HC Decision on Land Purchase by Outsiders
UPP may move Supreme Court
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 23
The regional parties of the state, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP), are unhappy with the High Court’s decision allowing any citizen of India to purchase 12.5 acres of agricultural land in the state.

The landmark judgment was delivered by a Division Bench of the High Court at Nainital on Thursday afternoon. The bench comprised Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice UC Dhyani.

Reacting to the decision, both the regional parties have urged the Major-General BC Khanduri (retd)-led BJP government in the state to take immediate steps to prevent a large-scale purchase of land by outsiders in the state.

Talking to The Tribune, senior UKD leader Narayan Singh Jantwal said: “The government can either approach a senior-level of the judiciary against the decision or it can bring in a fresh ordinance in the matter. Luckily, the Assembly session is scheduled to begin on September 27. The government must bring in an ordinance on a priority basis during this session”.

The president of the UPP, Puran Tewari, said the decision would have a negative impact on the residents of Uttarakhand.

He has also demanded that the state government take immediate steps to protect the interests of the citizens of the state. The party has taken it upon itself to approach the High Court and even the Supreme Court on this issue.

In a statement, Tewari has stated that the party is disillusioned with the judgment and it would consult legal experts before taking up the issue at the level of the High Court and the Supreme Court. Tewari has stated that the judgment is a result of poor representation of facts by the government lawyers in the case.

Both the parties have stated that there are stringent laws in place in all the Himalayan states to protect the interests of the indigenous people residing there.

“I fail to understand what was illegal in the existing law. In the North East, even the customary laws of the people residing there have been upheld by the Indian government. The issue before us today is to protect the farming in the hills and also to take care of the interest of the small and marginal farmer residing here,” said Jantwal.

Replying to a query on the rights of a resident of the state to practise agriculture in the state, he said a clause providing a resident the said rights could have been added to the existing law but throwing the land open to any resident of India is not in the interest of the people of the state.

Petitioner Jaswant Singh’s lawyer VK Kohli had contended that the existing norms were very much against the residents of Uttarakhand itself. “Suppose on September 12, 2003, a person while being a resident of Uttarakhand did not possess any agricultural land. He and his coming generations were prohibited from purchasing more than 250 square metres of agricultural land.

On the other hand, if any one, whether a resident of the state or an outsider possessed even 100 square metres of agricultural land on the given date, he was eligible to purchase 12.5 acres. Our contention was against this discrimination,” Kohli said while talking to The Tribune.

The UPP has now contended that while stringent laws remain in place in other Himalayan states, why is Uttarakhand allowed to become a haven for land mafia and builders.

 Chidambaram’s effigy burnt
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Members of the BJP city cooperative cell today burnt an effigy of Home Minister P Chidambaram, who has been named in the 2G Spectrum scam, at Clock Tower. They also demanded the resignation of the leader.

Bhupinder Singh Kathait, convener of the cell, said the Congress was speaking against corruption, but it should asked its leader first what he meant by corruption.

He added that many scams had surfaced during the tenure of the Congress government at the Centre and now it was trying to hide them.

Mandal president RS Parihar, councillor Jeevan Singh, Avdesh Tiwari, Anup Saxena and others were present on the occasion.

 Forest staff back agitating Rajaji park employees
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 23
Despite a week having passed since the employees of the Rajaji National Park had deposited their arms and ammunition with the authorities concerned, no action has been taken on their demands, particularly that of taking back criminal cases registered against three employees of the park. Today, the employees of the Forest Department, Haridwar division, also announced came in support of the agitating park employees.

Now, the forest employees are also depositing their arms with their respective range offices, demanding that the criminal case registered against the employees of the park be taken back.

The employees, against who the cases have been registered, were on night patrol when a group of wood smugglers allegedly attacked them and in order save their lives the employees of the park fired at the armed smugglers.

In the shootout a “smuggler”, Babu Lal, a resident of Bullawala village, was killed while the employees also sustained injuries. The members of Babu Lal’s family and villagers alleged that Babu Lal was unarmed and was in the prohibited jungle area to collect wood for fuel. A complaint was filed by the villagers and recently the Haridwar police had got warrants against the then ranger Jaipal Singh Rawat, Satpal Singh and Saleem Khan.

A delegation of the forest employees also submitted memorandums to the District Magistrate and the Senior Superintendent of Police seeking prompt action in this case as any delay will deter the forest employees from performing their duty fearlessly.

