Vehicle movement on Rishikesh-Dehradun road banned after dark
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 25
A few days after the cavalcade of Tehri Congress MLA Dinesh Dhanai came under elephant attack at Sat More on Rishikesh- Dehradun road, the police administration has banned movement of vehicles on this road after dark. The Rishikesh-Dehradun road has been witness to several elephant attack incidents in the recent past.

Elephant-human encounters on Rishikesh-Dehradun road have become quite frequent in recent times. This is not the first time that such an incident has taken place. The stretch of road between Sat More and forest barrier in Rishikesh has been most vulnerable to such attacks. Only a month back a major accident was averted when an elephant came in front of a Tata Sumo at Sau Fauti on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road. When the elephant banged its trunk on the vehicle and was trying to overturn it, the driver speeded up the vehicle and had a narrow escape. Following this incident, local forest range office had recommended closure for the road from 6 pm till 6 am, which has now been put into implementation by the district police administration.

With Rishikesh-Dehradun road closure coming into effect, those travelling from Rishikesh towards Dehradun will have to take to Nepali Farm route, whereas those travelling from Dehradun to Rishikesh will be diverted thorough Bhaniawala. With this decision, the travellers will have to cover an additional 12 km. Significantly, last year, even the Wildlife Trust of India had suggested clearing bushes along side the road and spreading awareness among motorists and pedestrians. Forest sources reveal that nearly dozen people have been killed so far in the state by elephants in 2012 in chance encounters.

The district administration has further held that resumption of night traffic on the road will be allowed when the state Forest Department gives a green signal for the same.

Tourists in Mussoorie make beeline for Sachin Tendulkar
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, December 25
The Mussoorie visit of ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and his family to celebrate Christmas has lead to an increase in the number of tourists and brought cheers to the shopkeepers of the town.

Tourists, mostly Sachin’s fans, are making beeline for Char Dukan, an eating joint in the Landour Cantt area and cricketer’s favourite joint, in order to catch a glimpse of the star. The tourists, while waiting for Sachin to emerge from the house he is staying in here, are guzzling down ample amount of beverages and noodles since morning.

Ramendar Singh, a tourist from Delhi, who is here to see his favourite cricketer, said he had spent more than thousand rupees on eateries but in vain. He was also planning to camp at night just in case Sachin ventures out on a stroll and get a photograph clicked with him.

Shopkeepers do not see any reason to complain as with Sachin;s visit to the town, the influx of the tourists has doubled leading to brisk business.

Pritam Prakash, owner of a shop at Char Dukan, said the sales were up at his shop as a large number of tourists had poured in on Christmas and Sachin’s presence was an added attraction.

Meanwhile, Sachin preferred staying indoors while his wife, Anjali, visited Char Dukan where she had noodles in the morning and in the evening she did some Christmas shopping at Mohan Jewellers.

Anjali was accompanied by Mumbai MP Priya Dutt and other family members.

BJP leaders wish Vajpayee long life on his 88th birthday
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 25
The Uttarakhand BJP leaders recalled the contribution made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his 88th birthday today.

At a small function held at the BJP party headquarters, the leaders wished him a long life and took a pledge to follow the path shown by him.

“His emphasis on good administration contributed immensely towards bringing accountability in the country,” said former Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who presided over the function.

Those present during the function included Uttarakhand BJP chief BS Chuphal, senior BJP leader Manohar Kant Dhyani and others.

Blood donation camp

HARIDWAR: BJP workers celebrated the 88th birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Prime Minister of the country, here today.

The Haridwar division BJP cell organised a blood donation camp at Mela Hospital in which party leaders and activists took part in large numbers.

Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik, while taking part in the camp, dwelled on the illustrious political career of Vajpayee.

Kaushik cited nine Lok Sabha terms of Vajpayee from four different states namely Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and said it was a proof big enough to show how popular he was.

“He bagged the Best Parliamentarian Award and did a great job as India’s Foreign Minister during his brief stint in the Morarji Desai Janta Dal government (1977-79).

In his five-year term in the NDA government, his skills as a leader shone through,” said Kaushik.

BJP Haridwar division chief Vikas Tiwari said, “Keeping in mind Vajpayee’s simplicity, we decided to hold a blood donation camp, which is a befitting way to wish legendary statesman like him a happy birthday.”

City chief Ravi Jaissal said Vajpayee was a star in the Indian politics, whose achievements and contributions would always be remembered.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Progressive) central secretary Uday Ram Semwal also termed Vajpayee as a visionary, who was always concerned about poor, downtrodden and labour class.

Citing his schooling from Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Gwalior, Semwal said he rose to the echelons of power by becoming Prime Minister.

The UKD-P also thanked Vajpayee for his role in establishing the separate state of Uttarakhand in November 2000.

Blankets, sweets given to poor

MUSSOORIE: BJP workers distributed blankets and sweets to the poor on the 89th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and seniormost BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Mussoorie today.

Party workers led by MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, extending greetings to their most revered leader on his birth anniversary reminisced his visit to Mussoorie in 1960s in a special meeting held at Saraswati Mandir today.

The party workers wished a long life to the ailing former Prime Minister on the occasion. BJP, Mussoorie, president, Roop Singh Kathait, Kushal Rana, RN Mathur, Anil Godiyal and others were present on the occasion.

No hope of approval of DMC's waste management plant
Objections raised by Ministry of Environment
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 25
The hope of getting final approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) for Scientific Land Fill (SLF) plant at Shishambara seems to have been dashed, much to the disappointment of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) as well as SPML company, which are running the Doon Valley Waste Management (DVWM) programme in the city.

