CHEAPEST way to LOCATE & MONITOR Sand Mining.

An upright Durga was hounded and went through hell for taking on sand Mafia.
Media being fickle , is always in search of new " HOT " news items , has also stopped following up . I feel ashamed to confess that I do not know the latest news about her case.
It is most unfortunate that the species of the likes of Khemkas and Durgas are on the verge of extinction.
In case of other normal run of the mill , remaining seat warming Babus , they may not even know where all sand mining is being carried out in areas under their jurisdiction , leave alone to know whether it is being done legally or otherwise. 
As you all know presently I am in google & wiki maps and mapping villages and roads in Nagpur district. I found lots of tracks leading no where . They ended where there was no human habitation and that is how I discovered cheapest way on how to locate sand mining sites.
These images have been taken from free feed of google maps and hence the images would be as much as up to 3 years out of date . Still I am confident that despite images being out of date  more than 80 %  sites would still be in business . 

HOW TO LOCATE SAND MINING SITES.

Zoom sufficiently on satellite imagery on maps . Follow any river . When you locate any cart / tractor or other track entering river bed , zoom further & examine . It may be an innocent river crossing point for poor villagers as our able Government has not been able to build bridges and roads.If it is not a river crossing point , then you have , in all probability found a sand mining location .

To help you in identifying such places here are some examples .

Tell Tale Tracks leading to river bed. At max zoom levels and in many locations one can  even see the pits created from where sand has been mined.

Tell Tale Tracks leading to river bed. At max zoom levels and in many locations one can  even see the pits created from where sand has been mined.

Tell Tale Tracks leading to river bed. At max zoom levels and in many locations one can  even see the pits created from where sand has been mined.Here one can see example of a river crossing towards right side  as well !!!!

Now all these sites need not be illegal. Quite a few of them may be honest business ventures .However you all and I know that for every one legitimate site there will be at least 10 illigal sites. I plan to send this information to my district collector [after suitably rewording of course :-) ] his is the only e mail id I have  and once he had acknowledged my mail. The gentleman will at least know the locations where he can at least  investigate . Effort is on to get mail ids of other collectors of my region .

Government to bear Babus medical expenses abroad : Letter to Editor.

Indian Foreign Services Officers were entitled for getting medical treatment abroad . This was a logical rule and justifiable expenditure . It stands to reason that if a person is posted abroad in an Indian Consulate falling sick and needing medical  treatment will not come to India for treatment but he will have to be treated in that country at Government expense.

Being considered few of  most intelligent Indians by virtue of being member of that elite service and inborn ingenuity of an Indian to find loopholes any where , they were managing to get medical treatment abroad even when not on the staff of Foreign Missions .

The rivalry among various branches of All India Services , not for working hard or for the good of the nation but for grabbing as many perks or as many of the  other privileges as possible , is an open secret .

The Medical perk of IFS cadre must have been a major bone of contention with other cadres . Finally they have succeeded in getting what they have been wanting as is clear by this proviso "The scale of expenditure and the eligibility for treatment is identical to the scale of expenditure and the eligibility of an official of the Indian Foreign Service of the corresponding grade in the Ministry of External Affairs,” 

The big question is why should govt foot the bill for their medical treatment , when every and whichever type of treatment , complex or otherwise is available in India . SO why the change in rules now .

Apparently injustice done to Durgas and Khemkas , irresponsible utterances by fools in power that they can run state administration without IAS cadre ,united this elite tribe and as a first , they collectively approached the Government for redressal of their grievances. If the same was done by Service Chiefs , it would have been termed as revolt !!

The IAS cadre had not only to be pacified but alsohad to offered a BIG CARROT to ensure that

1. their tribe looks the other way when illegal sand , iron or any other type of mining is going on . 

2. Actively find loopholes in the rules so that their political masters can bend the rules for personal gains and gains of their accomplices including the babus themselves.

3.To continue working for their political bosses and NOT for the good of the Nation .

My personal opinion is that NO ONE  and I mean NO ONE no matter how high a position is occupied by them including  highest position holders like and including The President of India should get medical treatment abroad at Government expense. 

IF ONE CAN AFFORD IT, MEDICAL FACILITIES IN INDIA ARE AS GOOD , IF NOT BETTER AS , ANY WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.SO WHY GO ABROAD ???????????????

Anecdote sent to Readers Digest .

Some time back my friend Gp Capt NN Ubgade ( retd ), 80 odd years of age had undergone cataract operation of both eyes . It just so happened that after the operation , he had good near vision in one eye and equally good distant vision in the other eye. Due to this , between both  the eyes he had no problems and did not need to use specatels.

