Clearance for four power projects soon
Khanduri meets Shinde in Delhi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
It was not mere a bonhomie when the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Major-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), went to meet Union Minister for Power Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi and expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Power and the Central Government for revising and raising the allocation of unallocated power of Central Generating Station of the northern region to Uttarakhand during the winter season, according to a press note of the state government issued here today.

This revision and raise in the allocation of power has in totality increased over-the-years accumulated power (given to Uttarakhand) to approximately 100 MW. It is to be noted that keeping in view the requirement of power of northern states with the onset of the winter season, the Centre allocates the unallocated power of Central Generating Station to needy states.

General Khanduri discussed with Shinde four hydroelectric projects that are awaiting “techno-economic clearance” from the Centre. These projects are: Lakhwar (300 MW), Bowala Nandprayag (300MW), Kishau (660MW) and Vyasi (120MW). Of the four projects, the Vyasi project with a capacity of 120 MW has been approved.

Shinde has assured the Chief Minister Khanduri that the Power Ministry and the Ministry of Water Resources are working in tandem and examining the four projects. The clearance will be given to these projects soon. Shinde also assured Khanduri of extending all sorts of assistance in harnessing potential of the Vyasi power project and the other ones in the state. Union Power Minister Shinde suggested that if the state was willing to provide land for setting up a power project free of cost, then his ministry, through the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), could start a coal-based power plant in Uttarakhand. Of the total generated power from this plant, 50 per cent will be granted to Uttarakhand.

Khanduri also drew Shinde’s attention towards the slowdown in the working of Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) in the two gas-based power projects in the state. The company has signed an MoU with Uttaranchal Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) for executing two gas-based power plants in the state. According to an assessment, there is a demand potential of about 5 million standard cubic metres of gas per day in Uttarakhand. Looking at the demand potential in the state, GAIL is currently executing two pipeline projects, namely the 182-km Karanpur-Moradabad-Kashipur-Rudrapur pipeline (Rs 239 crore) and 170-km Saharanpur-Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun pipeline (Rs 255 crore).

These two pipeline projects could carry gas to the consumers in the districts of Kashipur, Rudrapur, Roorkee, Haridwar and Dehradun.

Shinde told Khanduri that since there was a shortage of gas, GAIL is finding it difficult to spearhead the efforts on the two gas power projects in Uttarakhand, according to the state government officials.

Party Ticket for Assembly Poll
BJP to follow Bihar formula
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
Senior BJP leader and Chairman of the BJP manifesto committee Bachi Singh Rawat said today that the party would go by the successful Bihar formula in the distribution of tickets for the 2012 Assembly elections.

He said while the decision on the distribution of tickets would be taken at the highest level in New Delhi, during his visit to Dehradun BJP chief Nitin Gadkari had stressed applying the Bihar formula in Uttarkhand for the distribution of tickets. “Only candidates with clean image and who are capable of winning will be considered,” he said while addressing a press conference here today.

Rawat said the party was optimistic of wining 40 seats in the elections and this, he said, was his assessment.

When asked how things had so soon turned in favour of the BJP, when not long ago another survey done at Nitin Gadkari’s behest had predicted nine seats for the BJP, Rawat said certain positive steps taken by Chief Minister BC Khanduri had turned the tide in favour of the party. “We are sure to reap benefits in the coming Assembly elections,” he said.

The first list of the prospective candidates from the BJP would be tentatively out by December 15, he added.

On the issue of allocating certain percentage of seats for women candidates, Rawat said the decision would be taken by the party high command. “We have been reserving 50 per cent of the seats for women in the Panchayat elections and 33 per cent in the posts of office-bearers in the party,” he added.

Rawat said the manifesto of the party would be a road map for the government and would incorporate issues that directly affect the masses.

“On December 1, we will hold a meeting with the government to thrash out the issues figuring in the draft of the manifesto. The manifesto will be released around the time the model code of conduct comes into effect,” he said.

Haldwani stone crushers to be relocated
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 23
Preparations are afoot to relocate 26 stone crushers at present located in Haldwani and adjoining areas.

According to sources, these stone crushers are to be relocated over the next three years as they do not meet the prescribed norms of the new mining policy that has been framed by the state government.

These stone crushers are located in Haldwani, Gaula Par, Chorgaliya and Ramnagar of Nainital district. At present, there are five stone crushers on the Rampur road, 15 on the Bareilley road, two in Chorgaliya and four in Ramnagar.

Since all these stone crushers are functional in heavily populated areas, the residents of the regions where they are located have been demanding their relocation for quite some time.

There have been several agitations in the past and the people also submitted memorandums to the administration demanding the shifting of these stone crushers away from the human habitation.