Had the team got clearance, it could have started the SLF project and begun recycling of non-biodegradable garbage and preparing compost manure and other end products. The project is already in abeyance for the past one-and-a-half years. In fact the plant should have been ready much before the company took over DVWMproject. Now even after covering all the 60 wards in the city, it cannot process the garbage.

Director, DVWM, Sidharth Jain, said: “It was a very bad news for us as MOEF raised the question on the selection of the land itself for SLF plant, alleging that the plant would pollute the water body, which flows in the vicinity. The fact is that the ministry never raised questions over the selection of the site, which was why a sum of Rs 1.5 crore had already been spent on the land.”

Senior Sanitary Officer, DMC, Gurpal Singh, expressed helplessness in the matter, saying that DMC lacked the kind of big land that was needed to build the SLF plant. Moreover, the pre- conditions associated with land for this purpose, such as that it is required to be far away from the residential areas and water bodies, made the project implementation difficult. He said DMC had to reject four such land pieces in the past for the SLF plant. He also countered, saying the water bodies were at a distance and not close by to SLF location.

DMC and SPML are already losing revenue worth hundreds of thousands by not disposing of around 300 tonnes of garbage from approximately 50,000 houses in the city at present. It still continues to be an enigma as to who are involved in selling the saleable parts of the garbage. Sidharth Jain said; “I am incurring losses by putting my hand in this project. The profit earning will start when we begin processing the garbage and selling the recycled products and compost/manures etc. This cannot happen unless SLF gets ready. This project has been further delayed due to objections by MOEF.”

Gurpal Singh, however, was quite positive, saying that DMC would do it's best to satiate the query of MOEF in this regard and might get the project of SLF plant approved. If that did not happen, then this plant too will meet the same fate as that of the transfer section on Haridwar road, where the entire garbage of the city is to be compressed after loading it from small vehicles to big vehicles.

Thick fog engulfs Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Hardiwar, December 25
The pilgrim city was engulfed in a thick fog for the entire day today. The mercury dropped considerably. Visibility was quite poor till noon, making movement of traffic on National Highways 58 and 72 and inner city roads slow.

Traffic police personnel were deployed at major intersections like Ranipur turn, Bhagat Singh Chowk, Rishikul tri-intersection and SIDCUL Industrial Area.

The impact of the change in the weather was also felt by pilgrims. Despite being a national holiday today, ghats were not abuzz with any pilgrim rush. In the late afternoon when the fog faded a bit, tourist movement increased in the city.

However, the acute winters could not dampen the Christmas activity as devotees thronged city churches in large numbers.

Highway traffic too gained momentum by the afternoon, but chilling water prevented people from taking a dip in the Ganga.

BJP lashes out at Cong
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 25
The Uttarakhand BJP today lashed out at the state government for failing to come up with an initiative aimed at bolstering the confidence of women shattered by the New Delhi gang-rape incident and instead surrendering to the whims and fancies of police officers who are needlessly expending their energies on traffic management to shore up their image.

“The police, it seems, has no work except traffic management as a result of which incidents of theft and robbery have increased but there is no one to take stock of the situation,” said BS Chuphal, state BJP chief. He also criticised the cabinet ministers in the Bahuguna government for interfering with the police work by ordering the transfer of a police officer, after he had asked the minister’s relative to remove the black films from the car.

The BJP charged the Congress for interfering with transfers of police officers and other government officials in order to have their ‘own men’ placed in key positions in the sistrict and the state.

“There is not much to hope from the Congress government that is not worried about providing security to the people and has become a mute spectator to the deteriorating law and order situation in the state,” said Harbans Kapoor, BJP senior leader and MLA.

SPECS holds exposure programme for farmers in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 25
As part of a rural awareness drive, a three-day farmers’ exposure programme on latest technologies and scientific methods of farming organised by the Society of Pollution and Conservation Scientists (SPECS) concluded here today.

Presiding over the valedictory session, Dr Brij Mohan Sharma of SPECS said the successive evolution and development of agriculture and humans was highly interdependent and created a framework on which the entire humanity thrived. He laid emphasis on better farming skills.

He said, “The issue of agriculture development becoems all the more complex and sensitive in the case of hilly terrain, like Uttarakhand. Both farmers and scientists have to continuously work in coordination along with a dynamic support of research and development and extension institutions to work towards sufficiency and sustainability of agriculture.”

Sharma said the rural awareness programme aimed at providing a platform to bridge the gap between technology generators and technology users. He said the programme focused on creating awareness among village community and extension workers.

Earlier in others lectures, the Navdanya’s Executive Director, Dr Vinod Bhatt, said the organic farming was the backbone of agriculture. He stressed sustainable and healthy food culture.

Taking part in the deliberations, soil expert Hari Raj Singh spoke on soils of Uttarakhand. He also elaborated on soil testing techniques. Vikram Singh Chauhan, field officer of the state Agriculture Department, spoke about agri-insurance.

He said crops like vegetables, fruits and grain could also be insured.

A day earlier a visit to Krishi Vikas Kendra, Dhakrani, was also held as part of the programme.

A total of 48 farmers from 13 villages participated in the programme.

Mohammed Gulsher felicitated by Cong workers

Dehradun, December 25
Newly appointed Dehradun District Congress Committee vice president Mohammed Gulsher was today felicitated by Congress workers at the state Congress headquarters in Dehradun.

In an address made on the occasion, Mohammed Gulsher said it will be his endeavour to ensure resounding victory to Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He lauded the efforts being undertaken by Vijay Bahuguna government in Uttarakhand towards welfare of minorities. — TNS