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100 trees axed under foresters’ nose
Experts discuss agri technologies
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Scrap Lohari Nagpala project, Almora MP to PM
Parties protest closure of Khasiyabara project
Cantt board serves notices on 23 for illegal constructions
Electro-homoeopathy body gets affiliation
Youth Cong adopts zero tolerance level against criminality
Couple commits suicide
DMC closed after employee’s death on duty
Govt fails to make full use of Central funds
Landslide blocks Kedarnath road
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100 trees axed under foresters’ nose
Mussoorie, July 30 More than 100 trees belonging to the species like oak, devdar, kail have been felled illegally and in systematic manner at a
private estate, 2 km from Mussoorie, on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti highway just under the nose of the forest beat office
at Batagad. The area falls under the notified list of the Forest Act and not even a single tree could be cut without prior permission of the Forest Department. But on the contrary, the rampant cutting is evident in the said forest area which it seems has been going on from several months which has raised doubt over the functioning of the Forest Department here. The perpetrators have not only cut the young trees planted few years back but also put the trunks and the roots of the trees to fire to remove the evidence persistently. The Tribune investigation revealed most of the axed trees were young and might have been planted 3-4 years back. The environmentalists from Mussoorie Sunil Panwar, Mannu and retired teacher Gurbaksh Singh said it seems that the illegally felling of the tree is being done under the nefarious design to construct a resort in the notified area. Most of the trees have been cut from their roots and in some trees the traces of acid were also seen. Gurbuksh explained that use of sulphuric acid is
commonly used to dry out the young trees in the town due to the callous attitude of the Forest Department here. Sunil said the more than 100 trees must have been cut illegally in a span of several months hence it was strange that the Forest Department has not taken notice of it till now. When contacted, the Mussoorie Divisional Forest Officer RG Verma said if such a thing has happened then immediate action would be taken and the perpetrators would not be spared. He also said no young or old tree could be cut without prior permission from the department. It has become modus operandi of the land mafia to clear the forest area using dubious method and then building large resorts in its place. The whole exercise in which school children are used to plant trees in the town has gone to waste with this illegal act. |
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Experts discuss agri technologies
Dehradun, July 30 At a national workshop on “Promoting System of Wheat Intensification”, Dr Biksham Gujja, programme coordinator of International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid and Tropical Areas (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, said excessive use of water for agriculture was also resulting in depleting water sources but hardly any research in the country was focused on developing methods for reducing dependency on water. “In the country the crop intensification programme was started in the southern states with rice, the farmers where were at first apprehensive of the programme but soon the effort gathered steam and I am happy to know that the number of farmers taking up wheat intensification is increasing in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal
Pradesh,” said Gujja. The chief guest, Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat, said food production activity had to keep pace with the ever-increasing population and it would always pose a challenge to the nation’s capacity to feed each one of them. On the other hand, Dr Ravi Chopra, Director, People’s Science Institute (PSI), said the crop intensification initiative never came from the
government. “As usual they were not keen to promote it while research institutions and NGOs were keen to push it. But, once the results were before them, it was a major turnaround,” said Chopra. There is 20-25 per cent increase in the yield while the technique also helps in cutting costs as less seeds and organic manure is required. The SWI is being promoted in 10 districts of Uttarakhand covering about 2,800 farmers (53.4 hectares) in association with the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). In 2009, the PSI mobilised about 1,300 farmers in six districts of Himachal Pradesh, with financial support of WWF-ICRISAT, Hyderabad and NABARD, resulting in the adoption of the SWI in an area of 30.13 hectares. A total of 18 farmers from Uttarakhand and 10 from Himachal Pradesh participated in the workshop. |
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Scrap Lohari Nagpala project, Almora MP to PM
Nainital, July 30 In a letter written to the Prime Minister, Tamta has stated that the people of the state are disillusioned with the decision of the GoM and has expressed hope that things would be set right since the final decision is to be taken at the level of the Prime Minister. Tamta has pointed out that it is the need of the hour to save the rivers emerging from the Himalayas as the existence of the entire subcontinent depends on the Himalayas along with the agriculture being practiced by crores of farmers. “Expenditure of a few thousand crores cannot be the reason for executing the project. I request you to kindly reconsider the decision of the GoM. I am appealing to you as right from my student days, I have always campaigned for saving the existence of the forests and the Himalayas. “It is also the time to evaluate how much water is available in the Himalayas and the rivers emerging from it and whether this water has the capacity to address the drinking and irrigation needs of the region, the dependent areas and crores of farmers of the country,” the letter states. Tamta has emphasised on the need to draw a long-term strategy to preserve rivers and conserve their water. “Power is a necessity, but the existence of rivers is also linked to the existence of the country and its future. We have the scientific ability to get power from other sources. I hope you will reconsider the decision of the GoM and scrap the Lohari Nagpala Project besides initiating a top-level evaluation of the projects being executed on the rivers in the Himalayan region and give a new direction to the nation,” Tamta writes in his letter. Tamta as praised the Prime Minister for his initiatives on the Ganga and for ordering the stoppage of the work on the Pala Maneri and Bhaironghati projects. The GoM’s refusal to scrap the 600-MW Lohari Nagpala hydel project on the Bhagirathi is being opposed by activists including local villagers, lawyers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), certain Hindu religious leaders among several others. The crux of their argument is that the project will affect the flow of the Bhagirathi, which is a tributary of the Ganga, and that the project promoter National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has violated environmental guidelines. It is being felt that the GoM, which made the recommendation to retain the project, had not taken these issues into account. An amount to the tune of Rs 600 crore has already been spent on the project. |