Chief of the Van Karamchari Sangh Rajbeer Singh said the employees of the Haridwar forest division supported the employees of the park as one-sided police action was affecting the morale of the forest employees.

He said it’s quite tough and risky to carry out vigil in dense forest. “Till a decision is taken in employees’ favour we will be patrolling and carrying our duties without arms as this is our way of protest, but if anything happens to such employees in the line of duty then the onus will be on the administration,” said Rajbeer.

 US trekker swept away in Gori river
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 23
A US trekker, named Tom Levy Penkin (21), is feared to have been swept away by the strong currents of the Gori river at the Malchu waterfall, 14 km from Munsiyari town, en route to the Milam glacier in this district.

“The incident occurred at 5.30 pm yesterday. A trekkers’ team had gone there for a trekking expedition to the Milam glacier. The American youth, a member of the 16-member expedition team from National Outdoor Leadership School in Chicago, US, had left Munsiyari for the Milam glacier on September 10 with his other companions. While returning, Tom probably slipped and fell into the Gori river while crossing it at Malchu,” said RS Rathor, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Munsiyari.

The SDM further said the gorge where Tom was believed to have slipped was 150 metres deep. “We suppose Tom might have been swept away. We have formed six teams of rescue workers to carry out a search for Tom as his torch and raincoat have been recovered at the Malchu waterfall,” said the SDM.

”Our teams will search for Tom in the river till Jauljibi and only after that we will be able to say anything about the missing trekker,” said the SDM.

 Ancient water bodies being conserved
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Ancient water bodies will now be conserved jointly by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Dehradun circle, and the International Council on Monuments and Sites 
in the state.

The ancient method of water conservation efforts led to the building of wells, ookhars, dharas, mangras, naulas, khaals, gools, tals and gharats in Uttarakhand. These stand out as examples of fine masonry work and stone architecture. Owing to their sheer storage capacity, these helped people survive through periods of droughts.

“Probably the oldest well dating back to the first century BC near Dhankhal village in Almora stands out as an example of an ancient well that continues to be in good shape. The water table receded long ago and the well is not in use,” said Dr DN Dimri, Superintending Archaeologist, Dehradun circle.

Similarly, wells located in the vicinity of the Kachhari temple in Dwarahat and the Rudranath temple in Gopeshwar are being documented by the ASI and the ICOMOS. So also the remains of wells found at Beratgarhi in the Jaunsar region.

Examples of conserving of water seeping from rocks by the construction of traditional pokhars abound in the state, especially in the Almora and Dwarahat regions of Kumaon, where 10th century pokhars exist.

“However, natural water springs called dhara or mangra locally, with figures of the cow, elephant, lion and even Ganesha carved out at the outlet, that worked as taps dating back to the 10 century have also been found at Vaiterni in Gopeshwar (Chamoli). The oldest naula constructed to preserve ground water called the Jhanvi Naula at Gangolihat (Kumaon) was constructed in 1272 BC,” said Dimri.

Most of these ancient water bodies that were used for drinking water supply were constructed either in the vicinity of temples or were assigned religious symbols or figures so that the sanctity of these bodies could be maintained.

For irrigation purposes khaals and gools were constructed by preventing the flow of a river.Later small channels and canals were built so that water could be used for irrigation.

“In Maletha village of Tehri district, the heroic feat performed by warrior Madho Singh, who built a gool to irrigate the parched land, has become part of folklore,” added Dimri. 

 Kumaon police gears up for Assembly election
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 23
The police officers across Kumaon have been asked to gear up for the Assembly poll in the state that are scheduled to be held early next year. The officials have been asked to intensify vigilance in the area.

These directions were issued by the Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of Police (Kumaon Range) Amit Singha while presiding over the monthly review meeting of the top-level police officers of the different districts in the region. The meeting was held at Nainital on Thursday evening.

Another important order given during the meeting was to depute well-trained personnel at places susceptible to natural disasters.

Talking about the conduct of the poll, Sinha has asked the officials to identify the polling booths falling under the jurisdiction of various police stations and chalk out a work plan accordingly.

The police chiefs posted at Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat have been asked to constitute a joint team to check the growing instances of auto thefts in the region. Since these districts have a common border with Uttar Pradesh and Nepal, the stolen vehicles are often taken across the border for sale. Time and again there has been a demand for increasing vigilance in the borders and Sinha has outlined this to be one of his priority areas after taking charge a couple of months ago.

