Dehradun, September 25
A Delhi-based company, SPML, will start providing its services to the residents of another 15 wards by the middle of next month. Though its division, Doon Valley Waste Management Pvt. Ltd. (DVWM), had faced problems collecting solid waste from 15 wards, now it has started getting good response from residents and is hopeful to cover all the 60 wards of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) very soon.

Confirming the same, Rishabh Sethi, Chief Operating Officer, SPML, said there were brighter days ahead. “We were facing a lot of problem when we started the service but now we are getting wonderful response from the people,” he said.

Under a pilot project, DVWM had started collecting solid waste from 15 wards on August 1 and was expected to launch the service by 15 of the same month but failed to do so because of the lack of adequate staff. But now when it has hired a few more employees, it is feeling a bit relaxed and the project seems to be back on track.

“The project has the capacity of handling of 300 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day at present that will grow up to 600 tonnes by the end of the concessional period of 15 years,” Sethi said. “The company have obtained advanced high-capacity compactors (two), small tippers (12), DP placers (4) and other vehicles. It has also procured 32 customised rickshaws and 10 wheelbarrows for door-to-door collection of waste,” he said.

“The site for a workshop and a transfer station which are being set up at Brahmanwala will have the state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities as also all the safety equipment for regular maintenance of vehicles. It will also have a vehicle-tracking system (TRAKO) that will increase productivity, efficiency and lead to enhanced safety for both the driver and the vehicle,” Sethi said, adding that once process plant and scientific landfill (SLF) are functional at Selakui bigger vehicles will transport solid waste there for processing.

The councillors too feel that the project is catching up with the residents though it would take some time to provide a smooth functioning to the city.

The councillor, Dr Vijender Pal Singh, said the service provided by the company was not of very good quality as of now but it is still satisfactory as it has just been launched. “I hope the company will improve the service in the coming years till the time they have proper infrastructure and adequate man power,” he said.

Councillor Babita Sahotra said the company was performing its duty well in her area. Ditto for Councillor Viney Kohli who said work was going on well in his ward and the people were cooperating with the staff.

Senior health officer Kailash Joshi, on the launch of the project, said: “We will start the service in other 15 wards only after the project is formally launched. A trial needs to be completed first.”

Dehradun, September 25
As many as 100 people participated in a ‘Walk for Health’, organised by the Bharat Heart Institute here today. It was inaugurated by SC Nathani, a 78-year-old heart patient. People of every age group joined the walk that started from the hospital premises, moved towards Dwarka store and returned back to the starting point.

Before starting the walk, Vinod Kumar, Chief Engineer with the Irrigation Department, along with Dr Chetan Sharma, Executive Director of the hospital, launched a newsletter titled “Rhythm”.

“The main motive to organise the walk was to inform our patients that walking is important for health and people should make it a habit,” said Dr Sharma.

Cardiac camp was also organised and free consultation was given to more than 150 patients. Free ECG and blood sugar tests were also conducted for the patients.

Dehradun, September 25
In another success to the Doon police, a couple was arrested by cops for allegedly killing a truck driver who was found murdered in fields in the Bombay Bagh area on Monday this week.

Indresh Colony residents, Sundar and Poonam, who are in their early twenties, have been nabbed for the killing of truck driver Inder Kumar Mourya, a Pathri Bagh resident.

The police said the duo did not know Inder. On the night of Sunday, he saw the two heading towards fields in the Bombay Bagh area on a scooty and he started following them on his scooter.

The couple reached a jhuggi in the fields and went inside. Inder also parked his scooter near the jhuggi to barge into the jhuggi only to found them in a compromising position.

He also reportedly tried to take advantage of the situation due to which the two men had a heated argument, which followed a fight between them. Sundar attacked Inder with a wooden plank.

He hit it on his head and he died. After this the couple threw his body in the fields along with the wooden plank and ran away from the spot, the police added.

