Radio Indigo 91.9FM
Official Medical Assistance Partner: Manipal Hospital
Official Print Partner: Time Out Bengaluru
Official Documentation Partner: Flaunge

So anyone who is cycling out there…do visit the TFN site and register if you would like to participate…and if you can’t, or won’t, do come out, at least, on the morning of 25th of December and cheer these people on..they are a great mixed lot, starting from a 11-year old!

*

The report highlights issues and concerns in and around HAL airport at Bangalore and Begumpet in Hyderabad, here are some important observations / highlights of this report…

• Charging of ADF or UDF for financing of the airport is not advisable in the context of policy objective of making the air travel more affordable. The committee has recommended that the UDF imposed on passengers may be withdrawn immediately and no more UDF may be imposed on passengers in any airport.
• Closures of existing airports had caused a revenue loss of Rs 610 crore in 2007-08 for the Airports Authority of India and hundreds of crore spent on developing this airports were lying unutilised because of closure of this infrastructure although these were used for VIP flights, general aviation and helicopter taxi services.
• These airports may be used for short haul flights as is the practice existing in major cities of the world which had more than one airport.
• Committee was informed that the Notice Inviting Tender did not have any mention about the closure of HAL airport at Bangalore but was brought in at the later stage of concessionary agreement. As regarding the violation of the norm that no new airport should come up within 150 km of existing airport and the permitting the Greenfield airports in the two southern cities seemed to violate the policy of the Government.
• Both Greenfield airports were far away from the cities compelled the passengers to use other means of transport such as road and trains for short distance destinations. UDF charges have made the travel from these airports costlier both in terms of time and money.
• Committee had found that the equity contributions of these two Greenfield airports were Rs 240 crore in Bangalore and Rs 330 crore in Hyderabad and the land was given at a concessionary rate. Rest of the finance had come from Government agencies by way of debt from financial institutions. If such resources were to be given to AAI itself, they could have easily developed the infrastructure
• The panel had observed that the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports were making the passengers pay ”exorbitant prices’ for the food items in the airports, while those waiting outside had not access to affordable canteen facilities, toilets and bathrooms. excessive commercialisation had taken a toll of the passenger amenities

Read the full coverage here and here

The International Jawa CZ Yezdi Day is an annual celebration of those 250 cc Jawa & Yezdi bikes that were sold in India from 1960 to 1997. They are popular for their reliability and low maintenance costs. They were manufactured at the Ideal Jawa factory in Mysore.

To commemorate the 6th International Jawa-Yezdi Day, the Jawa – Yezdi Club of Bangalore is organizing a rally. The following is the route: Cubbon Park – MG Rd – Brigade Rd – Richmond Circle – Lalbagh – Corporation Circle – Mysore Rd – Chennapattana Coffee Day and back

Get-together at 7.00am
Flag Off at 8.00am (Sharp)

For more info, pls contact: Lokesh-9880033994; Sam-99451 44774; Brian-9886101005

First facts, yes the Bangalore International Airport is far from the city. This fact is so drilled into all of us by now that I suppose we are so mentally tuned to a long travel & starting off well in advance. Once the mental tuning is done the ride becomes that much more bearable. Largely the road from the Hebbal flyover is wide & good so a good car should be able to travel 80-100 km/hr. It took us about an hour to get to the Airport from Commercial Street that Saturday evening.

I really don’t know what a layman should expect from an Airport or from a new Airport for that matter. And especially for someone like me who doesn’t travel around by flights then it is once again of very little significance. But all the hype of the new Airport mostly for the wrong reasons got me curious & I wanted to be there & check it out functioning. Luckily, Brother was off to the US so we went there to see him off.

Only the passengers are allowed entry in to the terminal building while those who travel with the passengers to see them off basically have to hang outside the terminal building. Entry inside is allowed only in the Arrival section. That said the facilities for people who go all the way there to see off someone are not great at all.  The Terminal building is all glass & completely see-through type. So the only activity for most people who go there to see someone off is to follow the progress being made by their traveler in the check in queue. Apart from doing that we looked around for two things. One, some place where we could sit & two, for the toilet. Both were not to be seen. When we enquired with some uniformed facility management chaps their answer was, ‘there is no toilet outside’. That definitely had to be wrong. How could BIAL miss out on something as basic as that? Some more enquiries and we got the directions. We had to walk about 500 meters from the Terminal building for the toilet. And honestly there was nothing International about this toilet, at least in its maintenance. It is very Indian & very local.

I was keen to know how different can an ‘International Airport’ be from an ‘Airport’. I mean really what can be the difference? Well this is what I realized. There is no difference. An Airport is an Airport. And that’s pretty much it. For all those of us who hang out a lot at the malls in Bangalore, we are already used to the escalators, glow signs, uniformed facility management chaps, colorful chairs in the food zones, the organized parking & so on & so forth. The Bangalore International Airport is no different. But yes where the Bangalore International Airport can learn something from the Mall’s facility management chaps is in the maintenance of the toilets. One other area where they can take tips from a mall is in putting up some displays as to where the toilets are. I guess the kind of people who make malls & airports are the same. Because at both places you cant sit.

