Nainital, July 8
With disaster staring Nainital in the face on account of illegal construction and rampant violation of building bylaws by people, the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) of the Uttarakhand government has taken upon itself the task of building a case for changing the building bylaws of the city.

The age-old bylaws require to be changed in accordance with the needs of the town and the Lake Development Authority has a major role to play in it.

Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a regional consultation on risk reduction in urban areas, Executive Director of the DMMC Piyush Rautela said: “We are now trying out advocacy for change in the bylaws. The problem exists on account of a lack of awareness among people. The way old buildings are being renovated, the construction of new buildings and the congestion of localities, all these things need to be looked into”.

He said there is no clear-cut legal solution to the existing problems. The solution according to him has to come from within society. In a writeup that was circulated at the consultation, Rautela has pointed out that given the high seismic activity that is recorded in the region, lessons need to be learnt from the recent earthquakes recorded across the globe.

“In case we are serious in our efforts to minimise losses caused by quakes, we have no choice but to take clues from these earthquakes and revamp our building bylaws and ensure their strict compliance with provision of heavy penalty and compulsory demolition of the non-complying structures,” he says in the writeup.

“This will no doubt attract public opposition in the beginning and the politicians might rally around on the issue of burdening the masses with unnecessary formalities and paper work. The same will have to be tackled cleverly with an aggressive and well-planned awareness drive in favour of the proposed changes.”

Even previous Kumaon Commissioner S Raju had stated that people of Nainital should come forward to prevent the place from becoming a concrete jungle and had expressed regrets that he was unable to put a total stop to the illegal encroachments and coming up of illegal structures. Incidentally, Raju is credited with not allowing rampant flourishing of the builder lobby in the region.

Talking about the consultation, Rautela said three cities of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital, have been chosen for implementation of an urban risk reduction project initiated by the Centre and the UNDP that is being implemented by the state government.

Incidentally, these three cities are also the ones from the state to have been chosen under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). “We are trying to dovetail disaster management with development activities in these cities,” he said.

Nainital, July 8
A case of alleged gang rape of a resident of Moradabad has come to light from the Ramnagar area.According to information, a married woman from Moradabad had come to the Garjia temple with an accomplice on Tuesday night. However, she got separated from her accomplice and after searching for him, she decided to go to Ramnagar town.

She boarded a tempo in which five youngsters were travelling. The youths, along with the driver, forcibly took her to a hotel on the outskirts of Ramnagar and allegedly raped her. Thereafter, they again made her board the tempo and while they were heading for some other destination, the woman jumped out of the vehicle on the Ranikhet Road. Passersby picked her up and brought the matter to the police.

She reportedly told the police that she was married to a person in the Babugarh locality of Moradabad and her father was an employee of the Indian Railways. She said she was unable to recall the details of the accused or the hotel as it was dark.

The police disclosed that the woman was handed over to her family members.

Dehradun, July 8
National BJP President Nitin Gadkari has accused the Congress of maintaining a studied silence over Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley’s reported revelation that Ishrat Jahaan was a Lashkar-e-Toiba suicide bomber.

Addressing the Janakrosh rally of the BJP at a rain-drenched Parade Ground here today, Gadkari said the Congress, which had earlier claimed that Ishrat had been killed in a fake encounter by the Gujarat police, was now maintaining a studied silence after the reported confession of Headley. “The Congress had raised questions against the Gujarat police over the Ishrat encounter, but after Headley’s revelation they are tight-lipped,” Gadkari said, seeking Congress response to the development.

Expressing concern over Chinese incursions in the country, Gadkari, who was on a his maiden visit to Uttarakhand after assuming charge as the saffron party chief, said the Chinese were making intrusions into India at a number of places and the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre was a mute spectator to such activities. He said even Bangladeshis had also sneaked into the country in big numbers. He accused the Congress of doing little to check these intrusions by foreign nationals. He reminded that a BJP team with BS Koshiyari as its member had submitted a report on Chinese incursions to its leadership expressing concerns on the development.

Describing the Congress as a family party, Gadkari said while the post of president in the Congress is reserved for a particular family, for the BJP even an ordinary poster-pasting party worker like him could become the party president.

He said it was his aim to expand the BJP vote base and increase its vote percentage by at least 10 per cent with a special focus on Scheduled Castes and the minorities. Gadkari asserted it was wrong to portray the BJP as an-anti Muslim party. “Our party is against LeT and Al-Qaida, but we are not against any religion,” the BJP chief retorted, adding that his party believed in politics of progress and politics of development.

Gadkari also held the Congress entirely responsible for spread of Naxalism in the country. “As many as 230 districts from Pashupati till Tripathi have been affected by Naxalism and this all due to wrong policies of the Congress,” he added.