At the same time he has ordered the constitution of another team under the Superintendent of Police (SP) at Champawat to check the growing incidents of passengers being duped after being given intoxicants by miscreants while they are travelling in the region. Reports of such incidents come to light almost daily with people returning home from other states being duped of their savings and valuable. Although the police has made several arrests at various places, the phenomenon continues unabated.

In addition to this, Sinha has asked his subordinates to strive towards working out every incident of theft in the region.

Referring to the construction activity pertaining to building of police stations, police posts and residences for police personnel, he has directed that there must be no compromise with the quality of works being done and the works must be executed in a definite time frame.

 2 schemes for minorities running behind schedule
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
The Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQM) in the state is running behind schedule. Owing to this, 192 teachers employed in 65 madrasas in the state have been without salaries for two years.

Similar is the fate of the Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions (IDMI) scheme which is also running behind schedule.

Under the Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas, 65 madrasas were selected to set up libraries and employ teachers for the subject of computers in 2009-2010. A sum of Rs 188.86 lakh was also earmarked for the purpose. However, the delay by the Social Welfare Department in presenting proposals on time affected the release of funds. The amount of Rs 188.86 lakh was released in 2011-2012. Meanwhile, the teachers have been paid only for the period of 2009-2010 and they are awaiting more payments.

“Initially, there was not much awareness or interest about the scheme that is being supported by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD). But we managed to apply in 2009-2010 for the first time. But now there is a delay on the part of beneficiaries who have not submitted utilisation certificates and also not put the demand for the two financial years,” said Mohammed Abdul Aleem Ansari, Secretary, Muslim Education Mission, who is also the nodal officer for the Central government-funded minority schemes.

Now the Muslim Education Mission is awaiting utilisation certificates for 2009-2010 so that a demand for budget allocation could be made for 2010-2011. Clearly, the delay has affected the programme.

In 2009-2010 under the IDMI scheme for strengthening minority private aided/unaided schools (elementary, secondary/ senior secondary schools), the proposal for 32 projects were put forward from across the state. Of these, 12 projects were cleared.

An amount of Rs 2 crore was sanctioned under this scheme in 2011-2012. “Though the scheme is quite old, in Uttarakhand we applied only in 2009-2010. Of the sanctioned 12 projects, two are in Dehradun, six in Haridwar and four in Udham Singh Nagar. In these places, 25 percent of the work has been completed. Eight more projects have been sanctioned,” said Ansari. 

 Missing taxi owner found murdered
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 23
A taxi owner from Haldwani, who had gone missing on Tuesday, was found murdered in the forests of Tanda. It is learnt that the body of 26-year-old Shahnawaz, alias Lallu, was found from the Sanjay Van area of Tanda Forest last evening.

Lallu had purchased a taxi 15 days ago and had left his house in Line Number 1 of the Nai Basti area on Tuesday morning for earning his daily bread. It is learnt that his vehicle was hired by three youngsters who first brought him to Nainital and then asked to be dropped at Rudrapur.

Reports say that he had even had a telephonic talk with his friend while he was on his way to Rudrapur. After that his telephone was switched off.

It was following the recovery of a corpse from the Tandar Forest area on Thursday evening that he was identified. It is being assumed that he had been strangulated with a wire with the purpose of looting his vehicle. The corpse is said to be two or three days’ old.

The taxi operators have told the police that the youngsters who had hired the taxi were in their early twenties. Police investigations are on in the matter. 

 Definition of poor man
Shiv Sena submits memo to DM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Flaying the definition of poor man given by the UPA, members of the Shiv Sena today submitted a memorandum addressed to the President to the Dehradun District Magistrate. Gaurav Kumar, state president of the Shiv Sena, said: “The government is not trying to remove poverty but the poor. It is insulting the citizens of the country.”

They also demanded the removal of Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Aashish Singhal, district general secretary of the party, said: “How the Congress government can say that a person who is able to pay a rent of Rs 32 per day is rich. It is illogical to say this. Education has become a business in this country and parents need to pay a hefty fee. How can one expect the person to be rich who is able to spent Rs 32 every day,” he asked.

 Workshop on Himalayan glaciers
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
A workshop on Himalayan glaciers will be organised here on September 26-27 under the aegis of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), the Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) and the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO).

Addressing a press conference today, WIHG Director Anil K Gupta said the two-day workshop would be inaugurated by Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva. Scientists working on Himalayan glaciers would take part in it.

