Nainital, June 5
Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has cancelled her visit to Nainital. She was supposed to arrive here on Sunday morning and was scheduled to be in the Lake City on a personal visit till June 9. No specific reason has been given for the cancellation of her programme.

When asked about it, Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva said,"I, too, got a call about the cancellation at 11 am just when I was about to leave for Haldwani to receive her.

Meanwhile Alva went ahead to launch the package of ecological conservation measures at Raj Bhawan on Sunday evening. These measures were supposed to be launched by the President. Alva inaugurated an innovative rain water harvesting structure and a comprehensive set of solar power facilities installed at the Raj Bhawan campus here. At a function organised to mark World Environment Day, the Governor along with her spouse Niranjan Alva planted two saplings of Padam and Rhododendron.

Alva said the President had been the force behind the initiative to make the Raj Bhawan green. "She had written to all governors to go in for the Green Building concept," she pointed out.

The concept adopted at Raj Bhawan here includes waste management, energy conservation, use of alternative sources of energy, rainwater harvesting and preserving the ecosystem.

The rainwater harvesting structure inaugurated by the Governor incorporates a countless number of innovations that were adopted in the face of tremendous odds, and is therefore a 'civil engineering marvel'. Alva has expressed the hope that it will increase water supply to Raj Bhawan especially during the summer months when Nainital faces a water crunch. "In fact the rainwater-harvesting structure will also contribute to reduction in carbon footprints caused due to pumping of water from the Naini lake," she pointed out.

Initially, the Public Works Department (PWD), which is the project implementing agency, sanctioned a project with a storage capacity of 2 lakh litres with the Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) tank. However, on the advice of the Governor, it was deicded to have a bigger-capacity non-concrete pond to store rain water.

Alva informed,"The pond with a total capacity of 24 lakh litres, at a cost of about Rs 40 lakh, will meet the requirement of water for the Raj Bhawan Golf Course and the gardens and lawns of the Raj Bhawan."

The Governor also inaugurated a comprehensive set of solar energy equipment installed all over the Raj Bhawan campus here. These include a 5-watt capacity solar power plant and evacuated tube collector type solar water heaters of 100 liters per day capacity with an electrical back up.

Dehradun, June 5
If everything goes well, the city will soon have new bus shelters, like the ones that have been constructed in Delhi. The Dehradun Municipal Corporation is planning to construct more than 60 steel-frame shelters at various places in the city and will soon float tenders for the same.

According to the proposed list, most of the shelters will be constructed on the basis of traffic flow and the Rajpur Road tops the list. These shelters would even help the corporation increase its revenue by Rs 10 lakh.

Sources in the corporation said earlier also around 70 places were identified by the nigam for the purpose, but owing to the non-payment by the advertisers, the project was not able to see the light of the day. They maintained that a few areas had been deleted from the proposed list this time and the corporation would float the tenders only after the venture got the green light by the administration.

Agencies will bring advertisements to be pasted on the shelters and the corporation will charge a fixed amount from them.

The areas where these bus shelters are to be constructed include Rajpur Road, Gandhi Road, Saharanpur Road, Kaulagarh Road, Haridwar Road, Raipur Road, Cantt Road, Vidhan Sabha Chowk, Kargi Chowk, ISBT Chowk, Mata Mandir Road (near police chowki), Chakrata Road (near Bindal bridge) and Nehru Colony. The areas that have been deleted from the list this time include Ladpur, Bypass Road, Raipur Road bridge, Raipur Gurdwara Road (near Raipur Thana) and a spot near the CMI hospital. Mayor Vinod Chamoli said the work for the construction of the shelter would start very soon, as the tenders would be floated very shortly.

Dehradun, June 5
Aiming to protect as well as to enhance greenery and environment of Dehradun, members of a city-based NGO, Citizens for Green Doon, held an exhibition and programme at Gandhi Park here today.

The founder of the NGO, Dr Nitin Pandey, demonstrated how to protect trees. Scores of passersby, who had stopped to watch this unique programme, and activists of the Citizens for Green Doon were in a jubilant mood.

The students, who are associated with the NGO, displayed their skills through painting, collage making and singing. The volunteers also sensitised the passersby how they can contribute to conserving the environment by making their houses eco friendly.

Dehradun, June 5
Residents of Chukkhuwala are facing civic amenities woes in the area, which is situated next to Clock Tower and welcomes people with narrow roads, garbage and stray animals.

Residents of the area said the sewer system was in urgent need of repair. Councillor Deepa Shah also maintained that: “The sewer system in the area is old and is in urgent need of repair. Though work was done at various places, the material used was not up to the mark.”

She further said chambers of sewer lines were lying broken at many places and were full of grime. “Despite repeated complaints to the Jal Sansthan in this regard, nothing has been done so far.”

“The area near Kumar Chowk is also dirty, but due to my illness I am unable to manage the same. Though a cleanliness drive was also launched in the area, the results are not up to the mark. As soon as I recover from my illness, I will ensure that people of the area do not face any problem,” said the councillor.

