CM rules out CBI probe into clashes
n Curfew relaxed for four hours in Rudrapur
n Industrial hub to open today
Rajeev Khanna

Nainital, October 6
Chief Minister BC Khanduri has ruled out a CBI probe into the communal clashes having broken out in Rudrapur of Udham Singh Nagar district on Sunday.

The clashes had left four persons dead and scores injured, besides a massive loss of infrastructure in terms of burning down of shops and vehicles.

Responding to a question during his day-long visit to the Lake City on Thursday, Khanduri said," There is no need for it (CBI probe). We have the ability to deal with the situation and everything is being done. The guilty will not be spared."

Khanduri paid a visit to the Pashan Devi temple, the Singh Sabha Gurdwara and the local mosque in the Mallital area of the town.

On being asked about his decision on immediate removal of the top brass of the administration and the police in the wake of the Rudrapur riots, he made it clear that the decision should not be seen as setting up of a precedent.

"I was in a remote part of Rudraprayag when I was told about it. I went to the spot, saw the ground reality and held detailed discussions with the officials present and then took the decision," he said.

On the issue of more heads being rolled from the officialdom, he was non-committal and said steps would be taken as things unfold.

The Chief Minister made it clear that no one would be allowed to disturb the peace in the state.

Meanwhile, curfew was relaxed for four hours in Rudrapur on Thursday afternoon to let people make the required purchases and those wanting to depart from the city be allowed to do so. The curfew relaxation was also extended from two hours on Wednesday due to the festival of Dasehra.

The administration has also decided to open the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) hub in Rudrapur from Friday. The curfew is expected to be relaxed from 8 am to 10 am in the morning and from 4 pm to 6 pm in the evening to facilitate the movement of people employed in various industrial units to reach their place of work and back home. The industry has been among the worst-hit during the last few days and the losses being incurred are pegged at Rs 150 crore per day.

In addition to this, daily wage earners are among the worst hit sections of the population.

No untoward incident has been reported from the town during the relaxation in the curfew.

‘Corrupt’ deals during Nishank’s tenure
Khanduri indicates action against guilty
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 6
Having come back to the office of the Chief Minister on the basis of his “clean image”, the Chief Minister, Major-Gen Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri (retd), has indicated that action is expected against those involved in the alleged corrupt deals that had marked the reign of his predecessor, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

When pointed out that the people view Nishank's tenure as one being marked by gross inefficiency, total failure on the governance front and the one during which allegations of rampant corruption were galore and whether any action would be taken by General Khanduri against those proved guilty, he underlined, "Action will surely be taken against the guilty. You can question me and take me to task if it is not."

Appearing before the media here for the first time after having once again taken over the reins of the office of the Chief Minister, he highlighted the steps taken by him to combat corruption in the state in the brief span of 25 days.

He also talked about being influenced by the anti-corruption movement launched by social activist Anna Hazare across the country. Referring to the officials he said: "By doing the jobs of the masses, they are not doing any favour to the people. They are meant to do these jobs."

He was questioned at length on the various issues that had been circled by allegations of corruption during Nishank's tenure. It was pointed that under Nishank, the BJP government had been humiliated on the matters like Citurgia land use change scam, the issue of High Court ordering cancellation of the allotment of 56 hydroelectric projects, the allegations pertaining to the organising of Kumbh for which Nishank had gone to the comical extreme of demanding a Nobel Prize.

With reference to Citurgia, it was asked whether the government in accordance with the orders of the High Court, has initiated a probe against the officials responsible for the change in land use, Khanduri said the probe had been initiated under a retired judge and the findings would be revealed at an appropriate time.

On the issue of roads continuing to be in a pathetic situation even after one year of the devastating rains having struck the Kumaon region, Khanduri said: "Give me time till the end of the month of October. By November you will find roads in a good condition. I have already ensured that none of the roads are closed."

Cong adamant on probe by sitting judge
Rajeev Khanna

Nainital, October 6
The Congress in the state is adamant that the probe into the Rudrapur communal riots should be entrusted to a sitting judge.

The party has once again raised the demand and planned to take up the issue at other forums.

"We are not happy as the probe has been entrusted by Chief Minister BC Khanduri to Commissioner (Garhwal Division) Ajay Singh Nabyal. We want it to be carried out by a sitting judge," said state Congress president Yash Pal Arya to The Tribune.

It is being aired that a probe by an official against fellow officers of the state administration does not ensure complete transparency.

Having failed to have reached the spot on Wednesday where violence had broken out on Sunday, the Congress plans to send another high-level probe team to Rudrapur in the next couple of days.

In a parallel probe, the team plans to meet residents of the Bhadaipura and adjoining areas to ascertain what exactly had happened and who was responsible for the outbreak of violence.

Arya further stated,"We want the administration to ensure that the people residing in the curfew-bound areas are getting their supply of daily essentials like milk and other items."

A team of Congress leaders, headed by Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat, had flown to Rudrapur in a chartered helicopter on Wednesday aiming to visit the riot-affected zone.

The other members of the team had comprised Opposition leader Harak Singh Rawat, state Congress president Yashpal Arya and Lok Sabha member from Almora Pradeep Tamta along with some other leaders.

Since the town was under curfew, the visiting team didnot visit Rudrapur and was confined to the premises of the Pantnagar airport. The team members were apprised of the situation by the local legislator Tilak Raj Behad.

In political terms, Khanduri has wrested the initiative in the matter by instantly making a sweeping change in the top brass in the local administration and the police.

Anganwari staff burn govt’s effigy

Dehradun, October 6
Protesting against the non-fulfilment of their demands, anganwari workers held a demonstration under the leadership of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions at the Clock Tower and burnt an effigy of the government.

