Posts tagged Jaisalmer

Hungry sands no more

0 Comments read Environment & Development, Features, Gender
Aladini Sanwera of Hamir Nada village , near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, grows enough on her land to feed her family thanks to water brought by the Indira Gandhi Canal Project. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Mohangarh, (Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan, India), 29.03.2012 (The Hindu Businessline): Not long ago, the remote communities in Jaisalmer district eked out a living from a single annual crop of millet (bajra), dependent on the mercy of rain gods. The 48 degree centigrade heat of the harsh summer sun, frequent sandstorms and no water posed a major challenge for survival. Droughts and the spectre of camel and livestock bones strewn on the sand dunes was a common phenomenon. But the advent of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project (IGNP) in the mid-1980s transformed the landscape and its inhabitants.

Continue reading →

Conquest of the Summit

4 Comments read Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 16.02.2003 (The Australian/The Hindu/The Week): As the world celebrates this Year of the Mountains and 50 years of the conquest of Mt Everest, SIR EDMUND HILLARY, who along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, was the first to set foot on the summit of this highest peak in the world, spoke to this correspondent from the quietude of his home in Auckland (New Zealand), where he lives with his wife, June, about the sanctity and charm associated with the Everest climb in his days.

At 83, he still loves the mountains and the challenge of the climb and expressed concern at the recent commercialisation of the peak. Amongst his prized possessions is the ice axe, which he used for cutting steps up to the summit; and the enamelled tin mug, with Hillary inscribed on the side, from which he sipped coffee just before 4 am on the fateful day.

What was the view from the `Roof of the World’ at 29,035 feet?

The view is still distinctly imprinted on my mind — the barren highlands of Tibet, the valleys and big ridges going into India, and other great mountains to east and west from Kanchenjunga on one side to Chomolhari on the other. Continue reading →