On a visit to the Bamsan area of Hamirpur district, one finds such reservoirs called Khatris, which are actually hand-hewn caves, located on both sides of the road beneath huge rocks.

Doctors contradict the natives' opinion that the cool water in these reservoirs is fit for human consumption.

Come summer and there is an acute shortage of water in these districts of the state. This is due to a lack of permanent water sources here.

People of these districts wait for the arrival of timely rains for their daily water needs, but its insufficient availability constrains them to use Khatris.

These reservoirs are hewn from hard rocks, which are a permanent source of water. Once these Khatris are carved out, they are provided with an iron gate and locked. The water seeps into these reservoirs from therocks and is collected inside which is sufficient for daily use of human beings as well as animals.

Two types of Khatris are found in the Bamsan (Hamirpur) area of the Mandi and in a few places of Kangra district. In one of its types, rain water is collected from house roofs in tins and stored in the reservoirs.

EAS faces financial crunch
The employment assurance scheme (EAS), aimed at providing jobs to all those persons who need employment during the lean agricultural season, is facing a financial crunch and has been trapped in a complex web of rules and procedures in Madhya Pradesh.

This was stated in a memorandum submitted by Bharat Jan Andolan, a non-government organisation (NGO), to state governor Dr Bhai Mahavir seeking his intervention in solving the plight of more than 10,000 people of five blocks of Chhattisgarh region who were not not getting jobs under the scheme.

After submitting the memorandum, Bharat Jan Andolan President Dr Brahmadev Sharma said that the scheme, which began inits present form in 1993, was being jointly operated by the state and the central governments in 5,448 blocks all over the country.

Citing an example of Nagari block in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh, he said it took almost an year for the tribals of this region to get their family work cards prepared from the panchayats for seeking employment under the scheme. As village after village started demanding work, the people were told informally that there were no funds and their demands could never be met, he added.

Nature on Doordarshan
Prakriti Ek Parichay, a nature watch series aimed at highlighting some of the problems facing the flora and fauna of the country, has commenced telecast on Doordarshan's national channel (DDI).

As part of this series, Doordarshan will commence at 1600 hrs from this week `Illegal Trade', a programme on the threats posed to animals like elephants and rhinoceros by illegal trading in horns, ivory, live birds and also plants. The aim of the film is to familiarisepeople about the problem and the inadequacy of laws, and to sensitise them not to buy goods like Shahtoosh.

The series has been produced, directed and filmed by renowned wild life expert Himanshu Malhotra, who is known for other films like the series Cats and Tails, the series on the Siberian crane and on saving the tiger.

The other programmes in the series include Garbage to Greengold which deals with urban waste being generated in urban cities like Delhi and Mumbai. It explores the interventions, which have been done both at individual level of small housing colonies and large scale in the form of greening projects and nature parks. The intervention of international organisations and local and foreign non-governmental organisations is also shown. Another film is on Rhino Conservation, which deals with the threats to the one-horned Indian rhinoceros and the handicaps in the Kaziranga national park. In addition, there are problems like poaching and natural calamities like floods. The film will show howthe world wildlife fund and the Army have been collaborating to carry out relief work in the nature forests.