He said it was important to bring together scientists and voluntary organisations working on glaciers on a common platform taking into account the telling impact of climate change on glaciers.

HESCO founder Anil Prakash Joshi said bringing together voluntary organisations and scientific institutions linked to the study of glaciers was very much needed and the workshop was an effort in that direction. USAC Director MM Kimothi said seven sessions would be held with subjects ranging from ecosystem responses and community responsibility to water resources and community adaptation.

He said the workshop would also deliberate on the socio-economic impact of climate change in the Himalayan region. 

 Chief Secy for filling of vacant posts
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar has ordered for immediate filling of the posts that have been lying vacant in various departments of the state due to a lack of interest shown by the Uttar Pradesh employees who had opted for Uttarakhand during the division of the state.

Presiding over a meeting, Subhash Kumar said it was futile to wait longer for these employees as they seemed to be disinterested in joining duty in Uttarakhand. He said thus fresh recruitment against these posts should be started.

He also directed for immediate relieving of employees barring doctors and those in technical posts, who have opted for Uttar Pradesh but were working in Uttarakhand. 

 Tourist arrivals pick up at Milam glacier
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 23
Though most of the people had left Milam village in search of some other livelihood after the closure of their traditional profession of the Indo-Tibet trade in 1962, some of them are still living in the same village situated near the world-famous glacier of Milam.

The village that is situated 55 km from the border town of Munsiyari, has today become the main base camp for tourists coming to visit this glacier between June and October.

“Every year, over 2,500 tourists from across the country visit the glacier. This tourist route is providing livelihood to more than 50 hotel and restaurant owners of the region at the camps of Bogdyar, Martoli and Milam,” said Digvijay Singh Rawat, the owner of a motel in Milam village.

“Villagers who had left their houses decades ago are again coming back and taking to the cultivation of potato and local herbs that fetch a handsome price if reach the market on time,” said Jagdish Singh Rawat, president of the Hotel Owners Association of Munsiyari.

He further said many hotels, restaurants and motels had sprung up in the area and some villagers had also started providing the facility of paying guests to tourists.

According to residents of Milam, most of the people had left the village after the closure of the trade in 1962 “At present, only 10 families live in the village,” said Rawat. “We charge Rs 300 per tourist for two days in Milam,” said Rawat.

However, he maintained that tourists visiting Milam wanted more facilities. “Besides the facilities of transportation and communication, the cooperation of the ITBP and paramilitary forces guarding the India-China border is required, said Keshav Bhatt, who led a trekkers team to Milam recently.

An ITBP officer in the Milam area said: “Besides helping tourists in this border region, they have to keep vigil on them as most of them lose their way.” 

 Farm policy flayed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 23
The Uttarakhand Kisan Council (UKC), the state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha (ABKS), led by Bachi Ram Konswal, passed some resolutions related to agriculture and the farmers of the state during its two-day meeting in the presence of Joint Secretary of the ABKS, NK Shukla.

The council lauded the step taken by the state government in revoking the Forest Act of Uttar Pardesh of 1997 which would liberate 10 lakh hectares from the reserve forest status and bring it under revenue and gramsamaj. The initiative would speed up the pace of development in the state, Konswal said.

The members condemned the agriculture policyannounced last month and asked the government to frame a new one after holding extensive consultations with various farmer organisations. Konswal said the recent policy did not mention anything about the proper planning regarding newer techniques in agriculture, latest equipment, improved seeds, manure, land reforms or support prices of various crops. The council discussed the deciding factors which would determine the number of BPL and APL families living in a state under a survey which would be undertaken by the Union Rural Ministry in October. Konswal said: “The report presented by Vice-Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia is no different from the Tendulkar report. If we go by the features of these reports then factors like Rs 15 as daily wage and the possession of a mud house essential to belong to the BPL category will not be found applicable to any of the residents of the state. These parameters must be made more pragmatic”.

Without discriminating between BPL or APL, cheap food must be available to all the citizens of the state was also emphasised with regard to the Food Security Act.

The council flayed the PPP mode and participation of private players in hydroelectric projects. He said the Himalayan region was weakening due to the heavy usage of dynamite, which was leading to cracks in houses, drying up of jungles, landslides, etc. The council also demanded better monetary assistance to the people affected by the rains in the state.

Those present at the meeting included Gangadhar Nautiyal, Surender Singh Sajwan, Rajpal Kaniyal, Shiv Prasad Devli and Bhagwan Singh Rana.