Dehradun, June 29
Incessant rain has disrupted the Char Dham pilgrimage in Uttarakhand. Roads leading to the shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath and Gangotri have been blocked by landslides, stranding hundreds of pilgrims.

The Badrinath national highway has been blocked due to glacial movement near Kanchan Ganga in Chamoli district at around 5 pm. The road leading to Neelkanth Dham in Pauri Garhwal district has also been blocked at Gaddhugah.

However, no major loss of life or property has been reported from the hills, barring a few incidents where vehicles were damaged by landslide debris. Two persons were injured when a boulder fell on a Tata Sumo at Helang in Chamoli district. Both the injured have been admitted to the Joshimath Hospital. One person died in Helang after he was hit by a falling boulder.

The Border Roads Organisation and the district administration were working round the clock to clear the roads of the debris. Meanwhile, according to meteorological officials, rain or thunder showers are likely to continue in the state in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, state capital Dehradun today experienced incessant rain that started from morning and continued till evening hours. Meanwhile, the Rishikesh-Kedarnath road was opened to traffic at 7.50 pm.

Meanwhile, traffic on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway between Dharasu and Nalupani could not be resumed for the third consecutive day today as landslides continued to hit the area. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road on Monday.

The Almora-Pithoragarh road was also blocked due to landslides between Makrau and Thiari. PWD personnel have been deployed to restore traffic.

Dehradun, June 29
Having been evicted from his ministerial bungalow, Tehri MLA Kishore Upadhyaya today trained guns on Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, asking that while Nishank has five government residences in capital Dehradun, what forced the ruling party to throw him out of his residence, which was allotted to him as a legislator of the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Upadhyaya said the Chief Minister had in his possession two houses in Yamuna Colony and one at the Circuit House. Even a portion of the Bijapur Guest House is in Nishank’s possession, apart from the Rs 16-crore newly constructed bungalow.

Responding to a query, he said he was being targeted by the government as he spoke against the government and raised the issues relating to the people of Tehri.

Upadhyaya said the ruling party needed to give an explanation that on what basis Bachchi Singh Rawat, Bisan Singh Chufal, Balraj Passi, Manohar Kant Dhyani, Balraj Passi, Manohar Kant Dhyani and Ajay Tamta had been allotted accommodations meant for ministers.

Rawat said some valuable belongings of his wife were missing. He yet again asserted that he was not a forcible occupant of the ministerial house as it was allotted to him in the capacity of legislator.

Referring to the MLAs hostel, Upadhyaya said from the day one he had been asserting that the MLAs hostel was not fit for use accommodation and he had sought a house allotment policy for the MLAs.

Nainital, June 29
Unfavourable conditions in which ASHA workers are carrying out the pulse polio drive in Nainital leaves much to be said about the official “apathy”.

Clad in yellow waistcoats, they are carrying on with the drive tirelessly.

According to them, the umbrellas provided to them by the Health Department are either broken or malfunctioning.

An ASHA worker said it was very difficult to run after parents to persuade them to administer polio drops to their children. “At times, they are fussy about the medicine.

They need to be told that we are responsible workers and will not do anything ill to their child,” says Kamla Kunjwani, an ASHA worker.

She said certain sections of society that are illiterate resist the administration of drops to their children thinking that it had something to do with the sexual health of the child and would hamper their child-producing abilities later.

An interesting revelation made by her was that in such families, it is women at times who approach them for administering of drops to them so that they are not forced into producing more babies.

Workers like Kamla keep a vigilant eye on passersby along with the rest of her team as they do their best to ensure that every child in the vicinity in the age group of 0-5 years is given polio drops. Their dedication is such that they can be seen going out of their way to draw parents with children to their booths.

“We cannot afford to leave out even one child. The disease will otherwise spread,”says Kunjwani.

Veena Upreti, another worker, says: “We are more aware of local children as we know most families personally and can thus ensure that they participate in the drive.”

Showing wisdom, the ASHA workers have managed to get the religious institutions to persuade the people to get their children administered with the polio drops.

The local mosques make repeated announcements supporting the drive to resolve the misconceptions regarding it.

Observers said the Health Department should provide them with raincoats and arrange for their meals besides setting up booths in a permanent structure.

As of now, one can see these workers operating from outside a police booth and a rickshaw stand that too during incessant rains.

Moreover, ASHA workers have been agitating for a better remuneration and will be holding a state-level protest march in Dehradun the next month.

