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Rise in Ganga’s pollution levels gets alarming
Coronation Hospital sets up wards for swine flu suspects in
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Traffic rules, who cares!
PNB installs new system
Pratap section wins RIMC Hindi debate
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Rise in Ganga’s pollution levels gets alarming
Dehradun, August 12 Making this startling revelation, Dr Anil Gautam, head, environmental quality monitoring group at the institute in Dehradun, said the two drains, one at Lalta Rao Bridge and another at Jwalapur, sent over 14 million litres of raw sewage into the Ganga everyday. While responding to a query in the Vidhan Sabha last month, BS
Chufal, minister for environment, had emphatically declared that no sewage flowed directly into the Ganga at any point in response to the Opposition concern on the alarming rise in pollution levels in the Ganga
at Haridwar. RK Joshi of the Ganga Pollution Control Unit in Haridwar said six major drains and over 12 small ones emptied into the Ganga at Haridwar. The Dehradun institute’s team measured the quality of effluents at nine outfalls. “These drains carry about 20 tonnes of organic matter, almost 37.5 tonnes of suspended solids and about 24,000 trillion faecal coliform into the river ever day and pollute it,” says
Dr Gautam. “It is amazing that the quality of effluents coming out of the sewage treatment plant at Jagjeetpur is almost the same as that of untreated effluents into the Ganga from the other drains,” he added. Everyday, the nine drains studied release over 80 million litre of waste ater into the river. The facal coliform count in these drains ranges from 11.79 to 51.79 million/100ml and the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) varies between 80 to 465 mg/l. The BOD values obtained from the sites are much higher than the standard limit of 30 mg/l set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for treated waste water. The BOD value of the treated waste water released into the Ganga from the sewage treatment plant at Jagjeetpur, set up under the Ganga Action Plan, is 180 mg/l,six times higher than the standard limit. A drain, S-1, upstream Har-ki-Pauri, releases about 2.4 million litres per day (MLD) into the Ganga. These effluents contain 31.3 million faecal coliform per 100 ml. and a BOD content of 140 mg/litre. This is a serious health hazard for millions
of devotees who bathe at the ghats and perform other rituals. The situation is critical since over 50 million devotees are expected to visit Haridwar during the Mahakumbh next year to bathe in the river. It is still not clear if any of the Rs 400 crore special grant from the Central Government will be spent on ensuring that the river is pollution-free during
the mela.
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Coronation Hospital sets up wards for swine flu suspects in
Dehradun, August 12 As a result, wards at the Coronation Hospital’s Nephro Dialysis Department have now been designated as isolation wards. The unutilised unit has been readied to take up patients with swine flu. In all, the hospital has four wards, out of which three are equipped with six beds each while the fourth has 10 beds. The team also termed the situation in Dehradun as under control while ruling out the involvement of private hospitals and pathology laboratories in undertaking tests for swine flu. “Things are under control in Uttarakhand. We advise people not to panic and wear masks unnecessarily,” said Dr Dipankar Das, Joint Director of NICD. The team also examined the pathology laboratories at the Doon Hospital and Coronation Hospital for setting up swine flu testing facilities. “We have assessed the infrastructure at the government hospitals, but the final call has to be taken by the state government,” said Dr Uma Chawla, epidemologist. Stating that private laboratories would be brought in only after proper guidelines are communicated to them, the team members said all the information would be put on the NICD website. “The central government is keen to set up testing facilities at government hospitals and medical colleges. A team of microbiologists will also be visiting the state to get first-hand knowledge about the laboratories,” Dr Das added. Sources said before roping in private pathology laboratories for conducting swine flu confirmatory tests, the NICD would first like various state governments to get their act together. They are also aware that the tests might prove costly for the common man and therefore getting them done at government facilities would be a more viable option. According to conservative estimates, the cost of real time polymerase chain reaction equipment is Rs 20 lakh (approx), besides the reagent for testing has to be imported only if permission is granted. The staff too has to be trained to undertake the tests. In Dehradun, top private pathology laboratories are undertaking screening tests for only influenza. “For the last five years, we have been conducting polymerase chain reaction tests, but we need to set up equipment for undertaking swine flu tests. The cost of confirmatory tests can only be worked out once we get a go-ahead from the central government,” said Dr Alok Ahuja who runs a private pathology laboratory in Doon.
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Traffic rules, who cares!