Playing to the ex-servicemen gallery, Gadkari alleged that while the Prime Minister was the least sensitive towards the issue of one rank one pension, the BJP would take it in a big way in the coming parliamentary session.

He yet again accused the Congress of intentionally depriving Uttarakhand of the special industrial package. “The Vajpayee-led NDA government had provided Uttarakhand with a special industrial package taking into account the adverse geographical conditions of the state but the Congress on contrary has set a precedent by snatching the package from the state,” Gadkari said, adding that even when such package continues in Congress-ruled states. The BJP leader accused the five Congress MPs of Uttarakhand of doing little to plead the state’s industrial package cause before the Prime Minister.

Earlier, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said the state was set to lose as many as nine lakh jobs due to the discontinuation of special industrial package. He accused the Congress-led Centre of depriving the state of even foodgrain.

BJP national spokesman Tarun Vijay spoke on the Uttarakhand agitation and recalled the contribution of the youth and woman in its formation. BJP national vice-president BS Koshiyari expressed concern over alleged increasing Maoist threat in Uttarakhand. He reminded the gathering of contribution of the Uttarakhand youth in safeguarding the frontiers of the nation.

Former Chief Minister BC Khanduri also raised the issue of ex-servicemen welfare asserting that it was only the BJP that cared for the defence personnel. He also credited the saffron party with the creation of Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand BJP president BS Chufal welcomed Gadkari to Uttarakhand. He assured Gadkari of a resounding success of the party in the 2012 assembly elections in the state.

BJP Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi handed over a memento to the BJP President. Suresh Joshi compered the proceedings.

Haridwar, July 8
For the first time since assuming the charge, national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Nitin Gadkari will be presiding over the district party convention tomorrow. This will be the first official party visit of the party president to the city as in April he was on a personal religious visit during the Maha Kumbh.

This visit by party president is being seen in political circles as a major boost for district unit which seems to be on the path of revival after the installation of district party chief Om Prakash Jamdagni. In the last year’s parliamentary elections the district BJP had suffered defeat at the hands of Harish Rawat who went on to become State Cabinet Minister in the the Central government.

Accompanying Gadkari will be state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, state party chief Bishan Singh Chufal and several cabinet ministers.

To make the party workers convention a major success district unit executive members have been visiting every corner of the city and rural areas.

A meeting was also held prior to the party workers going to Dehradun to attend the Janakrosh rally against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led Central government’s policies.

Talking to The Tribune, Jamdagni said the convention would be as successful as the party rally in Dehradun with party workers leaving no stone unturned to have thousands of workers attend the convention in the city.

“Several meetings have been held in the past few days at all blocks of the district and if the enthusiasm of thte party workers is any indication then tomorrow’s convention will be witnessing a record number of party workers,” said Jamdagni.

The district unit is also buoyed by the wide success of the bandh in Haridwar a call for which was given by the National Democratic Alliance. Haridwar saw almost a total closure of commercial establishments and shops.

With the state assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2012, both the BJP and the Congress are strengthening their party cadres and leaving no stone unturned to criticise each other on any issue they get.

Dehradun, July 8
Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) national President Nitin Gadkari has asked party workers not to bother about party posts and instead focus on strengthening the party in the state.

At the two-day Uttarakhand BJP State Executive Committee meeting in Dehradun, Gadkari said, “Mast rahey our party ke liya karya karte rahay.” Gadkari has supposed to have said this in reference to tendencies among party leaders to get plum posts.

The BJP president said he had been meeting party workers from all across the country and was taking up the coordination issues between the party organisation and the government in states, where the BJP was in power. Gadkari said he had always been a grass-root worker and strongly believed in boosting the moral of the party workers. He also urged them to ensure a resounding success to the BJP in 2012 Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, even while stressing that excellent relationship between the government, party office-bearers and workers was key to electoral success.

On inflation, Gadkari squarely blamed the Congress for price hike. He said life of the poor had become more miserable as the inflation had hit the society hard under the the Congress rule.

State party President Bisan Singh Chufal read out the achievements of the state BJP government in the past three years. He said the state government had given new impetus to the development.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, in particular, referred to special package asserting that discontinuation of the package would lead to loss of employment opportunities.

The meeting also fixed district-wise targets for lifetime membership donations for party workers in the state.

Gadkari will be meeting party office-bearers at the state party office at 7.30 pm followed by another interaction with legislators and ministers in Bijapur Guest House in the evening.

Dehradun, July 8
Harak Singh Rawat, leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, has announced to launch an agitation against the alleged corrupt practices of the state government from next month.

Addressing mediapersons here yesterday, Rawat, along with senior party legislators, said the Congress would go to the public at the block level by dharnas and demonstrations to make the public aware about the alleged corruption in the allotment of the hydro-electric projects and on the issue of land use change of Citurgia Chemical Factory at Rishikesh.

