Haridwar, October 1
The saint community of the pilgrim city has widely accepted the verdict of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case. A meeting was held at Pawan Dham wherein the verdict was appreciated.

Terming the Lord Rama temple as a centre of immense faith, Pawan Dham head Swami Sahaj Prakash said: “The Indian judiciary was one of its kind in the whole world and it gave verdicts based on truth and facts and never disappointed any section irrespective of their religion, sect or creed.”

People from both Hindu and Muslim communities were lauded for exercising patience and maintaining communal harmony in the wake of the Allahabad High Court decision.

Nirmal Akhada secretary Mahant Balwant Singh said the Ayodhya verdict was a perfect example of the Indian judiciary impartiality and long-term trust that people of India irrespective of their religion and community had in it.

Nirmal Santpura chief Mahant Mahendar Singh urged all third parties involved in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land issue to hour the court decision. “I urge all three parties to not to further lengthen the Ayodhya issue in the name of Lord Rama. People will respect all three parties thousands times more if they take a unanimous decision to end the politicisation or prolonging of the issue,” said Mahant Mahendra.

Shrimad Jagadguru Vishnu Swami Ballabhacharya Goswami said the decision was welcome. He urged the Sunni Waqf Board to give generously their pie of land and in lieu of that they would give them double the land. Nirmohi Akhada has been performing rituals at the Ramlala Janmabhoomi since ancient time. It will soon be holding a meeting in this regard, he added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Jay Ram Chain Ashram head Brahmswaroop Brahamachari. 

Dehradun, October 1
The authorities concerned are in the process of making solar traffic signals functional round the clock. Solar traffic signals in Doon, that work on and off, will be functioning 24X7 as the electric connection is being installed as standby measure on all lights. The lights will be managed through the GPRS control system from the traffic office.

The duration of the signals can be changed according to the junction and the traffic flow on a particular road through computer. If there is some dharna or rally, the signals can be put on a blinking mode or stopped altogether.

At present, the solar traffic signals are installed on the Shimla bypass crossing, Sharanpur Road crossing, Prince Chowk, Dwarikia Store, CMI Chowk and Arha Ghar.

At the Prince Chowk, the electric connection has been set on the signal while for the rest light points, the Electricity Department is on the job. To give 24-hour backup, the solar light system needs to be charged for two hours in the sun but owing to weather conditions here that is not possible.

VK Agarwal, Director, LSTL Media Limited, a Noida-based company, said: “We are working on running the solar traffic signals round the clock by giving an electric standby connection on all these lights. These lights will work day and night. With a two-hour charging, these solar lights can give a backup of 24 hours. However, due to the incessant rains, the solar signals’ working was affected,” he added.

Circle Officer (Traffic) Navneet Singh Bhullar said: “The step will help us in a big way for it will save our manpower and ease the traffic congestion.” 

Dehradun, October 1
After endless delays, the cashless health smart cards for retired and serving government employees of Uttarakhand will finally be delivered on November 9.

The Health Department finally assigned a private agency with the task of delivering the smart cards today. It entered into an agreement with the Pune-based MD India Health Care Services (TPA) Pvt Ltd at a contract price of Rs 1.4 crore.

Secretary Health and Family Welfare Dr Umakant Panwar on behalf of the Uttarakhand government and Anupam Gupta, CEO of MD India, signed the memorandum of understanding.

“Once government employees retire, their honeymoon period ends. The cashless health card scheme will help them undertake big transactions without worrying about cash. It will be good if the agency manages to come up with first 100 cards by November 9,” said Dr Umakant Panwar.

Anupam Gupta said that Uttarakhand has become the first state to come up with a scheme that aims to bridge the implementation and design gap. “The cards will have photographs and fingerprint data to ascertain the genuineness of beneficiaries. We have put in place a credible system that prevents possible misuse,” he said.

The facilities to be provided include in-patient care, emergency services in all allopathic systems, pathological and diagnostic investigations, free supply of necessary drugs for patients, supply of necessary drugs for out-patients prescribed by authorised medical attendant, free supply of necessary drugs for follow-up after treatment for five days, and after that, on the recommendation of authorised medical attendant from a public hospital.

“For the time being, membership of the scheme will be optional for both serving government employees and pensioners, but in due course, membership will be made compulsory and the beneficiaries will include spouse, wholly dependent children, parents, unmarried sister or daughter, widowed sister etc,” said Dr Sudhanshu Bahuguna, Director, Doon Group of Hospitals. 

Dehradun, October 1
Taking into account the disaster unleashed by the rains in Uttarakhand, the state government has decided to celebrate the forthcoming State Formation Day in a low-key affair.

According to government sources, the State Formation Day on November 9 in Uttarakhand will be observed as a simple ceremony in view of the natural disaster caused by excessive rainfall, triggering floods and landslides in the state.