Till now, Shah has spent Rs 50 lakh on the construction of roads, small drains, bridges and embankments. She is also a social worker and visits Doon Hospital, Coronation Hospital and Doon Women Hospital regularly to check whether patients were getting proper treatment. She has also helped many persons in getting widow pension, ration cards and other kind of ID cards.

Residents of the area maintained that they were satisfied with the work being performed by the councillor. They also prayed for her well-being.

Indresh Shaundiyal, a local resident, said: “Though small drains were constructed four months ago, they are in bad shape now. “Despite the fact that our councillor is not well, she keeps on calling the department concerned to repair the same,” he added.

Another resident, Ajay Lal, said: “Water and power shortage and unhygienic conditions are the major concerns in the area. Due to chocked drains, water enter our shops,” he rued.

PP Bali, an elderly, said: “Safai karamcharis demand money on daily basis. It’s difficult for a retired person like me to pay them daily despite the fact they are being paid by the government for the same.”

Suresh Kumar Gupta, a shopkeeper, said: “Though our councillor is very active and is always ready to help us, due to her deteriorating health, the cleanliness drive has failed to yield the desired result. But I am sure once she resumes her work, everything will be fine.”

A match in the Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football Tournament played at Pavilion Ground in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph.

Dehradun, June 5
Gorkha Boys was no match for the Wills Youth Club that outplayed the former 5-0 during the ongoing 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League at the Pavilion ground here today.

Mohit played a major role in the win of his side scoring three goals. He struck in the 30th, 43rd and 60th minutes of the play to outclass the opponent team. While Arpan (26th) and Himanshu (53rd minute) netted a goal each too for Wills.

In the second match, Sarvodaya and Nagar Nigam tied on one each. Udaypal Singh (13th) scored for Sarvodaya and Vivek (12th) scored for Nagar Nigam. No goal came in the second half as the match ended on a draw.

Later, with the consent of the teams, they were awarded one point each. Meanwhile, Adhoiwala Boys and Doon Challengers will play the first match and Doon Star will face Tapovan XI (Khalanga) in tomorrow’s league matches.

Dehradun, June 5
In view of the fothcoming Assembly elections in Uttarakhand, the state unit of the Congress has gone on the offensive against the state BJP government but finds itself divided as ever. As part of the strategy, the party decided to up the ante against the state government by presenting a charge sheet against the state government to the President of India, Pratibha Patil, on June 2.

All senior party leaders, including the state unit chief Yashpal Arya, Union Minister of State for Food Processing and Agriculture Harish Rawat, Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, two party MPs, namely Vijay Bahuguna and Pradeep Tamta, all party legislators and other senior leaders -- in all a 36-member delegation went to the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The party general secretary in charge, Birender Singh, and co-incharges, Bhagat Charan Dass and Anis Ahmed, also accompanied the delegation. Interestingly, in the game of one-upmanship among various senior Congress leaders to hog the limelight, it was the aggressive Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat who stole the thunder, according to party sources.

It was decided that as per the protocol, state unit party chief Yashpal Arya would address the President, explaining about the alleged misdeeds of the state BJP government during the past four years of its rule. Later, if time permitted, senior leaders or party MPs would talk to the President. But, Harak Singh Rawat, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, was quick in taking over the mike.

He started lambasting the state government, explaining to the President of India about the various points mentioned in the charge sheet.

Most of the senior party leaders, including the docile and humble party chief Yashpal Arya and Union Minister of state for Food Processing and Agriculture Harish Rawat, were dumbstruck as Harak Singh Rawat took charge. He consumed all the time as the President, after receiving the charge sheet and usual photographs with the delegation, left the hall.

The scene at Rashtrapati Bhawan depicted the true picture of the state of the Uttarakhand Congress. Divided among various groups, most of the senior Congres leaders, instead of taking up the fight against their political opponents, the BJP, are playing against one another.

While, officially, the Uttarakhand Congress on the advice of the state in charge Birender Singh, has started a “Satyagraha yatra” from Dharchula in Pithoragarh district from May 2 that will pass throughout the state till July, on the ground it has become a yatra only of the state party chief, Yashpal Arya and his faction.

Most of the leaders except those with Arya have refrained from participating in the yatra on one pretext or the other.

Those who have joined it have also done it half-heartedly.

Harish Rawat, the tallest Congress leader of the state and a bitter opponent of Yashpal Arya, has not lent his full support to the yatra. The yatra has now reached Garhwal region getting a good response from the general masses but leaders and legislators from the region close to Harish Rawat have refrained from participating in it.

Basically, it is the fight for the top slot in the state after the next Assembly elections that has guided these senior party leaders to chart their own course.

Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat has been following his own course aggressively of political action by positioning his own men in various Assembly segments with an eye on the chair of the next Chief Minister.