Officials said in the absence of a strong policy, the administration had been unable to relocate these crushers in the past, even as they continued to be major sources of pollution that caused diseases like asthma and TB.

The officials said the rules of the new policy would help relocating these stone crushers away from residential areas.

The stone crusher owners have been contending that when they had installed their crushers, they had prescribed to all norms that were laid down by the government at that point of time. They claim to be closely scrutinising the new mining policy of the government that has been framed recently.

Sources say that these stone crushers are expected to shift to areas like Bazpur, Sitarganj and Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar districts. Quarrying and related activity form one of the core economic activities in the Terai and Bhabar areas of the state. A large number of families both from Uttarakhand and adjoining states are directly or indirectly dependent on these activities for their livelihood. The rivers flowing in the region bring large amounts of silt and rocks down the mountain slopes every year.

DM pulls up staff for delay in completion of projects

Nainital, November 23
District Magistrate in Nainital Nidhi Mani Tripathi has pulled up officials for having failed to execute works despite the fact that money has already been sanctioned for these.

At a review meeting held in Bhimtal on Tuesday afternoon, Tripathi said she would take a serious note of the fact and underlined that the officials must ensure that the construction activity on various projects was carried out well in time and there was no compromise with regards to its quality. She also expressed her displeasure over the fact that the works pertaining to the construction of buildings under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for urban development were being delayed. Referring to villages that were dominated by the Scheduled Castes’ (SC) population, she said such villages need to be identified and developmental works must be executed there on a priority basis. The District Magistrate suggested that the officials should organise multipurpose camps in the remote areas of the district so that the maximum number of people could avail the benefits of the schemes being run for them by the government.

Expressing dismay over the delay in the construction of 14 roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), she asked the officials concerned to sort out the matters within the next three days failing which action would be initiated against them. She also took stock of the pooled accommodation built by the PWD in Haldwani and Bhimtal. The officials had been told to lay the maximum emphasis on the quality of their construction.

Addressing officials of the Jal Sansthan, Tripathi underlined that the money sanctioned to these this year must be utilised during the current financial year only.

On the issue of non-electrification of Van Grams, she asked the officials to prepare proposals for providing energy through alternative sources to these villages. — TNS

Tanakpur residents seek 'nazul' status for land
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 23
After the Cabinet’s nod to the conversion of 166 acres of 'kham' land in Lohaghat town into 'nazul' (government) land, residents of Tanakpur, another town in Champawat district, have demanded the same status for land in their town.

The residents said they had been deprived of ownership right for long. Residents of the area who convened a meeting here today said if the authorities failed to fulfil their demand before the Assembly elections, they would boycott the poll.

Harshvardhan Rawat, chairman of the Tanakpur Nagar Palika Parishad, said the demand of the residents was genuine. "We have sent a proposal in this regard to the government and hope that it will take a decision before the announcement of the Assembly elections,” Rawat added.

Death of Assistant Accountant
College students gherao mgmt members, stay away from classes
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 23
The situation in Shravannath Math Jawaharlal Nehru College became volatile today as college students gheraoed a few members of the college management on the issue of the death of college assistant accountant Sahib Singh Saini in mysterious circumstances.

Later, students of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) were at loggerheads and a minor scuffle occurred, but timely intervention of the police averted major violence.

The students had been alleging the involvement of some college insiders in the death of Sahib Singh Saini, whose body was found last week after he had been missing from the college campus since November 12.

Though a police case had been registered in this regard, yet on the demand of students, the college management had decided to have a three-member panel to probe this matter.

In the morning, the students after knowing that all three members, Prem Prakash Bhalla, Ram Moorti Veer and Dr Naresh Sharma, were from the college management and with no representation of any student, they stayed away from their classes.

Later, they also gheraoed the panel members and demanded calling of chief of the college management Swami Ramanand Puri, who after listening to the students demand, abolished the panel.

Puri said as the police was investigating the case, there was no authenticity of having an internal college probe and urged the students to wait for the police investigation before coming to any conclusion.

After this, college students’ union chief Bhawna Kainthola had a verbal duel with Swami Ramanand Puri which a student outfit opposed. Later it took the shape of violence between the two student outfits.

It was only due to the intervention of the college staff and the police that the scuffle between students was avoided and the college was closed immediately in view of the tense situation.

Socio-Economic and Caste Census
NGOs fear new criteria will hit poor
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
Doubts are being expressed whether the criteria fixed for ascertaining the poor under the ongoing socio-economic and caste census 2011 will be able to do justice to the poor of Uttarakhand.

BPL families get special priority in government schemes, the reduction in numbers, as feared by the NGOs at the end of the socio economic and caste census 2011, will severely affect the poor.