An all-party meeting will also be convened shortly with a view to discussing various issues related to disaster management and also finding out the ways to extend proper help to the people in the disaster-hit regions. A concrete action plan will be chalked out to combat disaster in future after consultations with people concerned.

Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, while presiding over the meeting held at the secretariat today, directed the officials concerned to give priority to disaster management and rehabilitation-related programmes in the state. He also held that all the ministers would be in the disaster-hit areas during State Formation Day.

The Chief Secretary said the organizations and people who are working efficiently in the relief and rescue operations should also be awarded.

Cong apprises Guv of rain victims’ woes

A Uttarakhand Congress delegation, led by Opposition leader Harak Singh Rawat, on Thursday met Governor Margaret Alva and put forward the concerns of victims of rains before her.

Rawat asked the Governor to direct the state government to conduct prompt relief and rescue operations. He said prompt compensation needed to be given to the flood-affected.

The Congress leaders also called for prompt clearing of roads. Congress MLAs Dinesh Agarwal, Joth Singh Gunsola and Balbir Singh Negi were part of the deputation. 

Dehradun, October 1
The work with regard to the Solid Waste Management in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) is picking up the momentum. The teams comprising DMC officials are studying the work of selected companies by going out in their towns and thereafter submitting the reports to Mayor Vinod Chamoli and the Secretariat.

Sahayak Nagar Adhikari Neeraj Pandey and Executive Engineer Ravi Pandey, who had gone to supervise the work of bidding companies in Greater Noida and Kanpu, submitted their report to the Mayor. Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, too, had gone to study another company’s performance in Mumbai.

The work of three other companies, two in Delhi and one Calcutta, too, had been scrutinised and found satisfactory.

Chamoli informed that out of eight technical bids, six companies had been short listed. After the submission of all survey reports, one would be allocated the project of the Solid Waster Management worth Rs 24.5 crore sanctioned under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission by the Central government.

Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat said the performance of these companies which were already involved with the work of Solid Waste Management in their respective cities would be closely monitored with regard to different, including garbage collection, segregation of bio-degradable and non-degradable, composting bio-degradable, recycling process for non-bio-degradable and final stage of scientific landfill. 

Dehradun, October 1
The 81 mining employees of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) garlanded and offered sweets to vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi for finally absorbing them in mining work from October 1.

Their joining will be effective from September 17 where they will get increment of Rs 2,000 for Grade III and Rs 1,200 for Grade IV employees. Barring 37 days of work, these employees were sitting idle for the last one year as the GMVN wanted to wash its hands off from them citing reasons of surplus staff and depleting work of mining in the corporation.

Negi said 55 would be engaged in Haridwar, 21 in Dehradun three in Chamoli and two in Tehri. He also indicated that these workers had also been provided training regarding various departments of the tourism industry so that they could be incorporated in other wings when their seasonal work got suspend.

Negi informed that in a meeting held among Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma, Managing Director Santhiyal Pandiyan, vice-president Rajender Singh Rothan and himself, a collective decision was taken to put the employees at work with the enhanced pay package.

“Treading on the same lines of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, the GMVN is planning to devise a strategy for 21 employees of the Garhwal Mandal Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Corporation, which was closed in year 2002, to either incorporate some of them and relieve others through Voluntary Retire Scheme (VRS),” he said.

Since the mining work in Haridwar and other places had not yet resumed after suspending them due to the rainy season, therefore the employees would keep vigil on preventing illegal mining on the sites till the actual work started.

The seniority of these employees would also be taken care of to assess this factor while converting their status to the permanent employees. 

Mussoorie, October 1
It seems that the controversy surrounding the demolition and construction of the historic Clock Tower in Landour Bazar by the Nagar Palika is not dying down with new revelations that have come to the light.

A dispute between the private partner supposedly, Mars Caterer owned by Mumbai-based businessman, and the Nagar Palika after a letter received by the Palika on the behalf of the said firm that was suppose to beautify the Clock Tower. The letter addressed to the Palika states that the m/s Kwality Construction Company that was assigned for the construction of the demolished Clock Tower has stopped the work till the promised amount of Rs 19 lakh is not paid for the structure erection work. The letter also states that the Palika should first finalise the design, size and location of the new Clock Tower.

The work of beautification of the Clock Tower as promised would begin only after that. The letter dated September 27, 2010, has crated furore in the town and brought the Palika on the defensive mode as it is now retracting from its earlier stand that the construction work has been given in the PPP mode.

Responding to the RTI filed by BJP leader Anil Kumar, the Palika has retracted from its claim and now is in denial mode. Media executive officer Rohtash Sharma said according to his knowledge, the Clock Tower was not given under the PPP mode. This version was also authenticated by the response to the RTI filed by Anil Kumar. This ambiguity and different versions of the Palika officials had raised doubts amid the residents of the town.

Kumar, seeking the information under the RTI, said the gross financial embezzlement of the fund has gone in the whole deal. Earlier, Palika president OP Uniyal has said that the Clock Tower has been given under the PPP mode, but his own executive officer is refuting the claim.

