TERI launches "Kumaon Vani" community radio service in Uttarakhand

Kumaon (Uttarakhand), Mar 13 (ANI): Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva on Saturday inaugurated the first community radio of the state, the 'Kumaon Vani.'

The community radio centre which will air at the frequency of 90.4 MHz has been set up by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in the Kumaon valley.

Over 2,000 villages in the remote areas of this Himalayan state would be benefited from the launching of Kumaon Vani, the radio service which can now be heard within 20 kilometers from the TERI centre.

Alva, on this occasion, said the community radio would prove to be an effective medium of communication for the people of the region to voice their concerns.

"The biggest thing is that the "Kumaon Vani" will run from the local community. The villagers will make the programmes, decide its content and air it. This radio will provide a platform for the local people to bring forth their issues and opinions and get a medium of discussion," Alva said.

The 'Kumaon Vani' would air programmes on environment, agriculture, culture, weather and education in the local language and with the active participation of the locals.nnapurna, the Director of TERI in Nainital, said because the Kumaon region is disaster-prone, the community radio would act as an effective messenger and informer in times of crisis.

"As the area of Kumaon is disaster-prone, (and) the climatic weather conditions are very diverse from extreme heat to cold, a technology like radio will be of great use in the area," Annapurna said.

The main occupation of the people of Kumaon is agriculture and thus a community radio is hoped to serve as an effective informer for farmers and will help them to gain knowledge from experts.

"In our programs we will take up questions from the community people, related to their problems and queries they want answers to. With the help of experts, like agriculturists, we will try and solve the problems of the people through our community radio," said Tulsi Mehta, program coordinator of Kumaon Vani.

Mehta further said that through this radio station they would endeavor to preserve the diminishing culture and heritage of Kumaon valley. By Ashish Goyal (ANI)