Last month he  had gone to R T O 's (Regional Transport Officer) office to apply for renewal of his driving licences.While he was busy filling up the forms , The concerned RTO's employee was giving him curious looks. Finally he could not stop himself from asking my friend " Sir , how is it that you are not using specatels. it is really surprising that you have good vision "

My friend , with dead pan face replied , " Yes with God's grace as of now my vision is ok , but may be in my old age I will have to use them "

The expressions on RTO staff were really indescribable,   

Letter to Editor : Un-Godly Godmen ?

Sir ,

 As per news reports in electronic and print media Asaram Bapu has been arrested and is being interrogated in Jodhpur.

Few years back  henchmen of Asaram Bapu usurping landed property near Asaram Bapu Ashram . True and legal owners were, reportedly, thrown off the property and the property annexed to Asram Bapu Ashram . At that time The incident was widely reported in print and electronic media. Whether Legal owners of the land ever got justice was never published.

Most probably on the pain of death they were told to keep quite.

Again some time back dead bodies of two teen age boys were found near Asaram Bapu's Ashram . Investigation had revealed that the boys were subjected to un-natural sex acts , sodomised and brutally murdered . As widely reported in news media , inmates and hench men of Asaram Bapu were involved in these henious crimes .To the best of our knowledge investigations were never taken to their logical conclusion . Guilty persons were never brought to justice.

Now Asaram Bapu has been accused of molesting a girl . Fearing arrest as a result of public out cry against such crime , media is full of the drama and tricks played by Asaram Bapu to avoid arrest . Finally he has been arrested and is being questioned .

In the earlier two instances no one had accused Asaram Bapu of being  directly involved in crimes. However it is not conceivable to imagine that without direct support the henchmen would dare to do the crimes . 

In the instant case the God man has been directly involved . Where there was so much smoke there has to be fire . therefore thorough investigation , without fear or favour must be carried out . 

The guilty must be brought to justice.

PM Velankar, Nagpur.

Zero Mile Marker , Nagpur.

Trip Advisor had sent me this mail.
Nagzira, Tadoba, we have not visited as yet. It has been a long time since we visited other places. I thought it would not be proper to write a review based on information which was dated. I had not even passed the zero mile marker for some time and had no photos. I did some research as to why it is called "Zero Mile" etc and I went to Zero Mile Marker to see it from a Reviewer of Trip Advisor's point of view :-). Glad I did. Learnt a few things. So this blog is about Zero Mile Marker and a few things I learnt:-
Zero Mile Marker :-
Every geographic area has a centre ergo every country has to have a geographic centre. To the best of my knowledge, I know not of any city in the world claiming to be the geographic centre of the country. Nagpurians and Nagpur lovers have bestowed this distinction on Nagpur city, in fact, the geographic centre's location is Zero mile spot located on National Highway 7 ( from Kanyakumari to Banaras ), near Reserve Bank and Kasturchand Park Square (Latitude 21°08′59.1″N, Longitude 79°04′49.9″E ). 

A few years back an Indian Oil Petrol Pump which was located adjacent to this zero mile was closed. Today there is nothing at all to suggest that there once was a petrol pump.  Some effort to beautify zero mile spot has been made by planting a bit of grass,  Cycus Revoluta and other Palm Plants and statues of four stallions in full flight. But the plot of land left vacant by the petrol pump is an eye sore with bits of garbage and a forlorn look about it. Most probably it is now being used as a free parking space by customers of Savaji Bhojanalaya located there.

                                         GENERAL VIEW ZERO MILE.

Protective balustrade and zero-mile pillar

View from another angle: zero mile pillar &; horses

Two views of the horses at Zero Mile.

Two views of the horses at Zero Mile.

 All major highways NH-7 ( Varanasi - Kanyakumari ) &  NH-6 (Mumbai - Sambalpur - Calcutta) and major railways trunk routes (Mumbai, Chennai, Howrah, Delhi) pass through the city and the honour of being the geographical centre is by and large true, Particularly for North-South axis. However, those who are finicky about accuracy may point out that Distances between Kanyakumari in South to Nagpur Zero Mile and further North to a point on Aksai Chinborder are 1450.3 KMs and 1591 KMs respectively. In W-E Axis, Southern most point of Sir Creek in the West to Nagpur Zero Mile and further East to the Eastern most point of Arunachal border, the distances are 1160.1 Km and 1991.3 KMs respectively. As these points are not equidistant, Nagpur is not the EXACT GEOGRAPHIC CENTER of the Country. However considering the vastness of the Indian subcontinent and the complexities in the shape of the border, it is conceded by all and everyone agrees that Zero Mile is the exact geographical centre of India. There is also a general belief that because this is the Geographical Center and therefore it is called Zero Mile. This is Wrong.  It is called zero Mile due to the location of this small pillar :

 It is called zero Mile due to the location of this small pillar.

 

This stone pillar is the reason why this spot is "zero mile".

 The inscription on the vertical face of the pillar reads  " G .T . S . STANDARD BENCHMARK. 1907 "

Horizontal stone is an integral part of the G T S standard bench mark.