According to the new guidelines for rural households as set by the Union Ministry of Rrural Development, those having a member earning more than 10,000 a month or anyone serving in a government or government-aided organisation or owning a landline phone will not be included in the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category in the new poverty census being conducted by states.

Besides, the households paying income tax or professional tax, or those who have three or more rooms with all rooms having pucca roofs and walls, or have 2·5 acre or more irrigated land or five acres of land irrigated for two or more crop season will also not be included.

"The first casualty will be that the amount of grain available under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) will be reduced,” said Sudhir Bhatt of the Parvartiya Bal Manch.

A coalition of more than four NGOs in Uttarakhand is opposing the 2011 census and have shot off a missive to Rural Development Minister (Uttarakhand) Vijaya Barthwal.

“In Uttarakhand, due to the climatic conditions, almost all houses have roofs made of “Pathal” and as such the houses cannot be categorised as kucha or pucca. If this criterion is adopted, almost all persons eligible for government schemes under the BPL category will be out of the ambit. Besides, there is no clarity whether those being provided houses under the Indira Avas Yojana, especially widows with no source of income, will be termed poor,” said Sudhir Bhatt.

The members point out that in Bhudh villages (Vikas Nagar) near Dehradun alone, there were 39 BPL families according to the 2002 BPL survey, but now according to new deprived indicators, all these members would be out of the BPL purview.

“We feel this data will come handy to reduce the quota of the BPL families which will in turn curtail the budget for schemes to be set aside for the poor,” said Puroshtam Badoni of the Parvartiya Lok Shikshan Samiti.

In Uttarakhand, the total number of BPL families is 6.24 lakh (2002 BPL survey) and once the socio-economic survey is complete, a quota will be derived as stipulated by the Tendulkar Committee.

The census that was started in Uttarakhand in November is expected to be completed by December 2011 and state government officials say the exercise will generate a rank listing of rural households based on five automatic inclusion criteria and seven deprivation indicators.

Clashing workers of Cong, BJP lathicharged, 6 hospitalised
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
The police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse clashing workers of the ruling BJP and the Congress at Rudrapur town in Udham Singh Nagar district today, leaving six persons injured. They were admitted to a local hospital.

According to the reports reaching the state headquarters, supporters of local Congress legislator Tilak Raj Behad and former Palika Chairman and BJP leader Raj Kumar Thakral clashed on the issue of putting the name of the legislator on a plaque of a Jan Milan centre constructed with the money allocated from the local legislator area development fund. The BJP workers objected to the writing of name of the local MLA on the plaque put up on the spot.

Behad alleged that the ruling BJP workers unnecessarily clashed with the Congress workers after beating up the painter that had gone there to write legislator’s name on the plaque. He said it was according to the rules that his name was being written.

On the other hand, the BJP leader alleged that he was attacked by the Congress workers.

Class IV employees stage dharna in Doon

Dehradun, November 23
Class IV employees of 36 departments of Dehradun district, who launched an indefinite strike yesterday on a call given by the Uttarakhand Class IV State Employees Association, staged a dharna at the Parade Ground today.

State president of the association Darban Singh Mehta said they had been raising the demands for long and had even observed the state foundation day as “Black Day”, but to no avail. “Our demand for promotions and pay scale according to the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations has not been fulfilled so far. The Secretary (Finance) and the Secretary (Planning) should meet representatives of our association and solve all problems, so that the agitation of 5,2000 employees could end. But it seems that they are reluctant to do so.”

He said 50 per cent of the state employees had got the benefits under the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. KK Shukla, general secretary of the association, said, they had also tried to seek the intervention of the Chief Minister in the issue, but to no avail.

He alleged that the government order released in favour of their demands was tampered with on October 14, which had forced them employees to go on a strike.

Meanwhile, the association has decided to impose a fine of Rs 500 on those who were found working on the strike day. Those who participated in the dharna included Rajpal Singh, Banwari Singh, Ravinder Kumar and Ramesh Bhatt. — TNS

Peyjal staff stir hits construction work

Dehradun, November 23
The statewide indefinite stir by the Peyjal Nigam in support of their demand entered the ninth day today, affecting the construction work under way in the state besides pumping and gravitational schemes.

Moreover, the Nanghat pumping scheme proposed at Chief Minister BC Khanduri’s home district could not be inaugurated due to the ongoing stir.

“The field staff, class IV employees and senior officials (engineers) are participating in the stir,” said SP Singh Dewara, coordinator, Officers/Employees Joint Coordination Committee, Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam.

The striking staff also held a meeting at the Peyjal Nigam office here and the employees were informed about the talks being held with the government, where the MD of the Peyjal Nigam, Bhajan, urged the striking staff to call off their stir.

