Dehradun, March 4
Objections related to self-assessment tax and house tax continued to pour in at the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) till 5 pm today with record entries of 260 being made. People flocked to the office today, as tomorrow being the last date of the submission of objections, is a public holiday. Although Ajay Rahi, Tax Revenue Superintendent, said the DMC was opening the counter for receiving objections even on Friday.

The residents of ward No. 54 sent maximum number of 162 objections. A resident of Patel Nagar of ward No. 54 complained of poor development in his locality and asked the DMC to set things right first there.

Alok Kumar Goyal, resident of Khadbada Mohalla, decried the alleged bias meted out to residential areas in comparison to commercial areas. He said: “I belong to one of the oldest places which has been named after then establishment of Darbar Sahib. Instead of keeping rates low, its rates have been increased in comparison to the commercial area.” He showed ratings where tax rates of Khadbada Mohalla were enlisted as Rs 3 for 24 metre road, Rs 2.50 for 12-24 metre road and Rs 2 for 12 metre road, whereas the rates of commercial area of Shivpuri Park were marked Rs 2.50, 2 and 1.50 respectively. He lamented the injustice done to residents. He cried for explanation but there was no one to oblige him.

MP Saxena, president of the Mayur Vihar Kalyan Smiti, Sahastardhara, too took the DMC to task for not spending a single penny in the past 10 years on development in the area ever since it has been included in the DMC limit. He has asked the DMC for the justification for levying taxes when it is not providing even the basic facilities to the residents.

A similar kind of complaint was registered by Mohan Singh Bhandari, secretary of the Saraswati Vihar Vikas Samiti of ward no. 27. He said: “Our area Race Course was merged into the DMC in 2002. According to the Municipal Act, the MC would first carry out developmental work and then charge house tax but in present case, the reverse is happening. The DMC has done nothing to improve the condition of damaged roads and clear stinking filth littered in the area. Neither adequate street lights nor potable water facility has been provided in the area yet. Therefore, we protest in paying house tax to the DMC unless all these irregularities are properly removed.”

Shushma Batra of ward No. 3 requested to keep the tax low for being poor and widow.

Yashwant Singh Chauhan, resident of Krishan Nagar, protested saying that the state should desist from adopting the model of UP in matter of house tax imposition for being different in social and geographical background.

He said: “It is basically the retired employees of the ONGC who stay in Krishan Nagar. It would not be reasonable to charge more than 10 per cent house tax from them”.

Ajay Rahi, who confirmed of getting more than 600 objections in totality till date, said after sorting out the bulk of objections, councillors would hold hearing sessions with residents.

Dehradun, March 4
As part of a campaign against rising inflation in the country, the state BJP today started a signature campaign targeting the Congress government at Centre.

In a memorandum addressed to the President, BJP functionaries in the state alleged that inflation was affecting the living of an ordinary man. It said even prices of essential commodities like rice, wheat and pulses had touched new heights and was beyond the reach of the common man.

While holding the Centre responsible for fuelling inflation of the country, the BJP workers alleged that the price rise needed to be curtailed at the earliest.

They demanded grains in subsidy to all above poverty line cardholders to make up for the rising inflation. The party also suggested improvement in anti-hoarding act to check this unfair practice. It also sought financial reforms to check the price rise.

Better prices for the produce for farmers were also demanded by the BJP workers, who were signatories to the memorandum.

Haridwar, March 4
The ashes of the father of Senior Superintendent of Dehradun Police Abhinav Kumar were immersed at Har-Ki-Pauri at Brahama Kund ghat with traditional rituals.

Late Arvind Kumar died on March 1 after a prolonged illness in Lucknow. He was 65 years old and an engineer. He also worked in the Middle East for several years and later came to India to start business.

He was an Arya Samaji and married to Shakuntla Devi, a noted writer and freedom fighter.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has offered condolences to the bereaved family members and prayed for the peace of the departed soul.

Accompanying the “Asthi Kalash” were mela officer Anand Vardhan, DM, Haridwar, R Meenakshi Sundaram, DIG (mela) Alok Sharma, Ritu Sharma, CO Shweta Chaubey and several other administrative and local citizens. 

