Elephants roaming onto northern Indian roads have led to the overnight closure of a key highway in Uttarakhand state over safety concerns, officials said Thursday.
Herds have been blocking traffic on the road between the state capital, Dehradun, and the yoga and pilgrimage town of Rishikesh during the past few weeks, forestry official Dinesh Kumar said.
Wildlife experts said increased traffic on roads that often cut across forest and elephant reserves have led to a rise in elephant-human conflicts as traditional elephant paths are blocked.
Dense fog in the area also increased chances of encounters with the elephants, Kumar said.
The district plans to divert traffic for a week from 6 pm to 6 am to a longer route, a police spokesman said.
Motorists have been asked to drive carefully on that road, which borders national parks, and avoid early morning walks, he said.
Park deforestation, poaching and encroachment by villagers is either boxing in the country's more than 26,000 wild elephants or causing them to stray from their habitat and reserves.
A national government elephant task force set up in 2010 recorded at least 400 people and more than 100 elephants are killed every year in encounters between elephants and humans.
Acting happened by chance for Ragini Nandwani who will be playing the lead in Milind Ukey’s film, Dehraadun Diary. Hailing from Dehradun, a hill town in Uttarakhand, Ragini had little idea when she was shifting base to Delhi that her life was about to change. In fact, she was all set to become a journalist but destiny had a different plans for her.
“Acting was a stroke of luck as I had my heart set to become a journalist. I was always a very private and shy person. In fact, it was my friend who wanted to be an actor and she took me along for an audition and then one thing led to another,” she says.
Ragini’s character of Lovely in a Zee TV’s show Mrs Kaushik ki Paanch Bahuyein got her noticed and she came to Mumbai. Being from a small-town, she has taken the move in her stride. “In Mumbai people are always busy and have little time to spare. But I have gotten into the groove of things, although I do miss my folks back home,” she adds.
Speaking about the coincidence of going back to shooting in her hometown, she says, “It’s like coming home as I grew up in the very place we were shooting. It brought back lots of nostalgic memories.” Ragini adds that for future she would like to get into roles that challenge her rather than require her to dance around trees.
After announcing retirement from One-day cricket, Sachin Tendulkar headed straight for hill station Mussoorie in Uttarakhand, where he is likely to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
Hours after the news about his retirement form ODIs broke, people were taken by surprise as the batting legend landed at the Jollygrant Airport in Dehradun on Sunday along with his wife Anajli, son Arjun and daughter Sara.
Congress MP Priya Dutt was also accompanying Tendulkar, who left straight for Mussoorie after landing at the airport, much to the disappointment of journalists present there.
Tendulkar arrived at a family friend Sanjay Narang's hotel named Rugby at Mussoorie at about six in the evening.
The legend used to visit Mussoorie along with family to celebrate Christmas and the new year until a few years ago but had not been able to do so due to his busy schedule for the last two years.
Another member of the Gandhi family is all set to take admission at the prestigious Doon School.
Priyanka Gandhi paid her second visit to Dehradun last week for the admission process of her son Rehan.
The visit was kept a secret and even the school authorities are not willing to speak a word about the visit although the speculation is that Rehan was here for the mandatory interview before admission.
Rehan is likely to take admission in class VII next year. He will be the fourth member of the Gandhi family to be schooled at the Doon School. The process began with late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sending Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi here. It was followed by Sonia Gandhi admitting Rahul Gandhi. Now, Priyanka too is seeking admission for her son in the same school.
