Department of Environmental Sciences, JU organizes ‘Heritage Walk’

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu, and Green Campus Task Force (GCTF-JU) in collaboration with INTACH Jammu Chapter organized a ‘Heritage Walk’  to Traditional Mata Vaishno Devi Route, Bamyal, Jammu to celebrate “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav- A Jan Utsav” to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence. ‘The heritage walk has been organized to make our students aware about the rich natural as well as built heritage of Jammu region’, said Prof. Piyush Malaviya (Head, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu) while flagging off the Walk along with Prof. Jyoti Bhatti, Principal, Food Craft Institute (FCI) Bamyal, Jammu. Sh. S.M. Sahni, retd. KAS officer and Convener, INTACH (Jammu Chapter) highlighted the importance of the traditional Mata Vaishno Devi route since ancient times and talked about various initiatives and programmes run by INTACH to promote, conserve and preserve heritage tourism in Jammu. He also explained the archeological details about the built heritage sites along the route. Dr. Deepika Slathia, Member Secretary GCTF-JU explained in detail about the unique features of the natural heritage sites (springs, step wells, wells, ponds). She said that these traditional water bodies constitute a unique part of Indian architecture and are testimony to the traditional water-harvesting systems developed in ancient times. ‘Our traditional water bodies are very important and there is utmost need to conserve them for our future generations, 'she said, while interacting with the students. The Heritage walk started from Oli temple at the tail end of Jammu district and culminated at Pangali temple, where students were shown a traditional step well with chambers for filtration which is believed to be more than 100 years old structure. Among others who participated in the Heritage walk included Dr. Meenakshi Khajuria, Mr. Kotwal, INTACH Jammu Chapter, and the Master's students from the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Jammu. The students also interacted with the locals during the walk. The program was organized with all suitable precautionary measures given the prevailing COVID scenario.