The main demands of the protesters were appointment of anganwari workers as supervisors, leave facility, appointment of teachers as per qualifications in government primary schools, provident fund and ESI facilities for workers. They also demanded that they should be declared government employees and made eligible for pension. — TNS

Pant, Chufal inaugurate upgraded institutions
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 6
In view of the coming Assembly Elections, two top BJP leaders of the district, cabinet minister Prakash Pant and state BJP chief Bishen Singh Chufal, have now started inaugurating recently upgraded schools and newly opened technical institutions.

“The BJP government in Uttarakhand wants to make the state an education hub by opening new technical institutions and strengthening basic education in the district,” said Pant, while inaugurating upgraded high school at Saungaun, near the Indo-Nepal border in Pithoragarh subdivision.

The minister said 13 junior high schools and 4 high schools in his constituency had been upgraded this year to provide poor students living in the remote areas, good education before shifting to technical courses. “We have also opened three ITIs and one engineering college in the district to make the students of the district avail opportunities for bright future,” said Pant.

The minister said most of the schools had been upgraded in the remote villages from where poor students had to travel more than 20 km for getting high school education. “We are also providing basic Infrastructure like roads and primary health centres to these villages so that the villagers can travel to the nearest market by vehicles and get medical facilities in time,” stated Pant.

Chufal inaugurated an ITI at the Jaurasi area under Didihat assembly constituency today and promised the gathered youths that jobs would be created for them near their homes. “We have opened two more ITIs in the district this year and now planning to invite the entrepreneurs to set small industrial units in the district, using the raw material available here and create employment for the local youths,” said Chufal.

The minister promised the villagers of the Barabe area that a road would be constructed between Ashok Nagar to Bhatigaun by the end of December this year. “After this road opens for transportation, the marketable surplus of fruits and vegetables in this area will get paying market in Pithoragarh town,” said the minister.

In Didihat, the state BJP chief visited the remote village of the Talla Johar area of his assembly constituency and inaugurated more than a dozen roads and bridle ways to link different wards of the villages with each other. “Our government has not only speared infrastructure in the villages but has also run schemes to provide cheap grains to the poor ration cardholders of the state,” said Chufal, addressing the villagers near a village in Munsiyari on the occasion of announcing the sanctioning of four motor roads for the subdivision.

Boosting Tourism
Govt to set up 30 heliports
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 6
The state will set up 30 heliports with an assistance of Rs 25 crore from the Centre. These heliports will be built at Abbott Mount, Ramgarh, Bhimtal/Kathgodam, Jauljibi, Bageshwar, Ramnagar, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Kharsali, Harsil, Auli, Mori, Asan Barrage, Dak Pathar, Roorkee, Hanol, Tehri, Haathi Paanv, Dyara Bugyal, Barsu, Roopkund/Nanda Rajat, Agast Muni, Hemkunt Sahib, Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi, Maneri, Lansdowne, Kotdwar, Gangotri, Munisyari and Dharchula.

Joint Director, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, AK Dwivedi has said the sites for the heliports have been selected on the basis of their accessibility to the tourist places in the vicinity. “It becomes very difficult to travel in the hilly parts of the state during the four months of the rainy season. Even after the rainy season gets over, roads get partially or fully damaged and it takes a lot of time to repair them. The four prominent temples of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri too are shut in November, thereby we lose a sizeable chunk of tourists who can come to the state for two months of September and October.

“In such a situation, tourism gets badly affected. The tourists at the national and international level make an image of the state that it is not suitable for travel for five or six months of monsoon. Taking all these factors into account, we have decided to build these heliports in the state to make travel and tourism an all-weather possibility throughout the year,” he says.

The land has been identified for the purpose at these respective places and the process of tendering and construction will begin soon.

There has been a good response to the to-and-fro air service from Phata and Rishikesh to Kedarnath. It was later extended to all the four main temples.

Idol of Durga immersed in river
Sonika Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 6
The festivities of Durga Puja came to an end with the immersion of idols of Goddess Durga along with Laxmi, Saraswati, Lord Ganesha and Karthikay in the river Saung.

This marked the end of the 10-day Navratra festival. Purohits at various venues performed all rituals before the immersion.

The Raipur Durga Puja Committee celebrated its 68th Durga Puja with fanfare and enthusiasm on the Junior Club premises in the ordnance factory club.

Tapas Chakraborty, assistant general secretary of the Puja Committee, Raipur, told The Tribune that it was historic that the puja had been held at the same venue since 1944.

The Dashami started with puja of Goddess Durga amidst chanting of mantras, followed by ‘darpan visarjan’ or the symbolic immersion of the idols. In this, devotees saw the feet of Goddess Durga in a mirror. Then the women applied sindur on the forehead of the Goddess and offered her paan (betel leaf) and sweets, along with prasad made of curd, chirva and banana, known as ‘varan’.

This was followed by a custom called ‘Sindur Khela’ in which all married women applied vermilion (sindur) to each other.

The ‘shanti jal’ was sprinkled on the devotees through ‘amra pallav’ or mango leaves, as it was considered good for health and wealth. It was also said the sprinkling of ‘jal’ brought peace. It was followed by Kola-Kuli or hugging each other. The drumbeats of the traditional dhak by Shruti Gopal was an added attraction of the puja.

Chakraborty further said a number of competitions, including fancy dress competition, drawing competition, candle-lighting competition, conch-blowing competition and essay-writing competition were also held to mark the occasion.

Similar ceremonies were also held at many other venues, including Hathibarkala (Survey of India estate), Bengal Library (Karanpur), Durgabari (Mall Road), Premnagar, Adhoiwala (near Sahastradhara crossing), Model Colony (Araghar).

Rajive Dutta, vice-president of the Bengal Sahitya Samiti, said a Bangla and a Hindi play was organised during the festival.