Dehradun, June 29
President of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal Trivender Singh Panwar, at a press conference held here today, called his meeting with former Chief Minister BC Khanduri a friendly meeting and declined to divulge much about what was discussed at the meeting. Though he admitted making the first move at the meeting.

“We were the first organisation to launch the struggle for the formation of the state and we want to be the first party to see it prosper as well. If it needs our party to make the first move in this direction, then so be it,” he said.

He castigated the state government for not making the knowledge of local dialects compulsory for the category C government jobs. Panwar said it was after their insistence that the state government raised the age limit from 35 to 40 years but it also succumbed to the pressure of people from the plain areas and omitted the clause relating to the local dialects as eligibility in the category C jobs. Panwar demanded the recognition of those dialects on the lines of the norms in other states such as West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra.

Panwar claimed to have honoured 6,700 statehood agitators and informed the media persons that the drive would be launched in Dehradun, Vikas Nagar and Rishikesh after monsoon. He said: “We are honouring the statehood agitators and giving them a citations that their future generation could feel proud of their contribution to the struggle for the formation of Uttarakhand. These agitators, who had been recognised during our “Pol Khol” campaign from June 15 to June 26, have decided to teach both the Congress and the BJP a lesson in this Assembly elections.”

Panwar reiterated the party’s stand for a CBI inquiry into Swami Nigmanand’s death. He cited a news story published in a national magazine demanding a fair probe into the role of alleged ministers and the owners of private companies carrying out quarrying in Haridwar. The UKD would hold a meeting of its working committee on July 2 and 3 to decide the venue and agenda for the party convention to be held on July 24-25.

City unit president Bahadur Singh Rawat, district unit president NK Gusain, senior leader Latafat Hussain, Sunil Bisht and others were also present.

Nainital, June 29
During a visit to the remote Don Pareva area District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli was apprised of problems related to power and water besides roads being in a pathetic condition.

Residents of Amtoli said that despite there being a pipeline for supplying drinking water, they were not getting water.

Bagauli asked the officials of the Jal Sansthan to ensure that drinking water was made available in the area. He also asked the officials of the Forest Department to undertake large-scale afforestation in the area.

People also demanded that the Amgarhi-Bohrakot-Don Pareva road should be repaired and metalled. The DM asked the officials implementing the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana to submit a proposal regarding the same.

He also pulled up officials of the Power Department on their failure to supply power to some villages where electric poles had been installed and power lines provided.

Meanwhile, orders were also given to provide power lines in some other villages.

Bagauli asked officials of the Irrigation Department to build an irrigation tank in the Okhaldunga area.

He ordered that a report on the execution of the orders given by him during his visit be submitted to his office within a fortnight.

In Atal Chaupals held in Jogipura and Chilkiya villages, near Ramnagar, people took to task the political appointees of the government on the issue of illegal quarrying. They pointed out that very little had been done to check the menace and vehicles transporting illegally mined materials had been the cause of several accidents.

People also raised issues pertaining to pollution and encroachments. Matters pertaining to the bad condition of roads were also taken up by people.

Pithoragarh, June 29
The district election officer today approved the creation of 37 new polling booths in the district subject to clearance by the Election Commission.

“The decision was taken after all polling booths were demarcated after the reduction of one assembly seat of Kanalichina from the next elections.

There will be four assembly seats in the district,” said Vinod Giri Goswami, district election officer.

According to the new demarcation, a maximum of 14 polling booths have been created in the Dharchula assembly constituency followed by 11 booths in the Pithoragarh seat, seven in the Didihat seat and five in the Gangolihat seat.

“This will ensure easy access to the voters while casting their votes.

After demarcation, the names of some of the polling booths have been changed,” said the polling officer.

Dehradun, June 29
Baagmal (85) of Chamoli district, who was staging a protest at Gandhi Park against the state government’s policy demanding 50-year-old documents to get a caste certificate, was taken away by the police.

According to the police, he was taken to Coronation Hospital as his health deteriorated due to the protest. Kotwali Inspector Abbal Singh Rawat, along with police force, took the old man to the hospital.

He has been demanding an end to such a policy as he said it was difficult to produce 50-year-old documents to prove their caste. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Sarv Samaj Kalayan has extended its support to Baagmal.

The association demanded that the government should end this policy and provide employment to jobless.

Dehradun ,June 29
Chairing a board meeting of the Uttarakhand Infrastructure Planning Company (UIPC), Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar on Wednesday announced that the UIPC had been assigned hydro-power projects of 180 MW, out of which 71 MW projects would be taken up first.