Interestingly, Rawat, himself is facing flak for allegedly usurping 100 bigha of land near Vikas Nagar. “I am ready to face a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in my case also, besides in the hydro-electric and Citurgia land scam,” he added. Rawat said if need, his party would even knock at the doors of the judiciary.

He further alleged that the state BJP government had failed on all the fronts. “All claims of the government of development and providing employment, attracting industrial investment and implementation of the Centrally sponsored schemes are absolutely false,” he said.

Dehradun, July 8
A group of displaced people of the Tehri Dam Project, led by Congress MLA Dinesh Aggarwal, met Garhwal Commissioner Ajay Singh Nabial to apprise him of their displeasure over the Mussoorie Dehradun Develoment Authority’s (MDDA) notices served to them asking them to provide map and development charges of the plots given to them by the state government in Banjarawala, Dehrakhas and Narayan Vihar of Dehradun. 

The group felt exasperated more from the fact that the MDDA did not ask for these requirements till a year ago, which benefited those who had built their houses by then.

Aggarwal said, “The hapless people, who had to sacrifice their houses for the project, should not be bothered by the MDDA. They can provide maps, but not the hefty development charges”. He also flayed both the MDDA and the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) for not doing any development work in these towns. “They don’t have proper arrangement of water and electricity, though roads have somehow been constructed,” he fumed.

Nabial, who is also the chairperson of the MDDA, assured them to look into the matter. He said, “I’ll have to see the legal aspects of the matter whether the displaced persons can still draw benefits or not as there is a time limit for this”.

Aggarwal said if required, he would take the matter to the Vidhan Sabha as well.

Dehradun, July 8
Most of the residents in Dehradun are consuming impure water imperilling their health. A necessity of life, drinking water here is contaminated with coliform bacteria, unfit for drinking, so says a study undertaken by the Society for Pollution and Environment Conservation Scientists (SPECS).

“It will not be an exaggeration to say that the Jal Sansthan and the Water Works Department are only supplying water that may be suitable for all purposes, except drinking. As such, very few areas in Doon fulfil the norms of drinking or potable water,” said Dr Brijmohan Sharma, SPECS secretary, who presented the findings of the study titled “Potable water quality status for June”, here today.

The study was initiated in April and will continue till October and testing in 42 different places for fecal coliform, total coliform, residual chlorine and total hardness. The study pointed out that 75 per cent of water supplied in the city might be contaminated with fecal coliform, causing diarrhoea, stomachache, gastroenteritis and jaundice.

The quality of potable water was found to be the worst at General Mahadev Singh Road, Kanwali Road, Malviya Road, Indresh Nagar, Teghbahadur Road, Inder Road, Rajpur Road (DM’s residence), Nehru Colony, Vijay Park, Indira Nagar, Vasant Vihar, Mansinghwala, Rajender Nagar, Kishan Nagar, etc., where coliform in water was 22mpn/100ml, whereas as per the water quality standards it should be zero.

Finding fault with the sewerage system, that is incomplete, Dr Sharma said a single-pit system allowed waste to remain stagnated over a period of time releasing harmful gases. “Most of the city does not have a sewerage system and the authorities should design a fool-proof system that does not allow accumulation of waste in one pit. A two-way pit system is ideal,” he suggested.

Even the faulty sewerage system, lack of coordination between various departments like the PWD, Telecommunication, etc, who undertake digging, also disturb the alignment of water pipes resulting in leakage. “The sewerage and water pipes are so laid that they are parallel to each other, any disturbance leads to leakage in pipes resulting in mixing of coliform bacteria with water,” said Dr Sharma.

As a preventive measure it was suggested that a law should be framed so that the water pipe joints were changed once in 10 years, this prevented corrosion and leakage.

Pitthoragarh, July 8
The Uttarakhand Lok Vahini, a Left-oriented organisation based in Almora, today submitted a memorandum to the Almora District Magistrate to be sent to the Union Home Minister, demanding an investigation into alleged gunning down of ‘freelance journalist’ Hem Pandey by the Andhra Pradesh police on July 2.

“We have demanded that besides investigating into the killing, an appropriate compensation should be given to the wife of the slain journalist,” said SS Bisht, convener of the Vahini.

“We have also said in the memorandum that the problem of the Naxalism can not be solved by killing down innocent journalists,” said Bisht, adding that Cherukuli Rajkumar, alias Azad, with whom Hem Pandey was killed, was heading towards a peace process from the side of the Maoists. The forces, who did not want peace in the country, had managed to kill Azad, he added.

“The peace process, which Azad was initiating, began after May 3 when volunteers of the Azadi Bachao Movement, led by Swami Agnivesh, reached Dantewada to appeal to the Maoists to come forward for the peace process,” said Rajiv Lochan Shah, another leader of the Vahini.