Inscription on the horizontal stone reads

 " THE HEIGHT OF THE TOP OF THIS PILLAR IS 

1020.171 FEET ABOVE THE MEAN  LEVEL OF THE SEA " 

.(Note the accuracy to the THIRD degree of the decimal)

Location of G T S Pillar behind the horses at Zero mile.

Location of G T S Pillar behind the horses at Zero mile.

 The Center of the red circle painted on top of this pillar has great significance as that is the reference point of the GTS Bench Mark going through the photos I was intrigued by all this and decided to do some research. 

I learned quite a bit through google search.

" A G.T.S. (A Great Trigonometrical Survey) benchmark is a permanently fixed reference survey station (or point), having known elevation with respect to a standard datum (mean sea level). This GTS, at zero-mile,  was one of the many such established with great accuracy in what can be termed as one of the most stupendous tasks in the history of science of cartography, started 200 years ago by William Lambton and completed four decades later by George Everest, which resulted in the Great Indian Arc of the Meridian. It is the GTS benchmarks like these that helped in eventually establishing that the Himalayas constituted a mountain range and Mount Everest was the highest point on the earth at 8848 meters ( 29028.87 Feet). Lots and lots of information are available on this. 

I will strongly recommend going through some of the following links.
http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl1909/19090660.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Trigonometric_Survey

http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b5b_22.pdf

http://www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org/themes/everest/factsheets/resource/default.aspx?id=312

http://sumitsoren1983.blogspot.in/2012/01/great-trigometrical-survey.html    

http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1028.

Thus the GTS mark was established in Nagpur and because it was the capital of Central Provinces, this GTS Standard Bench Mark was taken as Chart Datum for extending the surveys to all the central provinces and areas beyond. Being Chart Datum all the distances to various cities were also measured from this G T S  Marker taken as "ZERO", and only the distances for some surrounding cities were then engraved on the stone slabs at the base of the ZERO MILE PILLAR. And that is how this came to be known as Zero Mile Marker.

In fact reading about that tremendous Great Trigonometric Survey Project which revolutionised the way to look at map making and cartography and significantly improved the science of cartography and map making, towering and visionary personalities of Colonel Lambton, Sir George Everest, Radhanath Sikdar and others.

Establishment of GTS at zero miles and all that is part of our history. I felt that if the local administration beautifies the plot left vacant by the petrol pump. Erects beautifully made billboards giving photographs and information about the great project and personalities it will have a great impact as the real thing would be just a few paces away. It would greatly contribute to spreading the information about zero-mile, GTS etc among parents, children, students and the general public. It could be called "ZERO MILE EDUCATION PARK". It would really be a great achievement

Inscription  on Zero Mile Pillar Reads 

" TO JUBBULPORE 170 MILES " 

" TO SEONEE 79 MILES "

(spellings as in use those days :-)

Another inscription on the Zero Mile Pillar 

Hyderabad & Chandah Distances.

Modern National Highways Distance markers.

Being located on  NH 7 it shows distances to Northern and Southern Destinations.

 as Varanasi 729 KMs, 

On the other side is Kanyakumari 1600 KMs(sorry no photo),

Chart Datum being 0 KM it is written on the side :-)

SO NOW WE KNOW THE  HOWS AND  WHYS OF ZERO MILE MARKER, NAGPUR.

Let us hope "ZERO MILE EDUCATION PARK" becomes a reality. 

Zero Mile Marker , Nagpur.

05 September 2013.

Zero Mile Marker , Nagpur.

 

Trip Advisor had sent me this mail. Nagzira, Tadoba, we have not visited as yet. It has been a long time since we had visited other places. I thought it would not be proper to write a review based on information that was dated. I had not even passed the zero mile marker for some time and had no photos. I did some research as to why it is called "Zero Mile" etc and I went to Zero Mile Marker to see it from a Reviewer of Trip Advisor's point of view :-) 

Glad I did. 

Learnt a few things. So this blog is about Zero Mile Marker and few things I learnt :- 

Zero Mile Marker :- 

 Every geographic area has a centre ergo every country has to have a geographic centre. To the best of my knowledge, I know not of any city in the world claiming to be the geographic centre of that country. 

Nagpurians and Nagpur lovers have bestowed this distinction on Nagpur city, in fact, for India, the geographic centre's location is Zero mile marker  located on National Highway 7 ( from Kanyakumari to Banaras ), near Reserve Bank and Kasturchand Park Square (Latitude 21°08′59.1″N, Longitude 79°04′49.9″E ).

A few years back an Indian Oil Petrol Pump which was located adjacent to this zero mile was closed. Today there is nothing at all to suggest that there once was a petrol pump. Some effort to beautify zero mile spot has been made by planting a bit of grass, Cycas Revoluta and other Palm Plants and statues of four stallions in full flight. But the plot of land left vacant by petrol pump is an eyesore with bits of garbage and forlorn look about it. Most probably it is now being used as a free parking space by customers of Savaji Bhojanalaya located there.