Patelnagar police Station House Officer (SHO) SS Bisht said the accused Sundar was arrested on the basis of information gathered from some of the locals.

Dehradun, September 25
The major problem faced by the residents of Bhagat Singh Colony, which is a semi-slum ward, is the lack of hygienic conditions in their area. A large number of people from minority communities also live in this area. Most of them are annoyed with the sweepers who rarely visit the area to clean the drains.

However, councillor of the area Kamli Bhatt says that she faces no trouble in getting works done for her area. “I have got constructed a bridge, which connects Shanti Vihar and Vani Vihar, at a cost of Rs 55 lakh in the area. A small bridge has also been constructed in the ward at a cost of Rs 9 lakh,” the BJP councillor said.

About the choked drains, she said she had asked the corporation to send a nala gang to the area and whenever it visits the ward everything would become fine.

Talking to The Tribune, most of the residents lamented that the sanitation employees hardly visited the area on a regular basis and if they did come they demanded money from them. Faisal Khan, a resident, said sweepers did not visit the area regularly due to which the drains remained chocked.

Rani, another resident, also stated that the sanitation workers did not visit the ward and she had no idea who did she complained to. “We have never seen the councillor in the area and now we are looking for the authorities whom we can complain about the unhealthy conditions in the area,” she said.

Indu Juyal put the whole blame on the councillor for not getting the area cleaned. “We need to clean the roads outside our houses ourselves as the sweepers do not turn up on a regular basis. They demand money from us in order to clean the area. The councillor need to look into this as it is her duty,” she said, adding, “a pipeline has been damaged near my shop for so many days and water leaking from it remain stagnated on the potholed roads. We face a lot of inconvenience treading on this road”.

But, Uma Negi feels that all is good in her area as she says: “I face no problems in the area”.

Haridwar, September 25
A district-level Sanskrit cultural competition was concluded here today at the Shri Yantra temple convention hall in Kankhal.

More than 40 schools participated in this annual competition from Haridwar district. All eight blocks viz Bhagwanpur, Bahadrababd, Laksar, Narsain, Roorkee and Khanpur participated in the multiple events.

In the Sanskrit choir vocal song competition, Bhagwan Das Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya won the first prize and will now vie for the state title in the state-level Sanskrit school competition.

Narayan Bhatta Rai bagged first position in Antakshari recitation followed by Pooja Rani and Avneesh Sharma.

Vandana adjudged the winner in the Shloka recitation while Ankit Kumar and Shubham Kumar earned the maximum points in the debate category.

The concluding day programme was chaired by revered guru Swami Vishwa Devanand Maharaj. By evening all teams had left for their respective places.

Coordinators of the competition Bhanu Pratap Sharma, Acharya Roshan Gaur, Dr Prakash Pant, Dr Prakash Joshi, Varsha Gauniyal and Dr Veena Vishnoi thanked all participating teams staff and hoped that this paved the way for statewide spread of the Sanskrit language in the coming years.

"Such competitions augur well for our confidence and in honing our skills. More such events should be held on a regular basis and we can show that Sanskrit students are no less in comparison to other schools" said Pooja Rani, a participant.

Dehradun, September 25
City Young beat Vijay Cantt 4-2 in the final to walk away with the winning trophy of the Doon Callisto Football Tournament held at Pavilion ground here today.

Amit Rawat (13th minute), Goswami (56th), Ranjan (72nd) and Saysh (65th) were the scores in the win of City Young. Dharmender (39th) and Tushar (78th) reduced the margin for Vijay Cantt.

The match witnessed a good competition between the two teams but the City Young from early in the match put pressure on its rival. It led in the first half 1-0 while finished the second half 4-2.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Khazan Das was the chief guest on the occasion. Checks for Rs 31,000 and Rs 21,000 were given to the winning and the runner-up teams. City Young’s Manish Chhetri was declared the best player of the tournament.