“The state government has agreed to release a one-time package of Rs 30 crore in the form of centage to the Peyjal Nigam,” he said.

But the members turned down the request and instead threatened to boycott the election duties as a mark of protest if their demand for departmentalisation was not fulfilled.

Those who addressed the employees included Dinesh Bhandari, president of the State Corporation Employees Federation, PK Shukla and engineer BK Jain. — TNS

Water rafting c’ship from tomorrow
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
The 5th All-India Open White Water Rafting and Kayaking Championship 2011 will take place at Shivpuri, Rishikesh, in Uttarakhand from November 25 to 27.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Manoj Rawat, secretary, Uttarakhand Kayaking, Canoeing and Rafting Association, today disclosed that a total of 200 participants from 70 teams would be participating in the championship. The teams include those from the Army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force and others.

He said the three-day affair would have events of slalom, sprint, marathon in disciplines of both White Water Rafting and Kayaking.

Special children showcase talent
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 23
Everyone who was present at the Ramleela Ground at Satikund, Krishna Nagar, was surprised, as the differently abled children presented different ‘asanas’ and cultural programmes with finesse here today.

The occasion was the annual function of city-based Samarth Special School. It was organised in collaboration with Delhi-based National Trust, which not only takes care of these special children but also trains them in sports or cultural activities and provides them education. Most important aspect of education at the school is self-respect, which the teachers try to inculcate in these students as also among people who either don’t give them respect or make fun of them. Seeing the talent of these special children, Kali Peethadheeshwar Swami Kailashanand, said there was a need to bring these students to the mainstream society and make them feel that they are as loved and desirable as normal children.

Opened in 1996, the school has won appreciation for its efforts at various levels. Principal Vipul Sharma said despite initial hiccups they decided to carry forward this noble cause. Seeing these special children learning various disciplines is way above any monetary benefit or reward for her, she added. Director of the school Poornima expressed hope that in the coming days more and more schools will enrol these children. “It’s not the responsibility of the families or such special schools only to help these students live a normal, but society and the government should make sure their upbringing is done in a good way,” said the District Education Officer, Dr Anil Kumar Bhoj.

DGP: Police should be more humane
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 23
The state police should follow its counterparts in southern states of the country as the police in these states is less cruel and more humane, said Uttarakhand Director General of Police Jyoti Swaroop Pandey.

”We should not follow the models of Haryana, Delhi and Punjab in policing as the police in these states is having a militant image,” said Pandey, while talking to mediapersons during his visit of the district today.

”We are also running refresher courses for the policemen to improve their communication skills,” added the DG.

The state police chief said to achieve this objective, the emphasis has been given on good conduct and communication skills of a police officer or constable to win the confidence of the public rather than the use of force.

“It does not mean that we are less equipped in equipment, we have sufficient number of arms, surveillance equipment and night vision devices to deal with criminals,” said Pandey.

The police chief said the number of policemen in the state was sufficient. “If the government takes the decision to include the revenue police areas under the direct police, than the number of policemen in the state will have to be increased,”’ said the DG.

Asked about the security concerns of the presence of the Nepali telephone network on the Indo-Nepal border, Pandey said the Government of India had called for the information from all states touching the Nepal border to discuss this problem and keeping the nature of friendly status of Nepal, decision to this effects would be taken by the government.

”Being a friendly neighbour, we should not feel any sort of security lapse from inside Nepal as due to open borders between the two countries, we both live in confidence of each other,” said the DG.

BCCI representative for early affiliation to state assn
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 23
A member of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Museum Committee, Yudhveer Singh, today hoped for an early BCCI affiliation to one of the cricket associations in Uttarakhand.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Yudhveer said a BCCI committee was already looking into the issue and he was hopeful for an early affiliation to one of the cricket associations in the state. He, however, parried queries on which association was likely to get the affiliation.

“The delay has been for technical reasons and I am hopeful that the BCCI will shortly give affiliation to one of the associations in Uttarakhand,” he added.

The BCCI is finding it difficult to choose one association from different warring cricket bodies of the state.

Yudhveer, who is in Dehradun as observer for the Uttarakhand Technical University North Zone Cricket Tournament, lauded high standards of cricket at the tournament. While the tournament is witnessing some of excellent umpiring, the tournament has seen participation of some of renowned universities of the North Zone. It is quite significant that there has been not a single walkover in the entire tournament, he added.

Organising secretary of the Uttarakhand Technical University North Zone Cricket Tournament Mahim Verma, president of the Cricket Association of Uttaranchal PC Verma, AS Meghwal and Ajay Pandey were also present at the press conference.