DIG: Ensure crime-free Char Dham yatra
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 20
In the wake of a surge in crime in Haridwar district, DIG, Garhwal range, Sanjay Gunjiyal today directed district police officials to ensure no criminal activity took place during the Char Dham yatra.

Gunjiyal was presiding over a crime review meeting at the City Control Room here in which all district police officials participated.

Gunjiyal said though being on field duty, communicating with lower-rank police personnel and instilling a sense of security among the public was imperative, he was not unhappy with the working of the district police.

SSP, Haridwar, Pushkar Sailal briefed Gunjiyal about the steps being taken by the district police for controlling crime.

Regarding the upcoming Char Dham yatra, the DIG gave specific directions to the department to ensure the smooth and peaceful flow of pilgrims from Haridwar towards Rishikesh and the upper reaches of the Garhwal hills where the four shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri were situated.

He added that intersections and traffic points that witnessed more congestion should be identified so that additional traffic personnel could be deployed there.

Special checking of vehicles, particularly those coming from other states, would be done and instructions would be given to the drivers to drive safely and also park their vehicles at the parking zones only.

The demand of the district police for 142 additional traffic personnel was also made in view of pressure on the national highway and the Har-Ki-Pauri mela zone owing to the Char Dham yatra and the tourist season.

Delhi school students refused permission
to camp in forests
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April 20
The Munsiyari SDM today refused permission to a Delhi tour operator for a two-month camp of schoolchildren in the forests of Khaliatop mountain after the local residents objected to it saying it was a perennial source of water.

“Permission was refused to some Delhi school students to stay in the unreserved forest area of Kalamuni in about eight tents for two months as the villagers had objected to the proposal on the ground that it could disturb their natural water source which supplied cold water to the nearby villages round the year,” said JS Rathod, SDM, Munsiyari.

Rathod said a Delhi-based adventure tourist company, Holiday Adventure, had sought permission from the Forest Department and the civil administration on October 7, 2011, for nearly 600 schoolchildren to camp on the Kalamuni mountaintop during May and June in eight tents, but the permission was refused. Not only villagers but also forest officers objected to the proposal. The schoolchildren were also denied permission to camp at the Balati farm near Munsiyari town as the farm had 27 varieties of potato, to be used as seed, said the SDM.

The villagers said though tourism was the lifeline of Munsiyari town that sustained the local economy and provided jobs, water was more important than it. “We will not tolerate any tourist activity that disturbs our perennial water source,” said Gulab Singh Pangti, president of the Malla Johar Vikas Samiti, Munsiyari town.

The SDM said if permission was granted the habitat of rare Himalayan animals could get disturbed. There was also the possibility of poaching of animals in the name of tourism. “We have informed the company in-charge that he can move to villages situated at heights and camp there as landowners can give them space to pitch tents and they can stay for any length of time,” he said.

The in-charge of the tour company said he had sought permission from the authorities concerned to stay in Kalamuni forests and at the Balati potato farm.

Van panchayats to benefit from development initiatives
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 20
The van panchayats would be at the core of the development initiatives in the days to come. This was communicated to the representatives of these panchayats at an interface by the former Chief Secretary and Chairperson of the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA), Dr RS Tolia, and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests in Uttarakhand, Dr RBS Rawat.

Addressing the concerns aired by the representatives, Dr Tolia underlined that over the past one century, the priority with regard to the development of mankind had shifted from land, forest and water resources. He pointed out that instead of focusing on minor things like present-day rules and regulations, emphasis must be laid on policy initiatives for the future.

On the behalf of the CHEA, he suggested that the forest cover should not be looked at from the perspective of timber only. Instead, emphasis should be laid on trees, tree products and linking them to the livelihood of those living in the vicinity.

Pointing out that the partnership has to be developed along with the collective rights on forest wealth, he underlined the need to exploit the opportunities available under the 12th Five Year Plan for the community forest management.

Dr Tolia further pointed out that the principle of per sq km of the forest management must be extended to the van panchayats and additional resources should be sought for the purpose. He also called for the strengthening of the democratic management of Van Panchayats and developing the concepts of forestry-centric development. Dr Tolia also advocated, “There is a need for integrating rural development with forest management. The community forestry, like van panchayats, is drawing attention at the international-level also.”

Earlier, Dr Rawat had categorically stated, “There is no need to be disillusioned as almost all development initiatives being proposed have the interests of the van panchayats at their core.”

Talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the interface, he pointed out that in certain areas, like Almora and Chamoli, the management of van panchayats was so good that the administration needed to learn a lesson from them. He pointed at the need for taking initiatives that help protect both the interests of the forests as well as the people living in their vicinity while providing more avenues of livelihood for the latter. He said his department had been taking several steps to check the man-animal conflicts, the menace caused by animals and for compensating those who suffer losses on account of wildlife.

The sarpanches called for being provided a platform like gram sabha or a zila panchayat where they could raise their issues. They also raised the issue of convening a quarterly meeting by the divisional forest officers (DFOs) so that impetus could be given to their development schemes. The sarpanches further demanded a proactive approach on the part of the officialdom to help prepare micro plans.

Senior Forest Department official Kapil Joshi underlined the need for having regular poll or van panchayats so that the issues of administrative control could be sorted out.

Power projects must: BJP MP
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 20
Uttarakhand BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay has supported hydro-power projects for Uttarakhand keeping in view the little resources with the hill state.