Another BJP leader Ami Chand Mangla said the residents of Landour were not opposing the construction of the Clock Tower but were suspicious of the process adopted by the Palika. He further said if the Palika was doing the work under the PPP mode, why it was paying Rs 19 lakh to the said firm and furthermore why it has failed to invite tenders for its demolition and construction in first place if it is not being given under the PPP mode.

This Correspondent has also learnt from sources that the Palika is now planning to enter a fresh agreement with Kwality construction instead the Mumbai-based businessman firm Mars Caterers by revoking the earlier MoU. 

Dehradun, October 1
A two-day brainstorming workshop on the Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management (SLEM) began at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) here Wednesday.

The workshop is a part of the consultative process under the World Bank-led project, Policy and Institutional Reform for Mainstreaming and Up-scaling Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management in India, and is being held under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Dr GS Rawat, Director-General, ICFRE, said the global concerns for an ever-growing population continue to be the reason enhancement in the land productivity to offer food and fibre security leading to removing poverty and maintaining a healthy environment for the present and posterity.

SLEM is an innovative management approach to arrest or prevent land degradation as compared to reclamation and reversal of degraded land. According to estimates, degraded lands in India account for nearly 120 million hectare out of the total landmass of India that totals to 329 million hectare. This is already a cause of serious concern and the situation is made more complex as the changing climate may also take its own toll of land productivity, land degradation and associated biodiversity.

Dr Rawat said the overall objective of SLEM was to contribute to poverty alleviation in India by promoting enhanced efficiency of natural resource use, improved land and ecosystem productivity, and reduced vulnerability to extreme weather events, including the effect of climate change. The SLEM partnership seeks to create synergy among various SLEM project partners through sharing best practices/lessons learnt, and by providing policy recommendations to scale up the SLEM approach in India.

The DG, ICFRE, reminded the participants that policy and institutional analysis for assessment of gaps and barriers to implement SLEM in India is required to be documented and overcome and would be an important tool to monitor impact of mainstreaming policies in future. The ICFRE institutes, he said, would need to support and contribute to the success in laying a strong foundation to the baseline study on the land degradation in the country.

Dr Rabindra Kumar, DDG (Extension), Omkar Singh, DDG (Education), Sandeep Tripathi, Director (Research) and many other senior officers from ICFRE, Dehradun were present. The participants at the workshop include nodal officers, scientists and experts from the eight ICFRE institutes across the country.

Pitthoragarh, October 1
The Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) has not only been guarding the Indo-Nepal Border successfully, but also providing jobs to women living close to the border by giving them the work to sew uniforms of SSB personnel.

According to officials, the nodal agency of this programme is NABARD, which has assigned an NGO, NIDHI, for this purpose after the SSB officer expressed their intention to link the border women with some beneficial programmes.

“After getting the green signal from the SSB, we organised two self-help groups of the border towns of Jhoolaghat and Baluakot and provided training to 25 women,” Dr Sunil Pandey, NGO Director.

According to NABARD officers, after the completion of training by these women, to maintain the standards of the uniform of the SSB, the force has given a first lot of 100 uniforms to the women which they have completed and are working on the second lot now. “Each woman can earn, at least, Rs 80 per day,” said Dr Vikas Bhatt, District Development Manager of NABARD.

After the initial success, the NGO now wants to constitute 20 more self-help groups of women on the border to trap the big work of sewing uniforms. “Each unit of the SSB spends Rs 8 lakh to Rs 9 lakh per year in sewing uniforms of their jawans. If a portion of this can be availed by these self-help groups, the financial condition of these women can be improved,” said Dr Pandey.

He also informed that these groups had now been registered with the District Industry Centre (DIC) and given EMI number which is a must for the self-help groups. “These women, who took Rs 1 lakh bank loan to purchase sewing machines at their own risk, will now be able to avail subsidy given by the DIC to the registered self-help groups,” said Dr Pandey. 

Pitthoragarh, October 1
Braving stone pelting by women smugglers across the border from Nepal side, the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans deputed at international bridge on the Indo-Nepal border near Dharchula yesterday seized 22.8 kg of ivory being carried to Nepal through illegal route of crossing the Kali river.

“This is the first seizure of ivory by any SSB contingent after deputing on the border,” said BS Tolia, SSB Commandant.

“When our patrolling team sensed some activity on the river at 2 am, they flashed search light at the spot and found a hold all carrying 22.8 kg of ivory prized nearly Rs 1 crore in the international market,” said the Commandant, adding that the ivory seemed to have collected from the Tarai region and was being smuggled to China via Nepal.

According to SSB sources, the task was not as easy as it looks. “Though the smugglers succeeded in fleeing the place, our jawans faced heavy stone pelting and one of our jawans, S Doimare, got injured in the incident,” said Tolia.s