But yes where the feel of International comes in according to me is in the fact that you don’t see any autos & two wheelers around (I didn’t see any two wheelers at the air port that day but can’t confirm if they are not allowed there). Another area where you get a feel of International is in the size of the entire thing. It’s big & especially so when it’s compared to the previous HAL Airport. Despite these stand out features where it probably lacks in the International tag is Security. It does seem relaxed. Even the area next to the terminal building where some flights are parked can be clearly seen from the distance. The flights are only about a stone’s throw away.  One other area where some improvement would be great is in the food area. Is darshini type food or South Indian food per se not International? Why is it that we get more North Indian & the burger/sandwich type fare there than South Indian? Where is the promotion of local culture there

To sign off on a good note there is one good thing and that too with the most dreaded aspect about the airport, the connectivity. One can rest assured about the connectivity. BMTC has buses every half hour & round the clock. We took a BMTC Volvo well past mid night. This definitely is more cost effective & convenient but only to get into the city. From there you will have to rely on the auto or a taxi again. Other wise of course there are taxi services round the clock as well at the airport.

May 22nd 2008, yes that’s the date! Just a day before HAL is pushed to cease domestic travel. Despite formal position of the civil aviation ministry is that metros require two airports likes of Mumbai and Delhi….

In an interlocutory petition filed by social worker B Krishna Bhat, Bangalore City Connectivity Foundation (BCCF) and advocate G R Mohan, SC sought the details regarding the meeting’s held involving the Chief Secretary and other senior officials on April 19 and May 12, it is learnt that in these meeting they found it impossible to retain the HAL airport.

The petitioner Mr. Bhat does have some interesting points put up before the bench…

• That the decision to close the HAL airport has been taken under pressure as the BIAL is not willing to give up its right under the agreement it has drawn up with the government.
• Even the gazette notification on May 16 for the inauguration of BIAL has come following pressure from BIAL.
• Government has failed to minimize the problems faced by the public and suggested that the airport transport service, economy and efficiency should improve before considering the closure.
• Infrastructure including the road connectivity to Devanahalli is not yet ready and the airport authority itself is not yet clear whether it can function effectively from Devanahalli.
• Quick inauguration is an attempt to pre-empt the dismissal of the PILs which are posted for June second week.
• The new airport is already crowded with a capacity of just nine million, while the HAL airport has a capacity of 10.1 million and is therefore it is necessary to retain the HAL airport.
• Said that none of the respondents — BIAL, Union and State Governments, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) — had made any effort to thrash out the contentious issues.

All that and more action is slated in and around May 22nd and public at large continues to keep their fingers crossed…..

The new airport is all set to put holes in the pockets of the travelers under UDF charges and roaring taxis that will clinch out few more hundreds, that’s the story now!! The infrastructure starving city is now getting hoaxed by this new ‘arrangement’ by and between few that would churn many closing the HAL airport…uhhhh!

Not sure if BIAL can come under RTI act as the share of govt together is more than 26%, why the drama of negotiations by and between govt entities which rather than imposing closure of HAL should work towards keeping it open to all low cost domestic flights, this would ensure those who can afford to fly by helicopter to reach BIAL and take premium flights and many others who will queue up at the gates to catch seats in low cost airlines with their lunch tiffin hand baggage!!

Finally to console myself, I look at few pictures of HAL & the airport kept on public display at HAL Aerospace Museum in the city …

All photos courtesy HAL museum public display

Time Factor > The access to the HAL airport currently takes 15 minutes for me from Indira Nagar, this time will be history once the new BIAL opens post march and closes down all passenger flights out of HAL (as per the contract I understand) the new airport is almost 35-40 kms from my house that will eat up atleast two hours for travel. Essentially this means I can not take early morning flights that will not be of any advantage anymore. The air travel is usually taken to ’save’ time of travel and the BIAL is taking ‘passengers for a ride’ for sure on the ‘time’ factor.

Cost factor > for the present HAL airport it takes me just 50 rupees by auto or Rs.125 by a call taxi. To use the new airport I will have to shell out atleast Rs 600 for a call taxi minimum and completely forget using auto. Knowing the ‘nature’ of private taxi operators to take passenger for granted this cost would easily end up around Rs.800-1000. Reaching airport thus becomes costlier than the airline ticket (that I am used to pay Rs.500/600 if booking is done two months in advance )which I certainly will not ‘agree’ to pay just because someone singed a contract with BIAL without taking general public views / reactions into consideration. It is also learnt that BIAL has sent a proposal to the Union civil aviation ministry seeking to levy use a development fee of Rs 675 on outgoing domestic travelers, which makes me wonder why??

Essentially this ‘arrangement’ of a large airport would have a major impact on domestic travel for both family and business travelers. The business travel which ‘prefers’ the same-day-return travel to save on accommodation cost, this now looks a distant possibility! On the other hand this BIAL can get going good for international travel as it is more pre-planned and these time and cost factors may not have major bearing there…

I am yet to get the grip on this ‘new airport’ arrangement for domestic travel due to these aforesaid practical reasons. I feel BIAL has just lost one customer for sure before it even starts its operation, what say??