In a statement issued today, Tarun Vijay welcomed all-party meeting conducted by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, asserting that hydro-power projects were essential for a state like Uttarakhand that had limited resources.

He said Uttarakhand today had power shortages and thus it was not proper to scrap hydro projects in the state. He pointed out that while Uttarakhand kept a potential of generating 30,000 mega watt of power in a year, only 3600 mega watt of power was being generated in the state.

Tarun Vijay, however, held that he was also for maintaining the continuity of the flow of the Ganga and would certainly support a pollution-free Ganga.

CM for speedy execution of welfare schemes
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 20
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has laid emphasis on strengthening Van Panchayats towards ensuring speedy implementation of public welfare programmes in Uttarakhand.

Reviewing the work progress of the state Forest Department in Dehradun yesterday, Bahuguna advocated for the speedy implementation of public welfare programmes through strengthening of Van Panchayats. He called for coming up with a proposal to increase the compensation amount in animal attack cases.

He laid emphasis on promoting eco-tourism and increasing departmental budgets so that works were not hampered due to paucity of fund. Effective implementation of Campa schemes and the provision of 44 mobile vans to the Forest Department to monitor the movements of elephants were also taken up at the meeting.

Bahuguna further said he would very soon meet the Union Forest Minister for setting up of an office in Dehradun at present functioning from Lucknow for speedy disposal of cases pertaining to transfer of forest land.

He asked the officers concerned to prepare a comprehensive report on the problems faced by inhabitants of Askot and Govind Wild Life Sanctuaries and submit it to the state government so that the issue could be discussed with the Union Forest and Environment Minister. He asked them to prepare an effective work plan to check forest fires and constitute task force in all sensitive zones.

The Chief Minister also asked the officials to make the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation active and encourage eco-tourism activities.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat said the Centre had placed the state in the first category for its contribution in forest conservation. Rawat said the Forest Department had so far generated employment and generated revenue of Rs 230 crore. He said 200 nurseries had been set up in the state which were managed by women folks.

Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Utpal Singh and Principal Secretary Planning M Ramaswami were present at the review meeting.

BJP flays Bahuguna for neglecting state

Dehradun, April 20
The BJP has criticised Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for undertaking frequent tours to New Delhi to seek blessings of Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, neglecting the state and the people.

The BJP said the since taking over as the Chief Minister, he has passed more days in Delhi than in Uttarakhand and seems to be more concerned about the Congress leadership in New Delhi. “The Chief Minister has been a frequent flier to New Delhi and paying obeisance to the Congress leadership, thereby neglecting the state and its functioning has been badly affected by the absentee Chief Minister,” said Satish Lakhera, BJP spokesperson. — TNS

Need to provide medical facilities in rural areas: MLA
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 20
Aadesh Chauhan, MLA, Ranipur-BHEL, said here today that drastic steps were needed to provide proper medical facilities both in hill regions and rural areas of the state. There was dearth of medical facilities in Uttarakhand and those available in cities were expensive, he added.

Chauhan said this at a free eye check-up camp at Shri Swami Bhoomanand Dharmarth Hospital and Research Institute at Jwalapur here. The first-time legislator said he had promised medical facilities during the Assembly poll campaign and he had started working towards that direction.

The MLA praised the hospital for its charitable work and providing medical facilities at government rates. He said other private hospitals needed to learn a lesson from it as expensive medical treatment was out of the reach of ordinary people.

Dr Harish Chandra Bhatt, former Director General, Health, and at present director of the Bhoomanand hospital, said medical practitioners needed to take the profession as service to society.

Bhatt said the hospital had started cashless medical facility for the serving and retired state government employees and the smart card facility free of cost for persons belonging to the BPL category.

Built in 2009, the hospital has medicine, gynaecology, arthopaedics, eye, physiotherapy, general surgery, dental, radiology and pathology departments. Patients from nearby villages and neighboring districts come here to avail of the medical facilities. 

Two car lifters held, 2 hurt as vehicle overturns
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 20
Two youths were arrested when a car, which they were taking away after shooting at its owner, overturned near Haldwani today. Two of their accomplices, who were also injured in the incident, admitted to a hospital.

According to sources, four youths identified as Nitin, Sumit Tyagi and Nitin Tyagi of Nagar area of Saharanpur district along with Saurav Singh of Ujhani in Badayun had hired a car from Haldwani to reach Nainital. The car was being driven by Salman of Haldwani and was actually a vehicle that was meant for delivering a Hindi daily to Nainital.

Just when the car reached ahead of Jyolikote towards Nainital, the four accused attacked the driver. One of them allegedly fired at the driver with a countrymade pistol.

Thinking that Salman was dead, they threw him into a gorge near Nayna village and fled with the vehicle towards Haldwani.

By a stroke of luck, Salman had not received fatal injury and had been trapped in wild growth when he was thrown into the gorge. He managed to climb back to the road and sought help from a truck driver who informed his employer who in turn promptly informed the police.

This led to the police taking immediate action and barricading the road.

Sources say that the accused managed to crash through the barricades set up in Kathgodam and also the one near the police post at the Bhotia Padav area in Haldwani. However, it was at Bhotia Padav that they lost control over the car and the vehicle overturned. Two of them sustained major injuries and are currently being treated at a hospital in Haldwani while the remaining two have been nabbed by the police.

Those who sustained injuries are Sumit and Nitin while those arrested by the police are Saurav Singh and Nitin Tyagi. A countrymade pistol and two cartridges have also been seized by the police from them. Salman is also undergoing treatment at a hospital.