Dehradun, August 12 Hundreds of students drive to school. These teen drivers without a licence not only endanger their own lives but that of other commuters too. Most belong to well-off families. While mobikes are a fad among boys, girls prefer scooters without gears. A majority drive without helmet. One can see numerous two-wheelers parked at cycle stands of schools. Some students even come in cars. Throwing traffic rules to the wind, students in the age group of 14 to 18 race through city roads, imperiling the pedestrians’ lives. Unfortunately, neither parents nor schoolteachers stop them from driving to school. Some schools have undertaken measures to check the problem but the students have now begun parking their vehicles outside the school premises. “These drivers not only pose a grave threat to their own safety, but also to every other road users. “The school authorities should strictly ban bringing scooter/mobike to school. It is a fact that the students cause accidents,” said SP (Traffic) Nilesh Anand Bharne, adding that the traffic police and administration was making all efforts to end the menace, but needed the cooperation of the school authorities and parents. During school opening and closing hours, one can spot students driving motorbikes on EC Road, Dalanwala and Rajpur Road where several schools are located. Besides flouting the Motor Vehicle Act that prohibits a person less than 18 years of age from driving any vehicle, the students indulge in triple riding and don’t care to comply with traffic rules. The apathy on the part of schools towards the directions issued by the traffic police is evident from their parking stands that are lined with two-wheelers. Garhwal Commissioner Uma Kant Pawar had convened a meeting of representatives of city schools, traffic personnel and eminent citizens to find a solution to the problem. It was announced that no student would be allowed to drive to school. Instructions were issued to schools not to allow entry of students coming on vehicles. For a couple of days the directions were complied with but now things are back to square one. Said the SP (Traffic): "We challaned and even impounded vehicles but have failed to curb the menace. Unless and until parents and the school authorities cooperate with us, it is not possible to curb the menace.” Another senior police official expressed helplessness over the matter. “We find that instead of discouraging their wards to drive, parents are happy to pay the challan fine,” said another police official. Parents have their own point of view. “It's impossible to prevent children from riding two-wheelers as vehicles have become a necessity these days. “In a competitive world, where students are always in a hurry, two-wheelers are a convenient mode of transport for them,” said Ridhima, a housewife. She suggested that central and state governments should consider lowering the age for a driver’s licence. Commissioner Pawar said already the traffic police was challaning offenders. The drive would be further strengthened. He said the state government had already constituted citizen action groups to find a permanent solution to the problem. Meanwhile, putting at stake the life of schoolchildren, overloading of schoolchildren by auto drivers and school vans continues. The traffic police is also to be blamed for rarely challaning these defaulters. Most schools wash their hands off the issue on the plea that they cannot do anything as parents willingly send their wards in overloaded autos. However, parents argue: “If the auto driver takes two shifts, our wards will gets late and will have to face the wrath of the school authorities. Also, the schools do not provide any bus facility. What can we do?” Many question the logic of issuing orders if these can’t be implemented in toto. When contacted, the SP (Traffic) said that it was wrong to say they were not challaning vehicles overloaded with school students. “In future, we will be taking more stringent measures,” he said.
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PNB installs new system
Dehradun. August 12 DGM, Dehradun Region, SK Goyal informed that all the 28 branches of PNB in the capital city would have this facility. Although there is no timeframe but in the first phase, the most frequented branches will be selected for the purpose. As of now, the system has been installed at the Clock Tower, Ashley Hall and Arhat Bazar branches, where it will soon become operational. Under the QMS, a customer will have to give option of related transaction by pressing the relevant key on the machine, which will immediately display the counter one needs to visit. The facility will also serve the purpose of increasing the work efficiency of the bank. It would particularly be helpful for senior citizens who will not have to stand in serpentine queues now. —
TNS
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Pratap section wins RIMC Hindi debate
Dehradun, August 12 The debate was organised in two categories - seniors and juniors. In the junior’s category, cadets from classes eight to ten participated whereas in the senior’s category cadets from Class XI and XII took part. In the junior’s category, two cadets represented each section and cadet Abhishek Nand bagged the award for the ‘Best Speaker’, while cadet Abhishek Kundalia stood second. For juniors the topic of debate was “Pariksha mein sarvoch ank prapt karne wala hi sabse uttam purush kehlate hein” and for seniors it was “Angrezi ke bina bhi uch shiksha prapt ki ja sakti hai” and “Naksalvad ko kuchal dena hi samasya ka ekmatra hal hai.” Hindi incharge of MKP inter-college Dr Vidya Singh was the chief guest while the judges were Prabha Navani and Jyoti Verma from Welham Girls’ School and Sangeeta Rawat from Scholars’ Home. Dr Singh gave away the certificates to the participants and winners. She then presented the Hindi Debate cup to Pratap section. RIMC Commandant Col H Dharmarajan also encouraged cadets to take part in such competitions. Results: Juniors: Pratap section (first), Shivaji section (second), Chandragupta section (third). Seniors: Pratap section (first), Chandragupta section (second), Shivaji Section (third). Overall positions: Pratap section (first), Chandragupta section (second), Shivaji Section (third). — TNS
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Following an uproar in the Uttarakhand assembly over rising pollution levels in the Ganga in Haridwar, Dehradun-based People’s Science Institute today held that over 14 million litres of raw sewage with floating faecal matter flows everday into the Ganga in Haridwar, that too from just two drains!
Doon hospital, a team from National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) has asked the state health authorities to make additional arrangements to meet any exigency.