Work will soon start on a 21MW hydro-power project at Khutani in Bageshwar, 11MW in Seraghat, 19MW at Balgad in Pithoragarh and 19MW at Nayar in Pauri.

He said transparency would be maintained in the distribution process. The next stage would cover a 24 MW project at Semi in Chunni, 12MW in Madmaheshwar, 24MW in Bangari, 16MW at Kosa in Chamoli and 5MW in Doongiri.

He said ropeways would be built with the help of the private sector. The projects would be started soon in the Thooligad-Poorngir, Jankichatti-Yamunotri and Dehradun-Mussoorie areas. For Dehradun-Mussoorie, the ropeway would be built in two parts, from Purukul to Mussoorie and Hathipaon to Mussoorie. He said the private sector would also be encouraged to develop parking areas in Mussoorie and the Logistic hub in Pantnagar and Haridwar.

Dehradun, June 29
Garhwal Sporting edged past Indira Club 2-1 here today during the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League held at the Pavilion ground.

Shivam struck an early goal for Sporting in the fifth minute. Indira Club’s Vashu (38th) scored the equaliser later. The two teams following this fought hard to score the next goal.

However, Sporting had success as Vikram scored the decisive goal in the 58th minute.

In the second encounter Bajrang Club and Doon Valley could not score any goal in the stipulated time.

Vijay Cantt will face Gorkha Rangers and Sarvodya Club will play against Gypsy Club in tomorrow’s league matches.

Dehradun, June 29
Vice-president of the State Minority Commission Majhar Naeem Nawab, while addressing a press conference here today, said he heard grievances of residents of Aamwala village under the Atal Adarsh Chaupal Scheme yesterday and solved 15 written complaints and 45 verbal complaints. He said by July 10, the entire state would be covered under this scheme.

Nawab said a large number of people complained of poor water supply. He said the Municipal Corporation had been directed to provide an overhead tank for areas such as Rampura where a tubewell could not be installed.

He said regarding the poor condition of roads, PWD engineer had been directed to solve the problem. He said it was also brought to his notice that people belonging to the APL category were being given BPL cards. He ordered to cancel all such cards. A committee was also formed to oversee this task.

He claimed that under the Gaura Kanyadhan scheme, 100 per cent target had been achieved.

Out of six villages given to him, Nawab said he had completed work in Rakpur, Sahaspur and Aamwala villages.

Rudrapur, June 29
Technological progress has been at the cost of the flora and fauna and the overall ecology as it is evident from certain trends experienced in the Terai region of Udham Singh Nagar district.

Radiations from cellphone towers have turned out to be fatal for honey bees in this region. The radiation interferes with bees’ navigation systems preventing them from finding their way back to their hives. Consequently, forest rangers have become a worried lot over the development.

“Cellphone tower radiations cause the disorientation of bees’ navigation systems, which prevents them from reaching their hives. Also there are scientific ways to procure honey from these bees, but not all people follow that,” said Parag Madhukar Dhakate, Divisional Forest Officer, Terai Central Forest Division.

A United Nations Environment Programme study has brought out evidence that shows that microwave radiation from cellphones and towers could lead to the disappearance of honey bees in the future.

This can also upset the food production cycle, since the crops depend on bees for pollination. There are nearly 100 food species and honey bees pollinate 70 per cent of these.

Reduction in the number of honey bees will have an adverse impact on food security. “There are 100 varieties of food species. Of these, there are 70 species that are pollinated by these honey bees. So these 70 species are responsible for 90 per cent of the food production. Pollination by honey bees is significant as such there will be a direct impact on food security,” added Dhakate.

Other reasons for the reduction of bees include habitat degradation, agricultural advancements as well as attack by pathogens or other insects. ANI

Dehradun, June 29
Brig KG Behl (retd), President of the All-India Consumers Council, Uttarakhand, has expressed deep concern over the hike in the prices of petroleum products by the Union Petroleum Ministry.

In a statement, he said the recent hike in the price of petrol had already upset the budget of the common man and this increase had further aggravated the situation.

Since the increase in the prices of petroleum products is likely to hit all other consumer items which are in one or the other way linked to it, the prices of other products are likely to go up or rather in some cases have already gone up.

“It is unfortunate that on one side we are trying to end corruption, but at the same time by increasing the prices, we are giving a fillip to this practice, where it will lead to adulteration and cause scarcity,” he said.

He appealed to the Central Government to withdraw the increase by subsidising through other sources. “The prices of these products should be de-linked with global markets and the government should make provision to match the subsidy in case of fluctuations,” he added.