Dehradun, March 11
The issue of change of land use of Siturgeia Bio-Chemical in Rishikesh refuses to die down. A day after Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya accused the ruling party of ensuring a change of land use with an aim of usurping of a big chunk of land, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today recalled Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat’s candid admission at a recent function held at the factory land.

On other hand, BSP legislative party leader Shahjad Ahmed smelt a bigger conspiracy at the back of Siturgeia land use change.

Making the issue clear at the press conference here today, Dr Nishank said the land use change had come at the advice of the Board for Industrial and Finance Reconstruction.

He also revealed that it was on February 24, 2007, during the Congress rule, that a decision to go for land use change was reached. “We are only following the Congress line,” he pointed out.

Ahmed, who initially raised the issue, today gave a new twist to the Siturgeia land use episode. “The stance taken by the Congress to disrupt the Assembly, thus deprive discussion on the subject has made us suspicious and this suspicion is further backed by Harak Singh Rawat’s presence at the Situgeia function recently,” he said.

“There is a big possibility that the BJP and the Congress are keeping a nexus and are equally responsible for land use change of Siturgeia,” Ahmed said.

Talking to mediapersons, Ahmed said the Congress legislators by resorting to uproar every day were not serious about threadbare discussion on the issue.

“I feel that the Leader of Opposition as well as the Chief Minister are hand in glove to stall the truth from coming out,” he alleged.

He said the Congress had been wasting the precious time of the House and all other relevant issues concerning common people of the state would be ignored if the situation persisted.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik also termed the behaviour of the Congress legislators as unfortunate in stalling the proceedings of the House for the fourth consecutive day today.

Dehradun, March 11
With an eye on the next Assembly election scheduled to be held in February 2012, state Congress legislators are rapping the state BJP on the knuckles on the floor of the state Assembly on alleged irregularities in the land and hydro-electric deals, while Yashpal Arya, state Congress president, plans to start an offensive at the grass-root level against the state government.

“The BJP state government has been thoroughly exposed in the favouritism shown to a private company in changing the land use pattern of 15 acres of government land at Rishikesh and allocation of hydro-electric projects to a few individuals,” Arya told mediapersons here today.

He further said the BJP came to power promising exposing the alleged corrupt deals of the previous Congress government within three months of coming to power. “It has been three years and they could not bring out anything. But the BJP government has now been exposed completely,” he said.

Demanding an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in these two alleged scams, Arya said the Congress had always welcomed any probe against their own government. “I do not know why the BJP and the Chief Minister are shy of getting the matter probed by the CBI,” he added.

He said the Congress would organise a campaign at the block level to educate the masses about the alleged misdeeds of the present BJP state government. Arya also complimented the Prime Minister and Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the passage of the Women’s Bill in Rajya Sabha and clearing the decks for one-rank one-pension to ex-servicemen of the country.

He further said Uttarakhand would be a great beneficiary of the step as more than two lakh ex-servicemen of the state would stand to benefit.

Dehradun, March 11
Under the aegis of the Cultural Cell, the Friends of Earth and Education Foundation and Inspiration, ‘Prerna’, a panel of discussion and open forum on “the future of women’s reservation” was held at the Rajpur Road here today.

The panel raised concern on the unruly behaviour of parliamentarians with regards to the Women’s Reservation Bill, while applauding the passing of it in the Rajya Sabha in spite of all opposition.

The panel of discussion comprised Rekha Mazumdar of the Friends of Earth and Education Foundation, Pramilla Kaul, Anupama Joshi, Sangita Gairola, Geeta Balodi, Dr Kiran Sood, Shraddha Rana, Sujata Paul Maliah of Prerna, Survasha Kaul and Madhu Bhatt of the Cultural Cell.

Pramilla Kaul, an eminent social worker, said, “It was largely felt that reservation for women was of the utmost importance in a world dominated by men. The Bill will go a long way in controlling exploitation of women, providing them with opportunities and incentives, allowing them to come into their own”.

She also added that it was important for a woman to become self-reliant in every sphere of life. “After all, women have proved to be achievers in the past as well as in the present,” she said.

However, some members of the audience as well as the panel were apprehensive with the Bill passed for women in the Rajya Sabha. They felt that politicians would misuse the Bill for vested interests and bringing members of their families into the forefront.