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Parties protest closure of Khasiyabara project
Pitthoragarh, July 30 The leaders from Congress, BJP, UKD and BSP, besides a large number of villagers participated in the demonstration which was held in front of the SDM office, said Harish Dhami, a Congress leader and zila panchayat member. “Today, the people from all corners of Munsiyari participated in the demonstration which will be converted into hunger strike after 15 days and thereafter we will send delegation to Dehradun and Delhi demanding reconsideration of the decision by the ministry and opening this project,” said Dhami. The 261 MW Rupasiabagar, Khasiyabara Hydroelectric Project has been cancelled by the ministry on the ground that it involves 215 hectare of sensitive forest land. The leaders said for the remote Himalayan region of Munsiyari all sources of employment for the village youth have been finished after the closer of Indo-Tibet border trade since 1962. “This project, if constructed, will give jobs to 10,000 youth from Munsiyari and other regions of the state, besides benefiting the whole economy of the district,” said Dhami adding that more than 12 villages around Munsiyari town participated in the demonstration today. The 40 men in the NTPC office, which was established here since 2006, is in a confusion over this project. “Since we have not received any instruction from our corporate offices we are not living the camp. Our corporate office trying to convince the ministry that this project will not harm any ecology of this region” said an officer fro NTPC camp at Munsiyari. |
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Cantt board serves notices on 23 for illegal constructions
Mussoorie, July 30 The Sub-Area Commander Major General Ranvir Yadav inspected the said area, along with Landour Cantt vice-president CP Baloni and Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, and found illegal construction in the Mullingar area. He directed the officials to serve the notice to the people who were indulging in illegal construction. Landour Cantt CEO CP Baloni, explaining the classification of the land in the Cantt board, said there were three types of classification in which the one type of land was for the effective use of the Army and was called A-class land, the other class of land fell under the Defense Estate Office, Meerut. Some land fell under direct jurisdiction of the Landour Cantt Board and the illegal construction was happening in this type of classification, B-4 class land, hence prompt action was initiated. The notices served yesterday would be processed by Baloni. He said large-scale illegal construction was on in all classes of land in the Cantonment board, but the lower-rung officials were either hiding the facts from the senior officials or were doing it in connivance with them. He commended the efforts of the newly appointed Sub Area Commander for acting on priority basis. He further demanded that if transparent investigation was done in A-class land, many more cases would come to fore. Baloni also lamented the fact that the delay in passing of the site plan by Cantt board in providing no-objection certificate (NoC) was also one reason for increase in illegal construction. No official from the Defense Estate Office was present in Landour Cantt to expedite cases of transfer of land and mutation. He demanded from the Defence Estate office Meerut to be present in Landour Cantt permanently. Baloni further said ignorance of law was no excuse and every illegal construction would be demolished using the Cantonment law on urgent basis. Traders get notices
Responding to the directions of the High Court on a PIL filed by an applicant on the encroachments in the hill town of Mussoorie, the Nagar Palika has served notices on more than 250 traders for encroaching the public land. The notice said the traders had indulged in encroachment once again and they should remove these with immediate effect. On the other hand, the traders opposed the whole exercise at a meeting held today and said they were being targeted unnecessarily. The Mussoorie Traders Association president Rajat Agarwal said they had removed the illegal encroachments in 2006-07 after the Palika served notices on them then but this notice was being served again which was wrong and illegal. He said the Palika had already filed an affidavit in the High Court in 2006 that the encroachment had been removed so there was no question of serving the notice again. |
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Electro-homoeopathy body gets affiliation
Haridwar, July 30 Chairman of the Electro Homoeopathic Research Development Organisation of India (EHRDOI) Jagdeep Singh Narang termed the state government a landmark which would pave way for better providence of medical facilities in the hilly state. Uttarakhand is the second state where this therapy has been given the official status. The state government is also dwelling on opening of primary electro-homoeopathic health centres across the state so that people not only come to know about this lesser-known therapy, but also get benefit from it, specially in rural hilly areas where medical facility is rarely available. State Cabinet Minister for Urban Development Madan Kaushik informed that to promote herbal medicare the state government was providing every bit of help it could and had also sought proposals from the EHRDOI. EHRDOI state president KPS Chauhan has urged all related electro-homoeopathy doctors to get themselves registered with the association to pave way for an organised association and simultaneously for providence of better medical services by the association members to the people of the state. This therapy was developed initially by Cesare Mattei and is a combination of electrical devices and homoeopathy and is termed a non-side effect therapy. |
