Junagadh News-L&T mulls thermal power project in Gujarat

BS reported that L&T Power Development Limited a power arm of Larsen & Toubro Limited is actively looking at Junagadh in Gujarat for setting up coal based thermal power plant.

Officials in the state government said that apart from power project, the company is keen on power distribution and transmission in the district.

The company has recently filed an Industrial Entrepreneurial Memorandum with center government for power project in Junagadh of Saurashra region. The company has also sought government’s permission for power generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.

Sources in state’s energy department said that a proposal for power project has been forwarded by L&T Power and details of the project are being worked out. The company as it is also developing Sutrapada port in Saurashtra. Recently Gujarat Maritime Board issued letter of intent to L&T for developing Sutrapada port which is close to Junagadh.

As per report, L&T also proposes to build two bulk cargo handling berths and breakwaters during phase I of the project which is estimated to cost INR 670 crore. The total capacity of this port will be 5.6 million tonnes. At present, the company is preparing detailed project report for its port project.

Somnath Veraval Junagadh District

Broad Gauge Rail Line Ready up to Somnath Temple :-

India Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav will inaugurate Rs 30 crore Veraval-Somnath broad gauge line on 16th of this moth.

This five kilometer small stretch of new broad gauge line will facilitate pilgrims from all over the India to reach up to the Somnath temple in train.

Broad gauge facility was already in existence up to the Veraval Railway station which is seven kilometers away from Somnath. Pilgrims had to spend Rs. 60 to 100 to reach to the

Somnath temple from Veraval railway station.

Currently there are three popular trains to,

Veraval to Rajkot Junction Local Train.

Veraval Jabalpur Express.

Girnar Express and Somnath Mail.

Majority of passengers in these trains are pilgrims for Somnath.

Meanwhile local people in Junagadh district have demanded more trains for Somnath including Char Dham Jatra train and train connecting Somnath to Mumbai.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District Tourism Gujarat India

This Navratri, Forest Dept tells a musical tale of conservation :-

Sasan Gir Maan Garje Sawaj, Dala Matthe Vanraj. Ache Hariyalu Gujarat. Game Game Upwan shobe. Chede, Cheda Ugya Jhad. Ache Hariyulu Gujarat…

"In Sasan Gir roars the lion with long mane, this is green Gujarat; where every village flaunts a garden, every corner a tree, this is green Gujarat…" goes the song penned by Natwar Hadau Gujarat Ecological Education Research (GEER) Foundation and District Forest Officer (DFO) C N Patel.

It is one of the many songs that have become popular in Junagadh and Bhavnagar districts, this Navratri.

For the first time in Gujarat, the State Forest Department has struck a different chord to spread awareness about the flora and fauna of the state during the ongoing Wildlife Week.

They have distributed more than 100 CDs containing garba songs in all the forest circles in the state and even a few garba organisers in Gandhinagar.

Sasan Gir National Park - MP wants lion's share of Gujarat's pride

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan demanded the Center to act on its plan to shift a part of the lions' population from the Gir forests to his state,

a move which is being fiercely opposed by the parent state which says the animal is its pride and gives a distinctive edge to its tourism.

His demand may rekindle the controversy over the trans location of Asiatic lions from Gujarat.

He said that, ''We have made all the preparations for receiving the guests, but, they seem nowhere to be coming. The Center should do something,''

Gir Forests in Gujarat are the only place in the world where the Asiatic lion is presently found.

The forests were overpopulated with the lions, so it would be in the interest of the animals' survival, if they were distributed to another habitat.

A Centrally-sponsored Rs 640 crore project had been proposed in 1996 to translocate the lions over two decades to the 344 sq km Palpur Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in MP's Sheopur district.

But, the Gujarat government's resistance to share its proud possession have thwarted these plans so far.

The MP CM said it has pained him to see that all efforts and money on making the sanctuary suitablle for the Gir lions was going waste.

Asked whether he was in talks with the Gujarat government over the issue, Mr Chauhan said he would address his demand to the Centre instead, as it was a central project.

The April 2005 census recorded the lion-count in Gir at 359, an increase of 32 compared to 2001.

Despite strong protection machinery being in place in the Sasan Gir National Park, poaching of the animals had been taking place. The lions had also been poisoned for attacking livestock. Other threats haunting the animals were fires, floods, epidemics and natural disasters.

But, the Gujarat government had been asserting that Gir forests were quite safe for the lions and rather may not find the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary suitable, he underlined.

He said the sanctuary in his state was absolutely fit and ready to sustain the Asiatic lions.

The Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1965 in an area of 1412 km², located about 65 km to the south-east of Junagadh city of Junagadh district in the kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat.

The then Nawab of the princely Junagadh state had declared the forest area of Gir and its lions as "protected" in the early 1900s, an initiative that assisted in the conservation of the lions whose population had gone down to only 15 due to trophy hunting.

Sometime back, Uttar Pradesh had also made a move to get some big cats from the Gir Forests, but in vain.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the erstwhile Chief Minister of the state, had envisaged development of a lion safari on a huge tract of land in the forest area of his home district Etawah.

Owning to the change of guard last year, the project, however, was almost put in the cold storage.

One of the difficulties was getting lions from the Gir forests, officials of the state say.

Somnath Temple Veraval Junagadh - About Shri Lal Krishna Advani Visit

Shri Lal Krishna Advani at Somnath Temple(Junagadh-Saurastra) :-

Shri Lal Krishna Advani visited Somnath Temple on 25th September Thursday.

After an overnight stay at Rajkot, Advani boarded a chopper and reached Somnath Temple at 9.38 am.

He offered prayers at the temple.

Later, he addressed the local BJP leaders at the VVIP guesthouse.

This was Advani’s 18th visit to the temple since 1990, when he had commenced the famous Rath Yatra.

Junagadh News - About Chorwad municipality

Chorwad municipality holds a people’s congress to discuss woes.

Chorwad, just about 70 kilometer from Junagadh, created history of sorts with its civic body convening a general body meeting in presence of hundreds of people.

The meeting was also attended by 21 elected municipal members who passed resolutions regarding the town’s development.

The town, which has a population of around 30,000 people, is riddled with innumerable civic problems.

The public meeting began on a positive note with the common people also attending it.

They put forward their questions, made suggestions and welcomed the civic chief’s move to hold the meeting in public.