Uttarakhand saw another change of guard this month when suddenly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) high command decided to dump Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and bring in back Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) as the new Chief Minister. The move was aimed at arresting the sagging fortunes of the ruling party ahead of the forthcoming Assembly polls. The next Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in February 2012.

The fear of a humiliating defeat in the Assembly polls and tough posture adopted by Khanduri finally led to the change. Following Anna Hazare-led campaign against corruption, the BJP high command, after removing tainted Chief Minister BS Yedurappa in Karnataka, was under fire for continuing with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank whose government was also allegedly involved in several shady deals.

Khanduri started his second innings on September 11 on a promise to bring transparency, accountability and end corruption in the state. He promised to strengthen the office of Lokayukta in the state and bring the office of the Chief Minister and ministers under its purview.

He also promised to bring in a Public Services Act where babudom will be made accountable for 14 types of services to the public. He also talked of bringing in another legislation to confiscate “Benami” properties in the state.

He also invited Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kumar Vishwas for talks on Jan Lokpal Bill and promised support for a strong Jan Lokpal Bill. He also took credit for being the first Chief Minister of a state in the country to start a separate departments of “Suraaj” (good governance), anti-graft and Jan-Sewa. Khanduri would try to bring in his legislation on Lokayukta, Public Services Bill and “Benami” properties in the coming three-day Assembly session, the last session of this Assembly starting from September 27.

Amid all sweet talk of acting tough against corruption and providing the clean and efficient government, Khanduri who had been in the saddle for the past fortnight has failed to act against a single corrupt official. Interestingly, he could not even afford to remove any of the ministers of the Nishank government.

The competence and capability of most of the BJP ministers are common knowledge and the working of many of them are not even above board.

Khanduri has reshuffled his bureaucrats but he has not much choice as most of them who came from the mother state of Uttar Pradesh have brought in with them the culture of nepotism, red-tapism and corruption.

The entire state had been suffering for the past two years due to the immense damage caused by the incessant rains, cloud bursts and floods. Most of the roads particularly in the hilly areas are damaged. The roads leading to “Char Dham” yatra routes, which are considered backbone of the economy of the Garhwal region since lakhs of pilgrims visit these sacred places from May to October, remained closed for days together. People living in the remote hilly areas are facing shortage of essentials commodities, including shortage of LPG cylinders.

Even in the capital city of Dehradun, the roads dug up for laying pipelines have not been repaired. Even after the monsoon has subsided, there is no effort on the part of the Public Works Department (PWD) to repair these roads. What to talk of roads in the interiors of the city, most of the main roads on which VIPs travel almost daily are in a mess.

The citizens of the state tired of the corrupt bureaucracy and politicians want to see real ground level work and not mere rhetoric. They do not want to hear mere sweet talk but tough action against the corrupt and delivery on the ground. Many believe that by creating more departments will not help. There are already several departments, including the vigilance, to nab the corrupt. The mandate of each and every department has been aimed at giving good governance for the welfare of the people.

The voters of the state will also like to know that what prompted the ruling party to first dump Khanduri and then again bring him back to face the challenge of elections. The time is very short for Khanduri to act. He will not have more than two more months to show his worth before the model code of conduct for the polls comes into force. Undoubtedly, Chief Minister Khanduri faces an uphill task in his second innings.

While, the ruling BJP has played its cards by bringing in Khanduri to lead the party in the state, the opposition Congress is ever divided to take up the challenge. Divided in various groups, most of the senior leaders are involved in outplaying each other as they are day dreaming of a Congress government after the Assembly elections.

The Congress general secretary in charge Birender Singh, a senior party leaders from Haryana, has failed to enthuse the party cadres. The party miserably failed to react to the great opportunity provided by the ruling BJP with the change of guard in the state on the charges of corruption. Most interestingly, these charges of corruption on former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank were levelled and leaked by senior party functionaries in New Delhi. The Congress leaders failed to cash in on the political opportunity to drum up sentiments against the BJP among public.