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Youth Cong adopts zero tolerance level against criminality
Dehradun, July 30 Addressing mediapersons at the Congress Bhawan in Dehradun, Singh said Rahul Gandhi had been very strict towards the entry of elements with criminal antecedents within the Youth Congress and had given directions for resorting to zero tolerance levels on criminality. He, however, excluded politically motivated cases from the same. He also apprised that the entire membership process in the Youth Congress had been made more of democratic and free from any nepotism. Singh also held that Rahul strongly believed in free and fair election process and pointed that he was also in for making the Youth Congress an effective platform for the youth. He said the party’s General Secretary would also be touring Uttarakhand in near future. Responding to the queries, he said the electoral process for constitution of new the Youth Congress unit would begin from October. Referring to the membership campaign in other states of the country, he said in Gujarat 7.5 lakh members had been enrolled and Tamil Nadu now had 14.5 lakh Youth Congress members. |
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Couple commits suicide
Nainital, July 30 A woman, named Rama, consumed a pesticide on the account of an alleged family discord. Before doing so, she had informed her husband Prakash Chandra, who was in Delhi, about her decision on the telephone. Just when the Revenue police was doing its panchnama on Rama’s body and was preparing to send it for postmortem last afternoon, the husband arrived on the spot and started crying while hugging her body. It was at this point that the officials of the Revenue police noticed froth coming out of his mouth and he revealed that he, too, had consumed poison at the village temple. They tried to rush him to Haldwani in a 108 Ambulance but he succumbed to the poison near Bhimtal. The couple had got married in November 2008. Following a complaint from the girl’s father, the police has registered a case against her in-laws and has started investigating the matter. It is learnt that Rama had procured the pesticide with the help of her sister who was residing with her. One dies, 11 injured in road mishap
Dehradun: A 45-year-old woman died and 11 others got injured when two buses had a head on collision near Dat Kali Mandir, here today. Deceased Chamanjit Kaur was travelling in the bus, which was coming from Sharanpur to Dehradun. Another UP roadways bus coming from the opposite side hit it head on. Other 11 passengers sustained injuries. Passengers with serious injuries were admitted at a local hospital. The police reached the spot and normalised the traffic on the spot of accident. |
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DMC closed after employee’s death on duty
Dehradun, July 30 Mukhaya Nagar Adhikari and Senior Health Officer reached on the spot. Mayor has asked Executive Engineer, Ravi Pandey, to investigate the cause of his death, and has issued orders to probe into the possibility of appointing his wife in such circumstances. The cleaner slipped while cleaning the tank and hit the iron bar at head and fell down bleeding on cemented ground. The other employees who were preparing to go out for anti-encroachment drive immediately rushed to attend to him, but the injured had breathed his last. He was declared brought dead by the hospital. Afterward MNA Indu Dhar Bodai and Senior Health Officer Dr Gurpal Singh reached the spot. Mayor came to know later on. Since the cleaner had small children to look after, the Mayor has asked to find out if the DMC could appoint his wife in his place. “Such matters are decided by the state government which takes its own sweet time to act upon. But yes, since Pal was covered under insurance policy, so his family will get that benefit. Other than that, no monetary compensation is given to daily wagers by DMC in such matters,” he said. Subhash Chander Sharma, the witness to accident said that in one such matter, where a daily wager died from a heart attack three years ago, his family member was employed by the DMC. Seeing that precedent, in this case too, giving job to the deceased’s wife should not be
a problem. |
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Govt fails to make full use of Central funds
Dehradun, July 30 Officials list absence of staff, proper planning and delay in formulating detailed projects reports as some of the reasons for funds remaining
unutilised. The performance of several Central government-funded schemes, such as Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar
Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) programme and Border Area Development Programme
(BADP) is below average with Governor Margaret Alva even raising the issue with the government. Against the sanctioned budget outlay of Rs 20.31
crore, Rs 1.78 crore has been spent since the last one year (till June, 2010). “Some of the areas falling under Chamoli and Champawat districts are snowbound during the winters. Under the
BADP, provisions have to be made for education, health and rural development in areas that fall within 10 km from the border,” said Vijay
Barthwal, State Rural Development Minister (independent charge). The BADP is underway in districts of
Champawat, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Udham Singh Nagar and Pitthoragarh. Similarly, department concerned has failed to utilise Rs 65.77 crore sanctioned under the
NREGA. While officials claim that they have managed to build around 25,000 houses under the Indira Awas
Yojana, sources say the benefits still continue to elude the beneficiaries mainly due to a large scale malpractices adopted while preparing the list. |
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Landslide blocks Kedarnath road
Dehradun, July 30 Dehradun Meteorological Center’s Executive Director Anand Sharma said while rains in Dehradun had exceeded 80 mm mark by early evening, which was expected to continue throughout the night. The rains were also reported from parts of Kumaon and Garhwal. “Rains will continue throughout the night today also tomorrow during the morning hours,” Dr Sharma pointed out. According to Central Water Commission sources here, all the major rivers of Garhwal and Kumaon were in spate. Meanwhile, disaster management sources confirmed blockage of road to Kedarnath at Rudraprayag while reporting similar obstructions on Mushiyari road. The police and the Border Roads Organisation personnel were pressed into service to clear the debris and open the roads to vehicular traffic. |
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