Another speaker at the discussion, Anupama Joshi opined out that the Bill would limit women from achieving their best, as now political parties might ask for extra reservation for women from the minority communities as it was felt that they might not have the same opportunities as their counterparts.

The panel discussion not only saw the coming together of citizens from various walks of life, but also the coming together of various organisations. It was an occasion that brought women together on a common platform for a common cause entirely for women.

Dehradun, March 11
The Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) has come in a defensive mode after the Power Corporation sent it a notice to pay a whopping bill of Rs 38 crore by March 15. Otherwise it has threatened to snap electricity from all street poles of the city.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli has put the onus on the state government to bear the expenses as, according to him, neither municipal bodies nor the municipal corporation are in a position to bear this kind of expenditure. “Street light is a public amenity, which the state government should take care of. If the Power Corporation snaps electricity from the street lights, the whole city will be submerged in darkness. This will not only create a public inconvenience, but also raise concern of public security. The challenge thus posed can put the government in a dock,” he said.

Chamoli also blamed the Power Corporation for not sending the bills to the DMC until these got accumulated to an astronomical size. He said, “The bills thus collected before ’97 were exempted by the UP government. The bills after that were not given to the DMC. The matter was brought me before the board meeting”.

He also asked the state government to either strengthen the DMC’s position by equipping it with the right to charge the bills of street lights from users as per the suggestion made under the 74th Amendment or the state government should be ready to pay this burden itself.

Chamoli also has other plans to deal with this messy situation. He plans to tighten grip around the Power Corporation to pay the pending rent of the land, which it has used for installing electrical poles, transformers and sub-offices. He negated the estimate of Rs 5 crore, which is said to be pending on the Power Corporation saying, “The estimate which the DMC had reckoned of Rs 5 crore dates back to 1997 that needs to be evaluated as per new rates up to the current year and month. Whatever comes out from that will be deducted from the amount the Power Corporation is seeking from the DMC”.

To end this fiasco, the Mayor has called a meeting of all senior officers of the DMC on March 16.

Dehradun, March 11
Making a scathing attack on the Congress first-ever since the issue of allotment of hydro projects to private hands was taken up by the Opposition, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today charged the Congress of raking up unnecessary controversy and disrupting the proceedings of the state Assembly for no rhyme or reason.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Dr Nishank said his government was committed for enhancing the power potential of the state and had for the first time adopted a most transparent power policy.

Outrightly refuting the Congress’ charges of a scam in proposed handing over of some of power projects to private entrepreneurs in Uttarakhand, Dr Nishank denied that only few individuals had been benefited from the exercise. He said projects of 100 kW had only been provided to domiciled residents of Uttarakhand, while those falling between 100 kW to 5 MW too had been given after taking locals into priority, whereas projects from 5 MW to 25 MW have gone to open market that, too, after ensuring that are screened through a three-tier system.

Referring in particular to the Congress accusations that only a few persons had benefited in the entire exercise, Dr Nishank said the policy had made it amply clear that no single person got more than three projects and, similarly, a company too got a maximum of three projects.

Going on a counter-offensive, he reminded that the Congress rather kept a history of selling off state’s natural resources. “The Congress had so far given to private individuals a total of 8,000 MW to 10,000 MW of hydro-power projects that too on one-sided agreements, thus in the process bringing about a loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the state,” Dr Nishank retorted.

He also referred to the 400 MW Vishnuprayag Project, 330 Srinagar Project in 1993-94 and subsequent allotment of a total of 4,009 MW projects to companies and individuals in 2003 followed by allotment of 3293 MW capacity 17 projects in 2004 to back his claims.

The Chief Minister also held that his party from day one had been open to discussion, but alleged that the Congress was not even ready for that. “Even after adopting transparency in the allotment, we are open for discussion in the state Assembly. But it looks the Congress believes in misleading the people and even media over the issue,” he added. He said the BJP had nothing to hide and believed in protecting the interests of its people.

Dehradun, March 11
Members of the Irrigation Department Union gave a memorandum to the Principal Secretary reminding him of his promise to strengthen the department in a month’s time, which he had made four months ago. They also expressed displeasure on transferring the Chilla hydroelectric project to Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam.

The union held a meeting of the Core Committee and sat on dharna at the office of the Chief Engineer and Head of the Irrigation Department in Yamuna Colony for a day. Later in the day, they sent their collectively signed memorandum to the Irrigation Minister of the state.