General view Zero Mile Nagpur.

Protective balustrade and zero-mile pillar. At the base of zero-mile pillar distances to some main cities are given.

General view Zero Mile Nagpur.

General view Zero Mile Nagpur. From the rear.

All major highways NH-7 ( Varanasi - Kanyakumari ) & NH-6 (Mumbai - Sambalpur - Calcutta) and major railways trunk route (Mumbai, Chennai, Howrah , Delhi) pass through the city and The honour of being geographical centre is by and large true, Particularly for North-South axis. 

However, those who are finicky about accuracy may point out that Distances between Kanyakumari in South to Nagpur Zero Mile and further North to a point on Aksai Chinborder are 1450.3 km and 1591 KMs respectively. In W-E Axis, the Southernmost point of Sir Creek in the West to Nagpur Zero Mile and further East to the Easternmost point of Arunachal border, the distances are 1160.1 Kms and 1991.3 KMs respectively. As these points are not equidistance, Nagpur is not EXACT GEOGRAPHIC CENTER of the Country. However considering the vastness of the Indian subcontinent and the complexities in the shape of the border, it is conceded by all and everyone agrees that Zero Mile is the exact geographical centre of India .

There is also a general belief that because this is the Geographical Center and therefore it is called Zero Mile . This is Wrong. 

It is called zero Mile due to the location of this GTS Standard bench Mark Pillar :

 

It is because of the location of this GTS Standard bench Mark Pillar that this spot is called "Zero- Mile".

Inscription on the vertical face of the pillar reads " G.T. S. STANDARD BENCHMARK.1907"

 Horizontal stone slab (it is just below the pillar, due to lack of contrast you will have to look carefully) is an integral part of the G T S standard benchmark. Inscription on the horizontal stone slab reads " THE HEIGHT OF THE TOP OF THIS PILLAR IS 1020.171 FEET ABOVE THE MEAN LEVEL OF THE SEA ".(Note the accuracy to the THIRD degree of the decimal). 

The location of G T S Pillar is behind the horses at Zero mile. 

The Center of the red circle painted on top of this pillar has great significance as that is the reference point of the GTS Bench Mark going through the photos I was intrigued by all this and decided to do some research.

 I learned quite a bit from a google search. " G.T.S. (Great Trigonometrical Survey) benchmark is a permanently fixed reference survey station (or point), having known elevation with respect to a standard datum (mean sea level). This GTS, at zero-mile, was one of the many such established with great accuracy in what can be termed as one of the most stupendous tasks in the history of science of cartography, started 200 years ago by William Lambton and completed four decades later by George Everest, which resulted in the Great Indian Arc of the Meridian. It is the GTS benchmarks like these that helped in eventually establishing that the Himalayas constituted a mountain range and Mount Everest was the highest point on the earth at 8848 meters ( 29028.87 Feet). Lots and lots of information are available on this topic on the internet.

Thus the GTS mark was established in Nagpur and because it was the capital of Central Provinces, this GTS Standard BenchMark was taken as Chart Datum for extending the surveys to all the central provinces and areas beyond. Being Chart Datum all the distances to various cities were also measured from this G T S Marker taken as "ZERO", and only the distances for some surrounding cities were then engraved on the stone slabs at the base of the ZERO MILE PILLAR. And that is how this came to be known as Zero Mile Pillar

Zero Mile Pilar.l

Inscription on Zero Mile Pillar Reads " TO JUBBULPORE 170 MILES " " TO SEONEE 79 MILES " (spellings as in use those days :-) 

Another inscription on the Zero Mile Pillar Hyderabad & Chandah Distances. Modern Zero Mile Pillar.(spellings as in use those days :-) 

 Being located on NH 7 it shows distances to Northern and Southern Destinations as Varanasi 729 KMs, Kanyakumari 1600 KMs, with Chart Detum being 0 KM on the side :-) 

In fact, reading about that tremendous Great Trigonometric Survey Project which revolutionised the way to look at map making and cartography and significantly improved the science of cartography and map making, towering and visionary personalities of Colonel Lambton, Sir George Everest , Radhanath Sikdar and others. Establishment of GTS at zero miles and all that is part of our history. 

I felt that if the local administration beautifies the plot left vacant by the petrol pump. Erects beautifully made billboards giving photographs and information about the great project and personalities it will have a great impact as the real thing would be just a few paces away. It would greatly contribute to spreading the information about zero-mile, GTS etc among parents, children, students and the general public.

SO NOW WE KNOW THE HOWS AND WHYS OF ZERO MILE MARKER, NAGPUR. Let us hope "ZERO MILE EDUCATION PARK" becomes a reality.