Roorkee, March 4
Much to the relief of security personnel, the Pakistani jatha bid adieu to the town last night after spending almost a week here during the Urs celebrations at the Sabri Baba shrine.

Visibly happy after their “ziyarat” at the darbar of Sabri Baba, the Pakistani pilgrims left the town to Amritsar by the Dehradun-Amritsar (Lahori) Express at around 11.15 pm.

Before leaving the town, the guests from the neighbouring country, who were 183 in number, including two officials, thanked the shrine authorities and Indian people for showering love on them.

“We are quite happy to be here. As our main aim was to offer prayers to Garib Nawaz and participation in the Urs festivities, we all are happy with the arrangements made by the local administration and others for us,” said Abdul Hamid Rehan, while talking to The Tribune at railway station.

Rehan, who had visited the shrine last year also, expressed happiness over the development of Peeran Kaliyar.

“The pilgrims are like peace ambassadors so their quota should be increased by the governments of both countries,” he added.

Earlier, pilgrims were taken to the railway station under tight security by roadways buses from the shrine. ASP Janmajay Khanduri and Tehsildar (Roorkee) Shahid Hussain were present at the station.

According to sources, a team of Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) also accompanied the jatha up to the Attari station in Amritsar, Punjab, from where the pilgrims were scheduled to cross the border in the afternoon.

Dehradun, March 4
The police is working on identifying those policemen who reportedly created ruckus on the Rajpur Road during Holi celebration on March 2.

“We haven’t had any formal complaints from anyone and even though pictures have been published in some newspapers, these don’t depict clearly whether the policemen were in the chowki or somewhere else and whether they were involved in any eve-teasing incident. We are trying to identify the guilty, if any. Obviously, we cannot penalise someone because there were some reports against them. We are enquiring and will soon submit the report,” said Circle Officer (CO) Ajay Singh, who is investigating the matter.

It may be recalled that on Tuesday cops had celebrated Holi in their respective chowkis, but the cops at the Dhara chowki went out of control while celebrating the festival. They reportedly got drunk in a semi-nude condition and started throwing colours at people. Reports were also there of eve-teasing and misbehaving with people by the cops. People of the area had called up police officers to bring the matter to their notice. Taking stern note of the incident, IG (Garhwal) MA Ganpathy ordered an inquiry into the matter.

Loot bid at jewellery shop

About four to five persons, with their faces covered with cloth, reportedly attempted to loot a jewellery shop by trying to break the shutter. The shop is situated at Saraswati Vihar under the Nehru Colony police station area here last night.

According to sources, the incident came to light at 2 am when the persons were trying to break the shutter of the shop.

However, hearing the sound, people residing in the neighbourhood instantly raised an alarm and the miscreants fled the spot. Owner of Yash Jewellers Anil Rawat said nothing was stolen from the shop.

The police was later informed about the matter. 

Pitthoragarh, March 4
After priests of Purnagiri temple protested against the official inauguration of the fair on Tuesday against their non-inclusion in the committee formed by the district administration to manage the activities in the forest land inside the mela campus, the demand to convert Purnagiri into a trust is gaining momentum in Champawat district.

“We have sent a memorandum to the government signed by more then 10,000 people to convert the temple into a trust,” said Chandra Kishor Bohra, a Hindu Jagran Manch leader in Champawat district.

“The proposal to convert Puranagiri into a trust on the lines of Vaishno Devi, was prepared by SK Mashesweri, DM of the district in 1999-2000, is lying with the Uttarakhand government,” said Dinesh Pandey, a senior journalist in the district. “If this temple becomes a trust, it will have a earning worth Rs 10 crore per annum as nearly 40 lakh pilgrims come here every year,” said Pandey.

Champawat Zila Panchayat chairperson Prema Pandey is also of the view that Puranagiri temple be converted into a trust as it will benefit both the government and the Zila Panchayat.

“If the demand realises, it will be a trust worth Rs 10 crore per annum and out of this amount, the facilities of pilgrims can be expanded,” said Pandey.

Considered the ancient Shaktipeeth, the Purnagiri temple at present has nearly 200 families of priests living in Kotkendri, Selagar villages near the temple, who claim that they have been given priesthood by the Chand kings of Champawat.