The union has decided to protest before the Vidhan Sabha on Saturday. After a gap of a day, they will start indefinite boycott of the work at offices.

The Core Committee also decided to end the strike at Pashu Lok Bairag.

Roadways workers stage dharna

The Roadways Karamchari Sanyukt Parishad, Uttarakhand staged a dharna at their workshop here today.In their memorandum, they have mentioned the demands of increasing the number of assistant treasurers of booking clerk.

Other major demands were of deploying personnel from the ticketing machine company at the e-ticketing section of every depot and replacing faulty hand e-ticketing machines. Protesters sought probe into the matter of theft of six buses in Haridwar.

Haridwar, March 11
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which has the onus of maintaining security of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) across the country, celebrated its 41st foundation day. At the Ranipur unit, several functions were organised yesterday to mark the occasion. Now, the CISF is also fast evolving into a premier multi-skilled security agency of the country.

The flag hoisting of the CISF battalion was done by BHEL Managing Director Devendra Kumar followed by a march past by the CISF personnel. In his address, Senior Commandant SC Saklani shed light on the history of the paramilitary unit.

“The CISF came into existence on March 10, 1969 and since then it has a whopping 289 units working around the country, including 77 units of fire brigade.”

He stated the CISF was fast expanding its working periphery as now the force was providing security at airports, Delhi metro stations, to VIPs and an establishment of the Formed Police Unit (FPU) of the United Nations in Haiti.

Notably, the Haridwar Ranipur unit was established on December 28, 1975, while the fire service commenced from December 18, 1987. Speaking as the chief guest, Devendra Kumar lauded the working of the CISF in industrial establishments of Ranipur. He said a disciplined working of the paramilitary force was the major factor behind its success and be it BHEL or other buildings the CISF had efficiently handled situations and maintained foolproof security.

“Be it criminal incidents, terror attacks, accidents, disasters, sensitive areas’ security, the CISF has created a niche among its contemporary paramilitary forces in handling these situations. This is the point that why now all major establishments and institutions nationwide are being guarded by the force,” he added.

Officers and personnel of the Ranipur unit, BHEL officers and employees and several distinguished defence personalities were present.

Dehradun: The CISF, an ONGC unit, observed its foundation day at Garhi Cantt here on Wednesday.

Security Week was organised to commemorate the occasion from March 3 to 10, during which various competitions were organised.

Sundar Lal, GGM-Chief ER and Head Corporate Administration, ONGC, was the chief guest of the function. Lal took the salute at the parade. He congratulated the officers and the jawans on the occasion.

He distributed the prizes to the winners of various competitions and also planted a sapling on this occasion. During the Security Week, Dr Pankaj Mathur of the ONGC Hospital create awareness of HIV/AIDS among the CISF members and their families. A “bara khana” was also organised by the CISF unit, in which officers of ONGC, ITBP, IB and police participated.

Pitthoragarh, March 11
The voluntary rally to awaken villagers about the devastating forest fires during summers reached Pitthoragarh today. “When we entered Bageswar district from Chamoli, we witnessed widespread forest fires at Mankot, Digoli in Bageswar and Chandak in Pitthoragarh. We did’nt see any such scene in our tour of Pauri Garhwal, Radraprayag and Chamoli,” said Kishan Singh Danu, organiser of the awareness rally, who was awarded by the Governor for his voluntary efforts to check forest fires in 2005.

The Agni Suraksya Jan Chetna Rally, which began on March 6 in three groups from Srinagar Garhwal on the behest of Chief Conservator of Forest, Uttarakhand, will conclude on March 21 at Kotdwar after visiting all hilly districts.

During this campaign, the group will train the villagers in methods of fire fighting in forest during the fire season.

“According to our study, based on observation, the reasons of forest fires in Uttarakhand are mainly fire lit by villagers to get good grass after the rain, fire by anti-social elements and negligence by villagers,” said Danu.

Dehradun, March 11
The police has arrested one more person involved in the murder of Babbal late this evening from his residence in Rishikesh. He has been identified as Dinesh Chaudhary, alias Johny.

Sources said he was arrested along with Jaideep, driver of alleged prime accused Jiti, on the day Babbal was murdered, but the police didn’t produce him before the media.